The Crying Game

The melody is an ear worm.

It's a nice song. I wonder why no one bothered to interpret it. The song is perfect for that. Simple. A bit repeaty-y. Easy to learn. Lovely. Short. Perfect for a class final.

The song can be transliterated easily on the beat although it won't make as much sense in that language. And it can be interpreted with sensible omissions and reversals here and there, make much more sense, and still hit the beat. Because it's so slow. Either way it's graphic, literal, and beautiful.

It has phrases that are really neat and that look very much like the drag dance in the film.

"I know all there is to know about the crying game."

Literal as all h-e-double swizzle sticks, even as only one of the two "know" signs need to be shown.

"All" is a sweeping motion that scoops up everything in front of you into the opposite hand, and "there is" is the same hand configuration and the same generous sweeping motion reversed, not scooping, but indicating "all laid out before me" in a flat arc. So, scoop everything generously into the opposite hand, then reverse and spread it all out. "everything -- existing there" Who knew such a cool combination could come from a song?

So then, you would show, "I know all there exists about crying game."

Better, more sensible, clearer than showing "know" twice. But it doesn't hurt if you do.

"Game" is the same as "lovers." "Game" is two fists with the thumbs up, the fists tapping each other a couple of times. "Lovers, boyfriend/girlfriend, significant other, etc." is the same two fists held together, thumbs up and bending toward each other a few times, like winking at each other. But it's the same two fists and two thumbs.

And that's why the signs should be formed clearly to distinguish between them. The guy in the "It's Cold Outside" video does not do this. He does not make well formed signs, where the girl in the video (who taught herself) does. We know from the lyrics he means "dating" or something like that, but he could mean "game" because he only vaguely showed two fists with thumbs up. He didn't tap them for "games" and he didn't tweak the thumbs for "lovers."

There is not much to know about the crying game. Only three things, and boom you know everything.

First there are kisses.

Then there are sighs. A sigh is a breath made with resignation written all over the face. Eyes looking upward. It's an exaggerated resigned exhalation.

"Then before you know where you are, you are saying goodbye." And "goodbye" is a simple wave bon voyage.

Can you get any more simple than that? Any more explicit?

It's nearly pure pantomime.

Here's what makes this song stupid. An oversight, I suppose.

The next line ruins the whole conceit. After bragging about knowing all there is to know about the crying game, the singer is still confused and must ask the moon two questions about the crying game. And the singer, confused about his own sex, doesn't even know the moon is female, not male.

In romance languages, the sun is male, the moon is female. That's irrelevant to us but it shows again the singer is sexually confused.

This is another very nice sequence that runs like a tight little film clip. "Soon" is an "F" hand configuration placed at the bottom lip. There is anther sign for "soon" that flicks two fingers at the lips.

"Tell" is an index finger flick from the bottom lip in the direction of the person being told something. In this case upward to the moon. You flick in the direction that you make the "moon" sign.

"Moon" and "Sun" are both "C" hand configurations from the corner of the eye upward, placed in the imagined sky. You put the "C" up in the sky. "Sun" is a full proper "C" and "moon" is an adjusted "C," improper with only index finger and thumb, the remaining fingers tucked in. Like a capital "C" for sun and lower case "c" for moon. Otherwise they're the same sign. You can show both shining, you can show rays coming off them.

So those three signs are tightly formed and exceedingly clear, "soon," "tell," "moon." It's like they were made for each other to be strung together.

He/she asks the moon, why are there heartaches and why are there tears.

He started the song telling us he knows all there is to know. But he doesn't know that.

Let me help.

Be of good cheer, for the answer is here. I'm here to help.

The reason there is heartache and tears is because you're passing yourself as a girl, so as relationships develop and when it gets down to the nitty-gritty of taking it physical, you've got a dick where you need a front hole. There's only so far you can go with this subterfuge before you are forced to be honest. Had you been honest up front, say, as the thousands of crossdressers do on doublelist, you'd have self-selected for your type of pervert and saved yourself heartache and tears. But asking the moon as if you were a well adjusted natural girl is bound to return disappointing results. You are lying to the moon. Your questions are lies. Interrogative fail. You're lying from the beginning. Assumed superior knowledge fail. Fail from the very start. Your stubby little man-hand fingers that show before you reveal your made-up face and distractive manner of dressing, can never be mistaken for the hands of a girl. Introductory fail. Relationship development fail. Interrogative fail. Fail, fail, fail.

How can this song be so lovely when you're such a f'k'n lying little creep so filled with fail?

I might have just answered my own question of why no one has bothered interpreting this song.