Thursday, January 9, 2014

Somebody I Used to Know, ask



Impressive. This is the real deal. This is how deaf people talk. The lyrics are distilled to their basic ideas, stripped of English and expressed using the conventions in abbreviated form throughout. Each vignette looks like a simple movie, a Vine entry. They do actually speak like a married couple. The concept of the lyrics are translated precisely with no attention given to music as if there is no music at all. 

"I used to know" is abbreviated "past" a partially formed karate chop chopping backwards three times that you barely even see and not lifted to the full "past back there behind my back" position, spoken like a married person, meaning "all that happened." 

"Nothing" is two zeros pushed at the person, very graphic sign, she uses a dismissive scramble and wave off, just as a married person would do. "That you were right for me" she uses "breed" a "meshing" of gears that performed explicitly conveys mechanics, actual gears but performed abbreviated like this conveys "fitting together". And that is how married people and very close friends talk to each other. Abbreviations like this  throughout.

731 comments over there on YouTube and that is a lot for this sort of thing. 

12 comments:

Unknown said...

I like that song. Thanks for sharing. The intensity between lovers is well, intense.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

I first time I heard that Gotye song, I wondered who was singing?
I love that voice. It vaguely, through the distance, reminded me of Sean Kelly's voice.(my boyfriend)... See if you can recognize the roof top, Chip.
Oh how time has passed.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Interesting. Even without knowing ASL myself, I recognize many of those hand gestures as similar to ones that I see or use unconsciously. I'm one of those people who do use their hands and gesture in conversation. It seems intuitive.

I especially liked the symbol for addiction. Hooked, like a fish.

Thanks for posting this. I was really moving. I'm going to watch it next without the sound.

Unknown said...

You forget that they cannot hear the song at all. Brilliant indeed.
They captured the emotion better than the original video.

JAL said...

Azora (white suit) actually can hear. Her parents are/were deaf.

bagoh20 said...

Wow!, great post Chip. A good dose of entirely new knowledge before my first cup of coffee. I'm fascinated by the work-arounds deaf people have figured out, but I don't know any deaf people to ask about it.
Thanks.

bagoh20 said...

The butch one is a lot like my step daughter who I raised from 4 years old. Even being this close, I never understood the desire to look male. She was already a serious tomboy at 4 years old, and would get very angry if asked to wear a dress or doll-up at all. I love her, and I see her everyday, but even now the look still throws me. It seems like she's tilting at windmills, but maybe I don't really understand the objective. I have a lot of lesbian friends and when I ask the feminine ones about this, they can't explain it either. I'm gonna sit down with my daughter and try to understand it better.
Anyway, a great video.

Chip Ahoy said...

Cool song, April, I do not recognize the rooftop. I do not see the capitol either, yet I sense it is nearby. I think it is a building on Logan or Grant, a few blocks north of the capitol. I'd go in Google Earth and look for a roof with that type edge but I cannot be arsked because I'm busy!

MamaM said...

I liked seeing both sides. I was all for him, until I saw/heard her story. The separation at the end is poignant. Visually wrenching. I wanted something more to happen. I liked the way he kept repeating the last phrase, sorrowing and convincing himself as the intensity dropped off and dwindled away.

Sydney said...

What do the signs the feminine character uses at the very end mean, where she kind of twirls her fingers/hand around dismissively?

Unknown said...

No need to waste time google earthing. Hint: Darth Vader Lipstick.