In 2006 Knight starred in BBC1 music TV show, Just The Two Of Us, and is the host of the Radio 2 show Beverley's Gospel Nights, which explores the origins and impact of gospel music. Now in its second season, the show has featured interviews with stars such as Destiny's Child and Shirley Caesar.
Knight is an ambassador for many charities such Christian Aid and has travelled to areas affected by disease and poverty to help raise awareness. She is an active campaigner for anti-Aids organisations such as the Stop AIDS Campaign and The Terrence Higgins Trust and is also a vocal campaigner against homophobic lyrics in urban music. She became an MBE in 2006, the only musician to be granted such an honour in the Queen's eightieth birthday honours list.
In February 2006 Knight consolidated her move into the mainstream audience by appearing on BBC1 music show, Just The Two of Us. The show, featuring celebrities who duet with established singers, ran for two weeks and proved to be a relative disappointment in terms of audience figures – averaging between fifteen and twenty-five percent audience shares.[17] Nevertheless it provided a platform for Knight to reach out to a bigger audience and demonstrate her talent by performing a different array of songs than she would otherwise be known for. Reaching out to new audiences was also a driving force behind Knight’s decision to join Take That on their reunion arena tour. Take That - The Ultimate Tour 06, which ran from April to July 2006, sold 270,000 tickets in less than four hours on sale at the box office and featured Knight as a support act.
In March 2006 Beverley released her fifth album, a compilation set featuring the majority of her top forty UK singles entitled Voice - The Best Of Beverley Knight. The album, which was certified Gold less than a month after its release,[19] became her second highest charting of her career when it entered the UK albums chart at number ten and rose to number nine a month later. It was preceded by the single "Piece of my Heart" – a cover of the Erma Franklin classic made famous by Janis Joplin and entered the singles chart at number sixteen, spending eleven weeks inside the UK top 75 singles chart and becoming her longest-running chart single to date.
In October 2006, Knight recorded her fifth studio album, Music City Soul, in Nashville. Completed in less than five days, the album was released on 7 May 2007 and features collaborations with musicians such as Ronnie Wood and Scotty Moore. It has spawned three singles thus far, "No Man's Land", released on 16 April 2007, "After You", released on 2 July 2007 and "The Queen of Starting Over", released on 15 October 2007.
Beverley will be releasing her next album in spring 2009.
Sites: YouTube
Square Peg
Beverley Knight Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I just don't care
No one tells me to my face
They'd never dare
When you come from somewhere else
Everything feels strange
So much pressure to conform
But I don't wanna change...
Like a square peg in a round hole
I never fit in;
But I won't beg, or sell my soul
I'm stronger within.
There were time s when I would try
To play along
Folks would laugh at me, but never say why
I'd got it wrong
You can stand up in a crowd with ten thousand people
And still be on your own
So if faking friends means that I'll be your equal
I'd rather be, rather be alone...
Like a square peg in a round hole
I never fit in;
But I won't beg, or sell my soul
I'm stronger within.
(And if you ever feel like I feel
You would understand)
Although some days it hurts you inside
Just hold on to your pride....
Like a square peg in a round hole
I never fit in;
But I won't beg, or sell my soul
I'm stronger within.
Like a square peg in a round hole
No, don't ever fit in
So you don't beg, or sell your soul
Oh, you're stronger within
The lyrics to Beverley Knight's song "Square Peg" express the feelings of someone who feels like they don't fit in and are constantly under pressure to conform. The lines, "I know what they think of me, I just don't care" and "So much pressure to conform, but I don't wanna change," show that the singer is aware of people's opinions of them, but they are not willing to change who they are to fit in. The title of the song refers to the singer feeling like a "square peg in a round hole," which is a metaphor for not fitting in.
The song goes on to describe how the singer has tried to fit in before, but it resulted in ridicule and feeling like an outsider. The lines, "There were times when I would try to play along, folks would laugh at me, but never say why I'd got it wrong" reflect the singer's struggle to fit in despite their differences. Despite this, the singer finds strength in their sense of self and identity, and declares "I'm stronger within" in the chorus.
The final stanza of the song encourages the listener that they are not alone, and that holding onto pride is important even on the difficult days. The repetition of "like a square peg in a round hole, I never fit in, but I won't beg, or sell my soul, I'm stronger within" emphasizes the central message of the song: that it is okay to be different and hold onto one's individuality.
Line by Line Meaning
I know what they think of me
The singer is aware of the assumptions people make about her.
I just don't care
The singer is not concerned with what people think of her.
No one tells me to my face
People are afraid to confront the singer directly.
They'd never dare
People avoid confronting the artist because they fear her response.
When you come from somewhere else
The artist is from a different place than the people around her.
Everything feels strange
The environment and the people around the singer do not feel familiar.
So much pressure to conform
The singer is being pressured to change herself to fit in.
But I don't wanna change...
The artist refuses to change herself to fit in.
Like a square peg in a round hole
The artist feels like she doesn't fit in with her environment.
I never fit in;
The artist feels like she never belonged with the people around her.
But I won't beg, or sell my soul
The singer is determined to stay true to herself.
I'm stronger within.
The artist is confident in her sense of self.
There were times when I would try
In the past, the singer tried to change herself to fit in.
To play along
The singer attempted to act like the people around her to fit in.
Folks would laugh at me, but never say why
People would mock the singer for not fitting in, but they would not explain why.
I'd got it wrong
The artist made mistakes trying to fit in, but she doesn't know what she did wrong.
You can stand up in a crowd with ten thousand people
The artist can be surrounded by many people, but still feel alone.
And still be on your own
The singer can still feel lonely even when surrounded by many people.
So if faking friends means that I'll be your equal
If the only way to fit in is to pretend to be friends with people, the singer refuses to do that.
I'd rather be, rather be alone...
The artist would rather be alone than change herself to fit in.
(And if you ever feel like I feel
The artist believes that other people may feel the same way she does.
You would understand)
If other people were in her situation, they would be able to empathize with the artist.
Although some days it hurts you inside
Sometimes, the singer feels hurt by not fitting in.
Just hold on to your pride....
The artist encourages others to stay true to themselves and not change to fit in.
No, don't ever fit in
The singer refuses to change herself to fit in.
So you don't beg, or sell your soul
The singer encourages others to stay true to themselves and not sell out to fit in.
Oh, you're stronger within
Being true to oneself makes a person stronger.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind