"Brailling Signs Is Cool to Do" Song
Download audio recording in mp3 format.
Lyrics by Becky Williams and Linn Sorge
(parody on "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do" 1962, Neil Sedaka)
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Brailling signs is cool to do!
Verse 1:
I need to find Room 109,
But this building has no braille signs.
We should give these folks a clue
That brailling signs is cool to do.
Verse 2:
Here's a machine. What does it sell?
There's no braille here so I can't tell.
We want signs we can read too.
So brailling signs is cool to do!
Bridge:
You know it's up to us to spread the news
'Cause no one wants the No Braille Blues.
Don't say that it costs too much,
When we can read the signs we need in braille with just a simple touch.
Verse 3:
The elevator stopped, but on which floor?
Now I need to find the restroom door.
Spread the word. You know it's true
That brailling signs is cool to do!
Bridge Repeated:
You know it's up to us to spread the news
'Cause no one wants the No Braille Blues.
Don't say that it costs too much,
When we can read the signs we need in braille with just a simple touch.
Verse 4:
ATM's are made for me and you,
So why's the braille one in the bank's drive through
Let's keep on pushin'! There are still too few,
And brailling signs is cool to do!
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How Did This Song Come Into Being?
By Linn Sorge, Hadley Instructor
Becky Williams has always enjoyed writing new lyrics to well-known melodies. Her
creative work sends forth messages to help to bring about positive change as they
lift people up, and bring smiles along the way.
I met Becky when she moved to Wisconsin in 1960. We've enjoyed a lifelong friendship
with music as an integral part of it. We would toss ideas back and forth about potential
songs and lyrics to create just the right song to help a specific cause or brighten
someone's day.
Becky became an ambassador for The Hadley School for the Blind as part of her employment
at the Badger Association for the Blind in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Since that time,
she has been coping with the challenges of cancer recurrence. I asked her a few months
ago if she had any kind of "Make-A-Wish" ideas. The song on this page is one of them.
She said it would be so meaningful to her if a professional musician could someday
sing and record one of her songs.
Two superb singer/song writers, Anne Hills and David Roth, came immediately to my
mind. They are my dear friends and have become good friends of The Hadley School
for the Blind. They were the performers during all four benefit folk concerts for
the school called "Spring from Darkness Into Light." I wrote and told them of Becky's
wish and the importance of the message within the song. That is all that was needed.
I soon had their recording in my email box. They worked with a long-time friend of
David's, Chip Kramer, who added his skill, musicianship, and music studio to help
the wish become a reality. All efforts offered by the three of them to bring this
musical braille project to our Web site were given with enthusiastic caring and volunteer
time.
The song was originally sung by Neil Sedaka in the early 1960s as "Breaking Up Is
Hard To Do." Our school has obtained permission from EMI Records and Universal Music
to use the original melody and chords in combination with the new lyrics. We hope
you enjoy this new version sung by Anne and David. Please help us to promote its
message of universal braille access which is so vital to all of us here at the Hadley
School. We've been teaching braille to students since 1920!
Becky is currently in hospice care. With many people working together, we have now
brought one of her wishes here to our Web site to help lift her spirits up.
If you want to learn more about Anne or David and their music, check out the Web
sites listed below:
Anne and David on stage at our 2010 Spring From Darkness Into Light benefit concert
For a free MP3 file of this song, available for a limited time, email
directly with "Brailling Signs Song" in the subject line. If you are a parent of
a visually impaired child, an adult braille user, or a blindness professional and
want to let us know that, feel free to add it to your email! We'd love to know how
you will be using the song.
(Submitted by
Linn Sorge
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