An Australian author who provides insight into the human condition.
Sunday, January 15, 2017
Wednesday, September 28, 2016
She was a role model
For modern women.
Liberated from the labels
That had defined earlier generations,
She was an expert on things cosmetical
From surgical to chemical.
She was a product of the cutting edge,
A manufactured woman,
Celebrated in magazines,
Sold across the nation.
In matters of weight,
She knew exactly how much to weigh in.
In the powerhouse of business,
She was inscrutable
(Thanks to regular Botox injections).
A beneficiary of affirmative action,
She traded in ideas and influence.
A follower of fashion,
She rode the wave
After the second wave of the women’s movement.
Her flawless smiling image on magazine covers
Guaranteed sales at supermarket checkouts.
Articles about her reassured women,
Interested in material culture,
That their personal fit was simple,
A mere matter of purchase.
“Image is all that matters,” she said,
From her chair in Wonderland,
Her smile lingering like the Cheshire Cat.
Was she happy? Did her life have meaning?
Such questions are absurd.
She was a role model for women
Living life through the looking glass.
©Christine M Knight
Thursday, July 14, 2016
'The Real Deal' is written in 4/4 time. Christine M Knight developed this up-beat song when working through a writer's block for scenes related to a performance at the 2000 ARIAs by Nikki Mills, the central character in 'Song Bird'.
Should you wish to contribute to Christine M Knight's music production fund so that this song, along with other songs, can be produced in the near future, you can do so by buying one or more of her songs through CD Baby, iTunes, or Amazon, Microsoft Store etc.
BRIDGE- SUNG - MELODY AND COUNTER MELODY - change in drumming
MAN Don't say no!
WOMAN (I don't want to be a trophy)
MAN: to desire.
WOMAN (Made that mistake with another man)
MAN: Don't put ice
WOMAN: (I want more than phantom delight)
MAN: on fire.
WOMAN Oh no! Oh no!
WOMAN - SUNG CHORUS - minimalist drums
Don’t proposition me.
Don’t take me for passion’s fool.
Don't want to be your trophy, one of many or few.
COUNT OF 6 BEATS - percussion crescendo
Someone with values and goals.
I want more than a phantom delight.
I want respect and
A love that's true for life
OUTRO
Man: Don't put ice on fire.
Man: Don't say no! to desire.
Woman: I want more than a phantom delight
Woman: I want a love that's true for life.
SCATTING
SPOKEN: I'm not passion's pool.
© Christine M Knight
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
The lyrics and music for 'Sunshine Days' developed out of Zoey Blake's subplot in 'Song Bird'. Verses are written in E minor with the chorus in G major.
Growing up is rarely easy as teens like Zoey come to terms with some of the harsh realities of life. As part of that process, Zoey is sadder but also develops resilience in Knight's 'Life Song' and 'Song Bird'.
Should you wish to contribute to Christine M Knight's music production fund so that this song, along with other songs, can be produced in the near future, you can do so by buying one or more of her songs through CD Baby, iTunes, or Amazon, Microsoft Store etc.
You have hear Christine's other songs by selecting MUSIC on this website's NAV BAR.
VERSE 1A solo break for the alto sax.
VERSE 3 © Christine M Knight
Saturday, November 07, 2015
'The Flame' is a song from 'Song Bird' by Christine M Knight. You can listen to it and other songs from the novel on iTunes. You can buy 'Song Bird' at this link. You can read more about the story underpinning the song here.
INTRO
Love is an eternal flame.
Love is an eternal flame.
VERSE: MAN
I once thought
Love was pure desire,
A hunger, fever,
An appetite on fire,
Consuming lovers
That came my way.
Relationships
Blazed and faded.
VERSE: WOMAN
I once believed,
Love was like breath,
Something we were preset
To feel and express.
Seduced by a masquerade,
Got burned and learned,
Actions, not the serenade,
Love's truth confirms.
CHORUS
Now I know
Love's an eternal
Flame.
It burns brightest
On the darkest
Days.
It fills my heart,
Soul, and mind.
So profound,
It can’t be denied.
Love forgives.
It accepts.
Love knows
The wonder
In wonderful.
Steadfast, constant,
Loyal, true
That’s what I’ll be
On life’s road with you.
When things‘re tough?
You can depend on me.
You hold my heart
For eternity.
Now I know
Love's an eternal
Flame.
It burns brightest
On the darkest
Days.
It fills my heart,
Soul, and mind.
So profound,
It can’t be denied.
Love forgives.
It accepts.
Love knows
The wonder
In wonderful.
Love knows
The wonder
In wonderful.
© Christine M Knight
Should you wish to contribute to Christine M Knight's music production fund, you can do so by buying one or more of her songs through CD Baby, iTunes, or Amazon, Microsoft Store etc.
Saturday, November 07, 2015
Should you wish to contribute Christine M Knight's music production fund, you can do so by buying one or more of her songs through CD Baby, iTunes, or Amazon, Microsoft Store etc.
Travelling down
The golden road,
I'll be staying true to
That course.
There's no looking back
To where I came from.
I'm heading
For a better life.
© Music and lyrics by Christine M Knight
Should you wish to contribute to Christine M Knight's music
production fund, you can do so by buying one or more of her songs
through CD Baby, iTunes, or Amazon, Microsoft Store etc.
I've had to close my blog from comment as people hawking their wares use the comment facility to advertise.
Sunday, August 02, 2015
'Masque' is a song from 'Song Bird' by Christine M Knight, available from Amazon. You can hear the full song at CD Baby.
In the novel, this song is co-written by international singing sensation, Nikki Mills, and rock legend, Rick Brody. The word masque refers to the elaborate decorative masks worn at costume balls where ritual and role were entrenched in past centuries in Italy. The word is relevant to the manufactured images of performers in the music industry and the challenges some performers face in being real in relationships.
Should you wish to contribute to Christine M Knight's music production fund, you can do so by buying one or more of her songs through CD Baby, iTunes, or Amazon, Microsoft Store etc.
For American readers, as an Australian, I use the British spelling and grammar system.
VERSE 1- MAN
I’ve lived life
As a masquerade
Defined by
Roles
I have played.
I’ve been a
Shape shifter
The person
Others
Expected me
To be.
Disguised and
Drifting,
I lost
Sight
Of my identity.
VERSE 2 - WOMAN
Take off the mask.
Farewell the double face.
You don’t have to pretend
With me.
I know the fear of
Being real.
When you are true
To yourself
You can be
True to me.
I know the fear of
Being real.
When you are true
To yourself
You can be
True to me.
CHORUS - DUET
Strip it off.
Let it fall away.
Turn desire into
Heat and fire.
Strip it off.
Let it fall away.
Touch and taste
Intimacy.
Get down and
Be real with me.
Strip it off.
Let it fall away.
Turn desire into
Heat and fire.
Get down and
Be real with me.
BRIDGE
Barefoot, naked,
Disguises shed,
In our natural states,
We can live
Without the masks
That bar love
You can be true
To yourself and me.
WOMAN:
Take off the mask.
Farewell the double face.
You don’t have to pretend
With me.
I know the fear of
Being real.
When you are true
To yourself
You can be
True to me.
I know the fear of
Being real.
When you are true
To yourself
You can be
True to me.
CHORUS - DUET
Strip it off.
Let it fall away.
Turn desire into
Heat and fire.
Strip it off.
Let it fall away.
Touch and taste
Intimacy.
Get down and
Be real with me
Strip it off.
Let it fall away.
Turn desire into
Heat and fire.
Get down and
Be real with me.
Get down and
Be real with me.
Get down and
Be real with me.(repeated expressively a number of times with sax ad lib)
© Christine M Knight
The cover art below is the one I ultimately did not use although I did like the comment the visual made about the difficulty in removing a mask.
Should you wish to contribute Christine M Knight's music production fund, you can do so by buying one or more of her songs through CD Baby, iTunes, or Amazon, Microsoft Store etc.
Friday, July 10, 2015
'Move On' lyrics evolved from the novel 'Song Bird' by Christine M Knight, available through Amazon and Book Depository, and Barnes and Noble.
VERSE 1
At times, life can be a struggle.BRIDGE
Undo the ropes
That tie you to the dark.
They have served their purpose
But now it's time to depart.
Learn from past mistakes;
Don't repeat them.
Resolve to do better.
Move on; move on; move on.
© Christine M Knight
Should you wish to contribute Christine M Knight's music production fund, you can do so by buying one or more of her songs through CD Baby, iTunes, or Amazon, Microsoft Store etc.
Friday, May 01, 2015
'Love is All' is a song from 'Song Bird' by Christine M Knight available through Amazon and Book Depository.
VERSE 1
Before I knew you,
Your face, or your name,
I thought love was a dream,
A fairy tale.
But now I know
That love is real.
Its breadth and depth
Beyond imagining.
VERSE 2
While I can imagine
A life without you.
It's not one I want.
It's not one I seek.
Love changed life's meaning.
Life is so much richer now.
You bring out the best in me
And I you.
CHORUS
Love sustains me
As I weather life's storm.
Love lifts me up
When I'm down or forlorn.
Love nurtures
The soul.
Love understands
The need to dream
And evolve.
Love is all.
© Christine M Knight
LOVE IS ALL is the lyric to a song from my third novel 'Song Bird'. It is written in 6/8 time with the 1st and 4th beats played on the drum's rimshot.
Sunday, March 22, 2015
©Christine M Knight
Note: An Australian, Christine uses the British spelling system.
Wednesday, October 10, 2018
Set between 1988-1990, In and Out of Step’s thesis picks-up on a period of significant change in Australian social and cultural history which mirror the wider western world. The novel reflects the popular perceptions of the era and explores reaction to changing roles and values, the relationship between generations, gender dynamics, and power in society through contrasting character perspectives.
The novel charts Cassie Sleight's (rhymes with slate) and her generation’s journeys in new and uncharted territory in their relationships: personal, social, and work after the second wave of the women’s movement.
Life forces the women in my novels to reassess what they are doing, how they are doing it, and to evaluate who they are and want to be.
Through Cassie’s experiences, the reader is entertained and provoked to consider the perceptions held and dualities of women’s roles in western society. That may suggest that this is a non-fiction work masquerading as fiction. However, this aspect is firmly set in the external world of the story and Cassie’s experiences.
In and Out of Step explores:
My novels—In and Out of Step, Life Song, Song Bird— portray the diverse and changing realities of women in the time the novels are set: 1980-1990, 1996-1998, 2000-2002. The stories are anchored in the social and historical context of each period.
Saturday, August 12, 2017
Twenty-two-year-old Mavis Mills first appears in my novel In and Out of Step. Outgoing, gregarious, and confident, Mavis is a significant secondary character in that novel. Mavis' story - a subplot - is used to provide contrast to and insight into Cassie Sleight's (the central character) journey.
At one point in the novel, effervescent Mavis is severely injured – physically, emotionally, and psychologically - by domestic violence and the fire of her partner’s rage. He also destroys her guitar and the copies of her original songs. Part of the subplot from In and Out of Step explores the context of the domestic violence and provides insight into the psychology of it. Excuses are not made.
At the start of Life Song, Mavis is twenty-eight-years-old and very different from the young woman who shone throughout most of In and Out of Step. She is the central character in Life Song. She has become subdued, distrustful of her own judgement, and an echo of her former self. Unexpectedly, she discovers she has a choice: continue to live a life tainted by domestic violence or seize the opportunity before her and try to rise above her circumstance and, like the phoenix bird, leave the ashes of her past life behind.
'Could she live the rest of her life as she'd been living. She couldn't, not now she'd glimpsed another world, fleeting though that vision had been.'
Life Song is not a cliche 'chic musician on the road' story and is definitely not a romance. It is about the woman Mavis becomes and the people who stand by her as she undergoes transformation – physical, psychological, and to an extent spiritual. She does not solve her problems in the arms of a man but makes the hard choices herself.
The drama comes from the tugs-of-war that Mavis has to work though. It is made all the harder because Mavis' heart is in conflict with itself. One person, no matter how strong, cannot win a tug-of-war alone. The same applies to Mavis.
Readers learn about the things that give Mavis strength and that enable her to boldly embrace the inevitable changes coming into her life as she becomes Nikki Mills, the Song Bird from Oz.
I recommend you listen to two songs from that novel: Sunshine Days and Life Song (A Vision Splendid) to get a feel for this story.
There are many kinds of wins in life, most of them personal rather than widely acclaimed. It's those personal 'brave heart' moments that define Mavis. Reader feedback through my publisher and website is that Life Song is a gratifying read.
As part of your journey in reading this blog, I suggest you listen to Move On. In my imagination, it is first sung by Mavis' support network, but ultimately the song becomes her personal mantra.
Australia is a diverse landscape and has diverse communities. Life Song gives readers an opportunity to spend time in some of those communities. The title alludes to the fact that each character's life has its own melody and when sung in concert become the symphony that is Life Song.
Notes:
Life Song is one of four novels in The Keimera Series. Each novel is a standalone narrative and has the backstory woven into it. The Keimera Series is an opus.
Keimera does not in any way allude to chimera, a monstrous fire-breathing hybrid creature from Greek mythology.
If you would like to lend me your support so that I can produce more music from my novels, you can buy any of my songs from CD Baby. Each of my songs can be purchased for the very small price of $1.69. My music is also on iTunes and other major online music sellers as well.
Sunday, June 25, 2017
I currently have 8 songs on CD Baby and iTunes. You can help me raise the money to produce the rest of my songs by buying one or more of my songs at the very small price of $1.69 per song. They are on sale at CD Baby and iTunes. Online music streaming services such as Spotify and Deezer promote my music, but I only earn approximately one cent per one hundred streams.
Media article about Christine's music
03-Jul-2019
Christine's rock song 'Masque' featured in an article on Marquix TV (http://www.marquix.tv/features/ChristineMKnight1.html) and Avastar (http://www.avastar.tv/features/ChristineMKnight1.html)..As engaging as Bohemian Rhapsody
10-Mar-2019
Are you tired of dark narratives on TV, in the cinema, and on the news? Then escape into the world of 'Life Song' and 'Song Bird' , available on Amazon and other major online sellers. Th..Christine M Knight's music update
10-Mar-2019
Thank you for visiting Christine M Knight's website. She is not only an author of wonderful novels but also a song composer and producer.. We ask you to help Christine's music cross over to comm..