While growing up in London, Knapp was fed on a music diet which lurched from house to dance to pop, through The Waterboys to Van Morrison, finally landing her in the unlikely environs of folk music by way of a friend’s record collection.
What followed were several years of musical exploration which included countless days rediscovering recordings and books of traditional singers and songs from early 20th century through to the folk revival of the ‘60s and ‘70s, by way of the folk music archives at Cecil Sharp House in Camden.
Meanwhile, Knapp became more involved in the traditional folk scene, singing and playing fiddle at folk clubs, including regular performances at Court Sessions Folk Club and a first solo show at Lewes Arms Folk Club. She also played at Irish sessions and guested for Irish fiddler/multi-instrumentalist Gerry Diver at his show at Hammersmith Irish Centre in London.
In 2003, Knapp began recording her own material. The first track she put down was ‘Blacksmith’, a York Broadside ballad published in 1825 and most famously recorded in 1971 by Steeleye Span. The track caught the ear of producer Youth (winner of two Brit Awards and producer/remixer to The Verve (Urban Hymns), U2, Crowded House, INXS, Paul McCartney and more) who offered to remix the track. The result was a powerful and unforgettably renewed version of this song of unrequited love. The track was released in 2006 on Youth’s folk compilation album titled 'What The Folk Vol. 1' (Butterfly Records).
In autumn 2005, Knapp and co-producer Gerry Diver put down the skeleton of what would become her debut album. Early tracks were put up on a Myspace page and interest in her began to grow.
The result was the debut album Wild And Undaunted (Ear To The Ground Records - available in most stores/Amazon/iTunes) which was released on March 26th 2007 following radio play on Radio 1, 2 and 3 and greeted by a host of outstanding reviews including being Mojo 's Folk Album of the Year. She went on to reach no 5 in the iTunes chart and was HMV Choice's album of the month in May/June 2007. Summer 2007 saw her in demand with more than twenty festival appearances including The Greenman Festival, The Larmer Tree Festival and Cambridge Folk Festival.
Journalist Colin Irwin gave her 2013 album Hidden Seam, which included contributions by Martin Carthy and Kathryn Williams, five stars in a review for The Observer. The lyrics of the album's opening track, "Shipping Song", derive from BBC Radio 4's Shipping Forecast. Another song from the album, "Two Ravens", took the award for Best Original Song at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2014.
Till April is Dead – A Garland Of May, Knapp's 2017 concept album about the month of May, received a five-starred review in The Guardian newspaper.
Shipping Song
Lisa Knapp Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Fair Isle, Cromarty, Forth
South Utsire, North Utsire, Viking, Sole
Bailey, Malin, Shannon, Irish Sea
FitzRoy, Trafalgar, Forties
Plymouth, Lundy, Fastnet
German Bight, Portland, Wight
Humber
Oh waters that cradle
This strange salty fable
Running through our fins
Interconnected
From blue to silver to green
Down force ten northern winds
And severally returns
Spit words yet to be thought
By tongues yet to be seen
And deeds yet to be wrought
By brains yet to be born
From [?]
Dogger, Fisher
Biscay
Hebrides
Dover, Thames
Southeast Iceland
The lyrics of Lisa Knapp's "Shipping Song" are a poetic representation of the interconnectedness of the world and the journey of ships traveling across the ocean. The song begins by listing a series of locations, each one a destination or a point along the way of a ship's journey. The places mentioned are all connected by water, and their names roll off the tongue rhythmically, creating a dreamlike quality to the song. As the song progresses, Knapp's lyrics become more abstract and metaphorical, using language that describes the movement and power of the sea. The imagery becomes more fantastical, as Knapp describes the forces of the ocean as possessing the ability to create new words and ideas, and to bring forth new actions and creations.
The overarching theme of the song is the idea that the sea connects us all. The places mentioned are all ports of call for ships, but they are also landmarks that signify our place in the world. The ocean links these disparate locations together, creating a sense of community and unity. The lyrics speak to the transformative power of the sea, as well, as Knapp describes the ability of the water to shape not only the physical world but also the world of ideas and action.
Line by Line Meaning
Rockall, Faeroes, Tyne
Mentions different places - Rockall, Faeroes, and Tyne
Fair Isle, Cromarty, Forth
Mentions different places - Fair Isle, Cromarty and Forth
South Utsire, North Utsire, Viking, Sole
Names different sea areas - South Utsire, North Utsire, Viking, and Sole
Bailey, Malin, Shannon, Irish Sea
Referring to different sea areas - Bailey, Malin, Shannon, and Irish Sea
FitzRoy, Trafalgar, Forties
Mentions different places - Fitzroy, Trafalgar, and Forties
Plymouth, Lundy, Fastnet
Referring to different places - Plymouth, Lundy, and Fastnet
German Bight, Portland, Wight
Mentions different places - German Bight, Portland and Wight
Humber
Referring to a specific place - Humber
Oh waters that cradle
Addressing the waters that are gentle
This strange salty fable
Talking about the story of the sea, of its saltiness from the beginning of time.
Running through our fins
The water runs through the fins of fishes swimming in the sea
Interconnected
As if the waters are connected to everything else in this world
From blue to silver to green
Describing the sweet shades of the color of water in different states
Down force ten northern winds
Talking about the winds blowing in the northern hemisphere
And severally returns
The winds often return after a long period of absence
Spit words yet to be thought
As if the water is sying not everything has been said through the story of the sea
By tongues yet to be seen
Tongues from which clarity hasn't been spoken yet
And deeds yet to be wrought
Deeds that are yet to come to light
By brains yet to be born
Babies who will be born in the future and will play a pivotal role in shaping the world
From []
The song mentions the sea area the artist is referring to, but it is not clear due to the lyrics.
Dogger, Fisher
Mentions different sea areas - Dogger and Fisher
Biscay
Referring to the Bay of Biscay
Hebrides
Talking about the Hebrides islands of Scotland
Dover, Thames
Referring to Dover, a town in Kent County and Thames River in southeastern England
Southeast Iceland
Referring to the southeastern parts of Iceland
Writer(s): Gerry Diver
Contributed by Kayla E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@kitwest61
Beautiful
@utulautturi5538
Simply one of THE most amazing tracks from a phenomenal album. More precious than gold, these emotional landscapes.
@RupertDBayer
I wrote to Lisa on Twitter praising the song and was honoured to get a personal reply! :-)
@oneandonlyarajivp
This is soooo melodious and mellifluous! The voice, the music (that autoharp has some amazing reverb and sounds like guitar harmonics pretty much) and the words which sound so much like poetry .... so original!
@romis76
Seen Lisa's concert last night in Ludlow, blown away with the whole performance. She's just brilliant!
@toms3898
Hey, amazing that someone has created a song of the shipping forecast. Nostalgia, warm, safe, and a lovely song 🤗
@musicseamus1231
Powerful and beautiful song. Lisa is such a unique artiste. Very English and gorgeous looking woman too.
@aylesmerep
Exquisite. Both the song and Lisa.
@svenlittlecross
this is very beautiful
@oorlabdickv
excellent song. Heard this live a few years ago on BBC6 - that version was a bit faster and a bit less 'esoteric' but still hauntingly different.