Sign language in Sia's videos

Sia, an Australian pop singer perhaps best known for her song "Breathe Me" which played during the closing sequence of the Six Feet Under TV series finale, has released a music video for her newest single "Soon We'll Be Found" that features American Sign language throughout:



Video description: As the music begins, Sia, a blonde woman, is in what seems to be a warehouse. She walks up to a bowl filled with milky white liquid and dips both hands into it. With a full-body view of her, she begins signing the lyrics (though I don't personally know how accurately). Editing cuts between close-ups of her hands signing and the full-body view. Then the room darkens around her and she stands in a spotlight while the editing back and forth continues. When the chorus is reached, the lights come back on and here are people dressed in black lined up, three to either side of her. They each have had their hands dipped too, but in a variety of colors. They all sign the lyrics together, their hands standing out colorfully against their black clothing. As the next verse begins, the camera shifts to follow Sia's signing in shadow on a wall where her hands are joined by the shadows of many others, some signing and some forming shadow puppets on the wall -- animals, trees, a Garden of Eden with a shadow puppet snake slithering by. A jumble of gracefully waving hands and arms eventually overwhelm the lighted wall and fade it to black. Then Sia dances alone in a blacklight, her white clothing, painted face and green hands showing brilliantly in the black with dozens of bluish hands -- just hands -- around her, as stairs beneath her feet, as a halo around her body. She continues to sign the lyrics while the halo hands flutter and editing cuts between close-up and full body views. Then the hands scatter and while she signs the chorus they appear as bluish streaks signing with her, indistinctly seen in the black. Then her hands and the disembodied ones begin painting in the blackness, a little like a toy LiteBrite -- a sun, trees, clouds, a landscape of colorful flowers. Blue hands perch as birds in the painted trees against the black background. Then suddenly Sia is in the white-walled warehouse again. The six people are gone but black clothing lays in piles where each once stood. Sia looks up and smiles as disembodied blue hands fly like birds into the rafters.

The lyrics to "Soon We'll Be Found":

Come along it is the break of day
Surely now, you'll have some things to say
It's not the time for telling tales on me

So come along, it won't be long
'Til we return happy
Shut your eyes, there are no lies
In this world we call sleep
Let's desert this day of hurt
Tomorrow we'll be free

Let's not fight I'm tired can't we just sleep tonight
Don't turn away it's just there's nothing left here to say
Turn around I know we're lost but soon we'll be found

Well it's been rough but we'll be just fine
Work it out yeah we'll survive
You mustn't let a few bad times dictate

So come along, it won't be long
'Til we return happy
Shut your eyes, there are no lies
In this world we call sleep
Let's desert this day of work
Tomorrow we'll be free

Let's not fight I'm tired can't we just sleep tonight
Don't turn away it's just there's nothing left here to say
Turn around I know we're lost but soon we'll be found

The music video has circulated fairly widely as it was a free download at iTunes a few weeks ago. On the making of the video, Sia says:

I’ve always been obsessed with the beauty of sign language. The movement and expression just appears, to ignorant-hearing-me as a dance… a beautiful, emotive dance. But the real beauty is that, hidden in these perfect shapes, is communication.

I'm always curious how Deaf people feel about their language being used as art by hearing people, particularly in video format where the full view of the person signing seems to me to often be mangled in order to make it artsy but, ironically, useless as communication. I don't know that the ASL is useless in this video, but its use has been discussed at The Deaf Edge where it's raised conflicting emotions and opinions.

Whether it's to her credit or just an interesting obsession, Sia also uses a bit of sign language in an older song, "The Girl You Lost to Cocaine":