Sul Sul! Behind the gibberish language of The Sims

Twenty Thousand Hertz

Dallas Taylor

Music, Design, Arts, Music Commentary

4.8 • 4.1K Ratings

🗓️ 19 January 2022

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When The Sims was first being developed, the creators faced a problem. They knew they wanted these characters to talk and interact, but they were worried that using a real language would quickly get repetitive and annoying. So, they decided to make one up. This is the story of Simlish: How it was created, why it works so well, and why artists ranging from The Black Eyed Peas to The Flaming Lips have re-recorded their songs in this gibberish language. Featuring Sims Designer & Voiceover Director Claire Curtin, Composer & Audio Director Jerry Martin, voice actress Krizia Bajos, and Youtuber Rachybop. Follow Dallas on Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn. Watch our video shorts on YouTube, and join the discussion on Reddit and Facebook. Become a monthly contributor at 20k.org/donate. If you know what this week's mystery sound is, tell us at mystery.20k.org. Subscribe to Rachel's Youtube channels, Rachybop and Rachybop Gaming. Check out SONOS at sonos.com. Episode transcript, music, and credits can be found here: https://www.20k.org/episodes/sulsul Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to 20,000 Hertz.
0:08.2	Reality entertainment is everywhere these days.
0:11.3	Thanks to Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Twitter, we can follow people's lives more closely
0:16.5	than ever before.
0:17.9	And over on the television side, shows like The Bachelorette, the Masked Singer,
0:21.8	and The Real Housewives are still some of the highest rated programs out there.
0:26.0	Legendary superstar comedian Larry the cable gun!
0:30.4	No way! Are you not entertained?
0:35.6	These shows are based on real people reacting to real situations, or at least situations that
0:41.5	pretend to be real.
0:42.7	The only thing that keeps my mind sane is the fact that my pastor is on the way.
0:47.8	I'm trying to keep my Jesus, because you one step away from getting your face punched in.
0:51.9	We're so used to it by now that it feels totally normal.
0:55.6	But this kind of entertainment only took off in the last couple of decades.
0:59.3	The first really big reality show was Survivor, which started in the year 2000.
1:03.9	Over 120 million people tuned in to watch the season finale.
1:08.3	The winner of the first survivor competition is Rich.
1:16.5	Congratulations, Rich.
1:20.6	That same year, a computer game came along that perfectly tapped into this hunger for reality.
1:26.6	It was called The Sims.
1:28.7	Lovable, unpredictable, programmable, it's the Sims. When you create the characters and design
1:36.2	the surroundings, anything's a possibility. The Sims, it's a new game every day.
	...

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