a song i wrote for valentines day. first time using my new mic. 

Roses

Song based on this article/essay by Alain De Botton (and with his approval) : http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/29/opinion/sunday/why-you-will-marry-the-wrong-person.html?_r=0

LYRICS : 

You will marry the wrong person

You can’t freeze happiness 
Oh the golden moments, they will be gone 

See the first problem is that we don’t quite understand ourselves, 
and if we can’t do that how will get others, 
and moreover how will we choose our lovers

We’re all quite mad, and the normal ones are the ones 
you don’t know very well

Maybe when we’re on our first date 
don’t ask for my favourite bands, 
ask me how i’m mad, mad like you

You will marry the wrong person

Single life is hard,
lonely Saturday nights, 
and all the nights 

So we do funny things to escape, like settling for something before
it's all too late. Groping in the dark, inventing sparks, inventing you. 

Maybe your instincts are all wrong, and 
who can predict if the feelings will go on

You won’t be the first to be charmed by a 
heavenly song, moment, eyes, times, words, mood, face, 
gone when time reveals all that is true

You will marry the wrong person

Are we seeking happiness, or just the familiar world we miss, 
We’re just birds of the nest

The love we learnt  as kids was darker than you think, 
born out of a complex, indelible ink, there’s a good chance 
you’ll reject the right one

No one tells you how it is, sends you off with love degrees 
all we get are birds and bees 

If you’re not taught to drive you’ll probably going to crash the car 
and we’re taught nothing of love, taught nothing of love

And that's why you will marry the wrong person


--------------------------------------------------------------
Song written with Alex Brenchley (guitar) : 
http://www.alexbrenchley.co.uk/





You Will Marry The Wrong Person

Read by Ensemble Dal Niente on USC campus (Oct. 2016)

s t o p l i g h t  ( 2 0 1 6 )

Written fall of 2016.

Text: 
Hoarded hopes flew away from me.
Wandering through life crying softly, gently, for help. 
Unsure where I'm going, I'm lost at sea. 
Drifting aimlessly, absorbed by the blue.
I'm lost. 

Lost

אתה גוזל ממני את השפיות
כל יום נובר בבטני הרכה
מאשים את הנערה הפגועה
המסתתרת בתוכי

שולח ידיים לנסות ללטף אותה
עוטף במחמאות שפורחות ברוח
כמו עלי כותרת

אתה יודע שאהבתי
יותר
מאשר יכול כל אדם
להכיל
לבדו

אתה רוצה לחזור לסדר היום
כל יום מטיל את עיניך לעברי
שואלת את הנערה הפגועה
אם יש סיכוי להחלמה

מוסר קרני אור רכות ללטף אותי
קוטף את הפחדים שמתרוצצים
ולא נותנים מנוח

אני יודעת שאהבת
יותר
מאשר יכול כל אדם
להכיל
לבדו

עכשיו כבדה האהבה
והיתה לנטל

To Contain

i. the menu
ii. pool
iii. host

This piece serves as an illustration of a possible outcome of entertaining the wild. 
"It’s best to resist the urge to pet and hold them." -The National Park Service

This was performed on the March 4th, 2018 Composition Showcase by Shusanik Hovakimyan.

USC Composition

Three Movements for Solo Piano

video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8GEQbgp8QE

This piece was written in collaboration with the Kaufman sophomore choreographers. I commissioned the text from Kadija Moulton and had six dear friends sing for me (Mary Pettygrove, Clara Valenzuela, Maura Tuffy, Haochen Wang, and Da'Jon James).

"They say bad things come in
threes
Strange triplets 
bring us to our knees
Searching for ways to cope
when we lose count
lose track
lose hope

They say what I don’t want to
hear
Stomachs turn
part acid, part fear
When sticks and stones
become bombs and drones
words will never hurt me

Cryptic,
Cryptic,
Post apocalyptic
We each take turns waiting
Twin heartbeats abating 
Until all that we’ll ever see
is just you and me

counting in threes."
-Kadija Moulton (2018)

In Three

This is a new song I wrote for the Longleash Piano Trio and myself!

When You Are New

Written for and performed by Longleash Trio - Pala Garcia (violin), John Popham (cello), and Renate Rohlfing (piano) - in August, 2019

score art by Jacqueline Andrews

infested                      

infested - Longleash Trio

https://www.lucymcknight.com/
composer/singer/cellist from los angeles
pursuing a PhD in Music Composition at Princeton University

video of my piece "wine-dark sea" for Transient Canvas (bass clarinet and marimba duo):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cL_wzN5heY

infested - Longleash Trio

Lucy McKnight