Lizanne Knott Premieres “This Old World”

An Uplifting Song Sent From Solitude

“Right now is a really dark, tragic time.” said Lizanne Knott. “I think either you fall into that and become really become negative and scared, or you go in the opposite direction. I try and always stay positive. Music is a great thing to lean on and to help get through these times.”

She’s been going in that positive direction all her life both with her music and spirit. This song, which we’re happy to share with you today, embodies that spirit of positivity. Written during the start of this lockdown time, “This Old World” is a gentle, loving and sweetly tuneful reflection on the beauty of our lives and the natural splendor of the earth, tenderly reminding us that it hasn’t vanished.

It’s also a little window into the mind of a songwriter, and artist: “You might think you might know me,” she sings, “but I beg to disagree. ‘Cause I live in a movie no one else can see.”

Tinted by her love of Billie Holiday and music of that era, the song shines with the sweet whimsy of yesteryear. Her singing evokes that joyful spirit, as does the guitar playing, and the great solo, both by Ross Ellenoit.   

The mother of four daughters, three of which are out in the world on their own, Lizanne grew up near her current home in Pennsylvania’s Montgomery County. This song came, she said, sitting out on her porch and feeling something stirring.

Here she is, in her own words, on how that stirring led to “This Old World.” She also shared thoughts about being a songwriter and musician in modern times, which was a challenge even before this crisis, and about holding onto that old world we all know.

Ultimately, it’s about keeping hope alive.

“The world,” she said, “is a survivor.”

LIZANNE KNOTT: I was sitting on my porch on this beautiful night, feeling like something was stirring in my soul, some kind of sense of belonging, and the words just flowed out. I was watching an incredibly beautiful sunset with a gentle breeze blowing through the trees and I started to reflect about the way I’ve wandered through my life, careless and haphazardly at times.

This song is a happy, little song, but there’s a little bit of melancholy in it. I don’t often write really happy songs. This is a little bit of breakaway for me.  I was in a good place when I wrote it even though with all this stuff going on.

My friend, Ross Ellenoit is an amazing, amazing guitar player. I always grab him to play on things. He’s so musical and has an incredible sense. He was in the studio, and I was there, and I played him the song, which stuck in my head. And so, he threw a guitar down on it for me. I have this vintage Martin Parlor guitar that I was given, and he used that on this track.

He even did that solo first take. He just nails it. It’s magical. It embodies exactly what I was looking for, and he does that. He just captures everything right away.

It’s somewhat of a different kind of song for me. Often, I write sad, depressive songs. But this one is happy and made me feel good. And we write for ourselves, first.

Being a songwriter and musician is definitely a hard career to delve into. As with any art, there’s so much rejection, and so much competition where it shouldn’t be. I try to just stay away from that train of thought, but it exists out there.

As far as this pandemic, there’s no reason or rhyme for it, really. I don’t believe that the earth is being cleansed, although it is having a chance to breathe. I don’t believe there is any meaning to what’s happening, but maybe it’s going to create some kind of healing, and people will be a little bit more in touch and aware and a little bit more empathetic for what others are going through. I hope. One can only hope.

It’s unsettling, but maybe something needs to come to the surface. Maybe it is going to open a whole new window of empathy for people, which I think is a huge thing to have. And the song is about that hope.

I’ve had an adventure of life, which led to the song I suppose. It helps me write. I have a lot of experiences to draw from. I don’t have to do any more craziness with my life because I’ve done so much. We live through our own trials and cause our own havoc. Life is all about how you take it. You either feel like the world’s conspiring against you or you’re being punished. Or you can move through it and think, “Okay, I’ve learned. I’m not going to go down that path again.” You learn from it, and you move on.

All of us are one, all together, spinning on this ball we call earth for an indefinite amount of time, and that’s okay. I love that.

The world itself is an entity. We are all made of the world. The world’s made of us. The world itself is a survivor. It is.

There’s a whole universe if you want to keep going, but everything survives, and everything renews itself over time. Planets die, but new planets are born of the death of that planet. There’s a constantly recycling if you really look at the giant picture of it all.

For me, there’s something calming about that. I don’t see any Big Bang ending anywhere. There’s a cycle, and things keep going.

In the wake of everything going on, throw the politics out. Listen to the people singing from the windows. Support the nurses, and the doctors, and the people that are out there on the frontlines, and be grateful for everything that you have. Because we don’t know how long any of us are here for.