Coldplay, a British music band with more than 100 million records sold worldwide, is probably the most successful band of the 21st century to date. One of their latest music videos, for the song feelslikeimfallinginlove, features Sign Language almost entirely, with deaf artist Natasha Ofili interpreting it into American Sign Language (ASL).
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| Frame from Coldplay's feelslikeimfallinginlove music video with Natasha Ofili in the foreground. |
It is not the first time that an international band or singer includes sign language in their music video. We have already seen it with Paul McCartney, Ed Sheeran, Sia or Marshmello. Apparently, it shouldn't be news, even most music videos share a similar black and white visual aesthetic. However, there are reasons to applaud it more effusively this time.
Who is Natasha Ofili?
Natasha is an actress and writer who has achieved important success in a relatively short artistic career. She took her first steps in acting, mainly in TV series and movies, initially highlighting the animated series Undone, produced by Prime Video with critical and public success (it has more than 8 points on IMDB). The main character of this series, Alma, has a deafness but it is not until episode 5 that we see sign language from the hand of Natasha.
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| Natasha Ofili in episode 5 of the TV series Undone Undone (Prime Video) |
That same year she is called to play the role of Principal Vaughn for four episodes (mainly 5, 6 and 7). This work probably had a greater impact on her visibility, as the series was streamed on Netflix. Chronologically, both series were released in the same month of September, so it could be said that 2019 was the year that catapulted Natasha into acting.
Afterwards, Natasha continued to work on very different projects, including theatrical performance with the prestigious Deaf West Theatre, her participation in the Spider-Man Miles Morales video game (which was a milestone for sign language in video games and we told about it here) and her own short film based on her life experience, The Multi (2022), which she wrote, directed, produced and starred in, being selected in many international festivals. The Multi tackles the impact of lifelong trauma and mental illness, from the perspective of the Black Deaf Female community.
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| Natasha Ofili filming the short film The Multi (2022) |
Natasha's deafness began at the age of 18 months due to a high fever. As the only deaf child in her family, the library was the place where Natasha grew up reading stories that captured her imagination. Not surprisingly, these stories sparked a passion for writing, literature and the arts in general, which she pursued professionally as a fashion designer before turning to acting.
Natasha hopes that any success in her career will mean progress in the authentic representation of deaf people in film, television or media, especially black deaf women. As such, she also invests some of her work in accessibility consulting for events and organizations.
If you are hiring Deaf and Disabled people, you really are bringing different dimensions to what you are creating (Natasha Ofili, 2022)
You can follow Natasha on her Instagram account @natasha_ofili or visit her website natashaofili.com to learn more about her.
What Makes This Coldplay Video So Special?
Although other similar music videos have been made before, this Coldplay song has two features that make it very special: the first is that it is the first music video in which the artistic direction is by a Deaf artist. In fact, the video's credits on YouTube read: 'Story & Creative Direction, Performance & American Sign Language Translation by: Natasha Ofili'.
The second feature is that Natasha did her own interpretation of the song in Sign Language, instead of opting for a literal translation that follows the English lyrics, as most music videos have done so far. In a statement uploaded to the official Coldplay website (which can be downloaded as a PDF here), Natasha explains it herself:
The challenge is sometimes the English words or syntax can’t be signed word for word because those specific signs sometimes do not express the true meaning of the sentence or word. For example, “Any Angel on my windowsill, But it’s so dark inside, I throw the windows wide.” My ASL translation transformed the sentence into a visual story of pushing a person away, then embracing them to my heart, then releasing and opening my inner darkness to light.
In this way, sign language ceases to be a mere accessibility tool at the service of the music, and is presented as a new dimension in the video, in which it is in a way as if there were two songs together, perfectly complementing and integrating each other: one song with the English audio and the other with the sign language.
The best way to understand this is to look at some of the melodic hooks in the song, such as when he says "I know, la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la". The melodic hook is often interpreted in sign language by using the fingerspelling of the letters L-A repeatedly (as you can see at the beginning of this video, for example). However, Natasha never follows this literal pattern, which makes the song more enjoyable for deaf people who don't hear the music at all.
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| Example of Natasha Ofili's artistic interpretation of a melodic hook. |
How Did the Idea Come Up?
Although no exact information has been found on who suggested making this Coldplay music video in sign language, the band was already incorporating signed interpretation in their concerts and even included vibrating backpacks for deaf people two or three years ago (e.g. in Barcelona 2023 and Singapore 2024).
On the other hand, Coldplay met Natasha for the first time during a live performance of the band on the popular U.S. television show Saturday Night Live. Natasha was performing the song 'The Astronaut' in sign language during the performance. Therefore, it is very likely that the idea of a music video was the result of these previous collaborations, the sensitivity of the band Coldplay and the good reception by deaf people.
Who Is With Natasha Ofili?
In some parts of the music video you can see other deaf people accompanying Natasha. This is the Manos Blancas Choir, from the National System of Orchestras and Youth and Children's Choirs of Venezuela, made up of 120 young people, including deaf young people. The group of deaf young people from the Manos Blancas Choir who appear in the Coldplay video interpret parts of the song in Venezuelan Sign Language.
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| Deaf youth members of the Manos Blancas Choir behind Natasha Ofili in Coldplay music video |
You might be interested in:
- Ed Sheeran in sign language
- Sia's reasons for sign language
- Sam Feldt: sign language is louder than words
Sources:
- Abdul Hadi, E. (2024, January 31). Sign language and interactive vests: S’pore deaf community members praise inclusive Coldplay concerts. In The Straits Time. Retrieved from: https://www.straitstimes.com/life/entertainment/sign-language-and-interactive-vests-s-pore-deaf-community-members-praise-inclusive-coldplay-concerts
- Catalan News (2023, May 15). Coldplay to offer sign language and vibrating backpacks for the deaf at Barcelona concerts. Retrieved from: https://www.catalannews.com/culture/item/coldplay-to-offer-sign-language-and-vibrating-backpacks-for-the-deaf-at-barcelona-concerts
- Cat-Wells, K. (2022, January 25). Natasha Ofili’s Filmmaker Debut At Slamdance - The Black Deaf Female Perspective. In Forbes. Retrieved from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/keelycatwells/2022/01/25/natasha-ofilis-filmmaker-debut-at-slamdancethe-black-deaf-female-perspective/
- Ford Foundation (w/d). Natasha Ofili. Actress, Writer, Filmmaker, and Producer. En línea: https://www.fordfoundation.org/fellows/natasha-ofili/
- Jean-Philippe, M. (2019, September 27). Natasha Ofili Is the Principal in The Politician—and She's Breaking Barriers for Deaf Actors. In Oprah Daily. Retrieved from: https://www.oprahdaily.com/entertainment/a29232832/netflix-the-politician-deaf-principal-natasha-ofili/
- Much Much Spectrum (2024, July 4). Coldplay’s new single ft sign language wins hearts globally. Retrieved from: https://www.muchmuchspectrum.com/stories/coldplay%E2%80%99s-new-single-ft-sign-language-wins-hearts-globally
