Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me, Oleta Adams cover

Legal Insurrection has the original Elton John version up for video of the day but the covers are much better.

ASL version

Perfect song for practice, too bad Soph is the only one I see on YouTube. The kids would love this one. Because it's so slow. I'm guessing it was too early for them.

"Chance" is a hand that grabs something from the other hand.

Too similar to "Win" which is the same thing except both hands grab something invisible, probably a trophy when done a particular way.

This is how I do the word "chance." Like flipping two cards. It avoids chance/win confusion.

While some do the sign for "win" like others do the sign for "chance."

Best to keep similar forms for different words from each other and make them both clearly. That's my philosophy. No sloppy signs.

Soph's "Ladder" seems to pedal a bicycle on the second rung. I'm not seeing a ladder. She's transliterating so she passed the opportunity to pantomime climbing a ladder and freezing there. for "frozen on the ladder of my life." 

"Time stands still" means "time stops" not "time stands like a human with two legs."

"Misread" is shown, "mistake," a "V" at the forehead tapped and reversed, then the same configuration for "mean(ing)" a "V" on the palm of the opposite hand, tapped and reversed." It's sort of like rhyming in that language.

Soph's "met you" is formed oddly. It's two people, upright index fingers, shown coming together from the sides. Soph forms the sign showing two people popping up together, "two people popped up together."

"Fragment" is a little piece. Like holding up a tiny tile. Soph shows "some some." And that's what the dictionaries show for "piece." 

"Judge" is the scales of justice both going down. Soph does this so rapidly and the video is so optimized that you can hardly see it. 

"Life" is like holding two suspenders except moving up the torso. I learned to make the sign with "L" hand configuration. But then you'd want to use "L" for "live" as well. And then you think, gosh, when we say in English "live my life" we're actually being redundant, and that forces you to change it to simply "live" and then doing that so much forces you to change it when vocalizing English too. In that way sign changes your English. We really are silly in English, quite a lot, and that's why deaf people think we talk like Shakespeare with extra frilly things all over the place.

Soph shows "wander free" with the sign for wander compressed so severely there is no actually wandering. "Free" is breaking the chains of slavery. That chain breaking motion with "L" configurations means "Liberty," "Liberate," "Libertarian." 

"OOOOOOOooo" is a jacking off motion that's legit and I don't like it. Because it's f'k'n obscene! So instead, I use two "O" shapes coming at you sustained for as long as the singer does. 

There are different ways of saying "like" I don't know what Soph is doing with ILY (I love you) configuration coming from her forehead. You can use a "Y" configuration moving back and forth to convey "same-o, same-o" or bring two index fingers together parallel to the ground for comparison of two similar things. The other type of "like" for "fond of" or "appreciate" is plucking off a shirt button with thumb and middle finger.  

Soph's "just because" is poorly formed. "Just" is a "J" flicked at the torso level. There is also "just" as in recently. And "just" as in "equal." The sign for "because" is four fingers pulled across the forehead then tucked into the palm Another way is draw an index finger across the forehead above the brows. Other people use the sign for "why"

Soph pulls her hair back but she just washed it so it falls right back. Twice. Don't you think it would be better to tie it back and get it out of the way? Oh, Soph, your beautiful flowing hair, we must see it in all its glory, don't listen to him.