It has been a while since we heard news from Lisa Knapp, but we’re always keen to hear what she’s been up to. According to the latest missives, she’s been busy indeed. Her recording of ‘The Rowan Tree’ [Roud 23799] appears on the soundtrack to LIVING, a new film starring Bill Nighy as an unhappy city gent living in the early 1950s who finds delight in life in the wake of a terminal diagnosis.
The film is based on the Akira Kurosawa movie, Ikiru (1952). The screenplay was written by Nobel Prize for Literature winner, Kazuo Ishiguro.
Knapp’s contribution to the LIVING soundtrack sits alongside music written entirely by Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch, a London-based, Ivor Novello and BIFA-nominated French composer, pianist and recording artist.
The folk artist’s recording showcases her extraordinary, unique voice, singing as an accompanied performance for the first verse before being joined by orchestral backing. She was personally invited to record the song by the film’s director, Oliver Hermanus. The song appears several times throughout the film – Bill Nighy sings it at the piano in a touching scene early on in the film, and Lisa Knapp sings it over the final credits. Knapp’s previous albums include Till April Is Dead ≈ A Garland of May, Hidden Seam, and Wild and Undaunted.
The lyrics to ‘The Rowan Tree’ are often credited as having been written by Lady Nairne (1766-1845), a writer and collector of folk songs, while the tune’s origin is unknown. ‘The Rowan Tree’ appeared in R. A. Smith’s Scottish Minstrel (1822). A relatively rare song, it only appears five times in the archive at Cecil Sharp House.
The original soundtrack to LIVING is released on November 4th.
I saw Lisa Knapp supporting Kathryn Williams at the Barbican in probably 2007 or 2008 and was so impressed I immediately went out and bought her album. I wasn’t wrong. Fantastic singer.
Shout out to my wonderful and talented brother Jim Barne who arranged and produced The Rowan Tree for Living.
Hello
Why has the fourth verse not sung in Rowan tree in the soundtrack of Living?
Does there exist a complete version of the song sung by Lisa Knapp?
Mitt, that search is exactly what brought me to this page and your comment. The film needed the full lyrics. Recall the heartbreak of Rodney when singing that song for the first time in the pub – his voice breaks and he stops when he mentions “My Mother…” – the thoughts of love, and his pending death, make it impossible for him to continue.
Only after finding purpose in life by doing good for others, is he capable of completing the words at the end of the film – this time with a smile on his face. That is the message.
He is fulfilled. He can now accept his coming death. He will now join his parents and ancestors in the branches that bind (“Entwined thou art wi’ many ties O’hame and infancy”) . The Winter’s night metaphor is obvious, though still moving: but it’s his empty swing that continues to move that struck me as it tells that his legacy will live on after he is gone.
Like you, I would like Loisa’s dull version.