Amber is a sign language interpreter. For the past year or so, I’ve been teaching myself signs, and using her as my mentor. We’ve gone so far as to post videos on Youtube so she can critique me.

This weekend was fantastic for a buncha buncha reasons, including tromping around Boston and a quick trip into NYC. I don’t think we stopped talking the entire time (and I think Jason will attest to that). When we weren’t talking, we were signing. By the end of the weekend, we were having conversations using sign, which is incredibly satisfying to me.

One of the things Amber showed me was a Youtube video of someone interpreting a song. As you can imagine, someone deaf wouldn’t be able to hear the words, the tune, the beat, the pattern of chorus, verse, chorus, verse, etc.

I’ve watched this particular video a dozen times now. I’m impressed with the genre expression, the use of multiple backgrounds/costumes to indicate different parts of the song, and the type of signing I think Marilyn Manson would appreciate. (Note the word ‘No’ gets nibbled at a bit.) One cool thing about ASL is when you’re talking about someone saying something to you, you present the sign to yourself. So, in the song, when the crowd shouts ‘No!’ or ‘Yes!’, the guy signs it to himself, if that makes sense. Its these little details that helps really interpret the song. It’s this fantastic combination of performance, and the better you do it, the more homage you give to the original.

Without further ado, may I graciously present Marilyn Manson’s This Is the New Shit.

To be honest, I like this better than the original. I don’t know if that’s because I’m so interested in ASL, or if it’s just that good. Somewhere in the middle, prolly.