Not Given Lightly

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox song | name = Not Given Lightly | cover = Chris Knox - Not Given Lightly - single cover.jpg | alt = | type = single | artist = Chris Knox | album = Seizure | A-side = Not Given Lightly | B-side = ''Guppiplus'' EP | released = {{Start date|1989}} | recorded = February 1989 at Lab Studios, Auckland | studio = | venue = | genre = Indie rock | length = {{Duration|m=5|s=06}} | label = Flying Nun | writer = Chris Knox | producer = | prev_title = | prev_year = | next_title = | next_year = }}

"'''Not Given Lightly'''" is a song by New Zealand singer-songwriter Chris Knox. It was released in 1989 and is among Knox's best known songs.<ref>{{cite web|title=Chris Knox unable to talk after stroke|url=http://tvnz.co.nz/entertainment-news/chris-knox-unable-talk-after-stroke-2783133|publisher=TVNZ|accessdate=7 August 2013}}</ref> While the song did not chart when originally released in 1989, it has since become well known from its use in New Zealand film and television productions, especially in a television advertisement for Vogel's bread in 2007.<ref>{{cite web|title=Music used in New Zealand Television Commercials: V|url=http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/Music/AdvertMusic/V/|publisher=Christchurch City Libraries|accessdate=7 August 2013}}</ref>

In 2001 the song was placed in 13th in the APRA Top 100 New Zealand Songs of All Time list, as voted by New Zealand members of the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). The song then featured on the ''Nature's Best'' album of the top 30 tracks.<ref name=nzmc>{{cite web|title=Chris Knox|url=http://nzmusic.org.nz/artists/alternative/chris-knox/|publisher=NZ Music Commission|accessdate=7 August 2013}}</ref>

== Background and writing ==

The song was written as a heartfelt love song about Knox's then partner Barbara Ward. The lyrics refer to Ward and the couple's two children with the line "This is a love song for John and Liesha's mother".<ref name=nzmc/> The song's title and main refrain comes from a lyric in The Velvet Underground song "Venus in Furs" - "Taste the whip, in love not given lightly".<ref>{{cite web|last=du Fresne|first=Karl|title=The Beatles, a punk band? I don't think so|date=10 January 2010 |url=http://karldufresne.blogspot.co.nz/2010/01/beatles-punk-band-i-dont-think-so.html|publisher=Karl du Fresne|accessdate=7 August 2013}}</ref> The song is performed in Chris Knox's trademark solo style - simple percussion loops with clean and distorted guitar.<ref>{{cite web|title=CHRIS KNOX|url=http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=chris_knox|publisher=Trouser Press|accessdate=7 August 2013}}</ref>

== Music video ==

The music video was directed by Chris Knox and shot at his home in Grey Lynn, Auckland. The video starts with an extreme close-up of Knox's face, slowly zooming out over the duration of the song to reveal Knox surrounded by his friends and family. Edits are done on the beat. The video is shot in both black-and-white and colour, with most of the black-and-white footage used at the beginning of the video and most of the colour footage used at the end.<ref>{{cite web|title=Not Given Lightly|url=http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/not-given-lightly-1989|publisher=NZ On Screen|accessdate=7 August 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=CHRIS KNOX. NOT GIVEN LIGHTLY|url=http://www.filmarchive.org.nz/the-catalogue/media/chris-knox-not-given-lightly-f32889|publisher=The Film Archive|accessdate=7 August 2013}}</ref>

==Track listings== {{col-start}} {{col-2}} ; NZ 12" (FN127) 1989 # "Not Given Lightly" (Knox) — 5:05 # "Wanna Die With You" (Bathgate, Dawson, Dooley, Knox) — 2:45 # "Sandfly" (Knox) — 2:44 # "Jane And John" (Knox) — 2:11 # "More Or Less (Lethargy)" (Knox) — 2:50 # "Jesus Loves You" (Knox) — 2:20 # "Me And The Insects" (Knox) — 1:37 # "1954" (Knox) — 1:38 # "Indigestion" (Knox) — 2:39 # "Over And Out" (Knox) — 3:27 # "Justification Song" (Knox) — 1:43 * Side A plays on 45 rpm, side B plays on 33 rpm {{col-2}} ; NZ 12", 10" (FN152), cassette (FNMC152) 1990 # "Not Given Lightly" (Knox) — 5:05 # "Face Of Fashion" (Knox) — 2:54 # "Love Song (Part 1)" (Knox) —

; US 10" EP (COMM 26-1) 1993 # "Not Given Lightly" # "Filling Me" # "Uncle Tom's Cabin" # "And I Will Cry" # "Voyeur" # "A Song Of The Only Child" * Side A plays on 45 rpm, side B plays on 33 rpm {{col-end}}

== Production credits ==

* Engineer: Glenn Eisenhutt * Recorded at: The Lab, Symonds Street, Auckland * Written by: Chris Knox * Vocals: Chris Knox * Performer (all backings): Chris Knox

== Charts ==

The song has never charted in the Official New Zealand Music Chart top 40, but has twice appeared in the New Zealand artists' singles top 20 chart. In August 2012 it charted at number 17<ref>{{cite web|title=13 AUGUST 2012|url=https://aotearoamusiccharts.co.nz/archive/aotearoa-singles/2012-09-07|publisher=Recorded Music NZ|access-date=7 August 2013}}</ref> and again in June 2013 at number 16.<ref>{{cite web|title=03 JUNE 2013|url=https://aotearoamusiccharts.co.nz/archive/aotearoa-singles/2013-05-31|publisher=Recorded Music NZ|access-date=7 August 2013}}</ref>

==Certifications== {{Certification Table Top}} {{Certification Table Entry|region=New Zealand|type=single|artist=Chris Knoz|title=Not Given Lightly|award=Gold|source=radioscope|certyear=2021|id=2021-05-20|access-date=October 10, 2025}} {{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true|noshipments=true|streaming=true}}

== Cover versions ==

* Australian band Frente! included a cover on their 1993 EP ''Labour of Love''.<ref name=covers>{{cite web|title=Tall Dwarfs' Chris Knox Recovering From Stroke|url=http://theaxemen.org/2009/06/15/chris-knox-suffers-stroke-news-thread-from-nz-herald/|publisher=The Axemen|accessdate=6 August 2013}}</ref> * American punk band J Church covered it in 1995 on their EP ''Lama Temple''.<ref name=covers/> * Austrian musician B. Fleischmann covered the song on the 2009 tribute album ''Not Given Lightly: A Tribute To The Giant Golden Book Of New Zealands Alternative Music Scene''.<ref name=covers/> * Boh Runga covered it on the 2009 album ''Stroke - Songs for Chris Knox'', the tribute and fundraising album in honour of Chris Knox.<ref>{{cite web|title=Stroke: Songs for Chris Knox|url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13859-stroke-songs-for-chris-knox/|publisher=Pitchfork|accessdate=6 August 2013}}</ref> * It was covered in 2012 as an all-star charity record in association with the New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation to raise awareness of breast cancer.<ref>{{cite web|title=Star-studded breast cancer video 'helps save lives'|url=http://tvnz.co.nz/entertainment-news/star-studded-breast-cancer-video-helps-save-lives-5116671|publisher=TVNZ|accessdate=6 August 2013}}</ref> * In 2013 New Zealand ''The X Factor'' contestant Benny Tipene performed the song on the New-Zealand-music-themed episode, which then saw the original enter the New Zealand artists chart at number 16.<ref>{{cite web|title=03 JUNE 2013|url=https://aotearoamusiccharts.co.nz/archive/aotearoa-singles/2013-05-31|publisher=The Official NZ Music Charts|access-date=6 August 2013}}</ref> * The original version of the song has also appeared on several compilation albums: the ''Topless Women Talk About Their Lives'' soundtrack (1997), the closing track on the Flying Nun 10th anniversary album ''Getting Older 1981–1991'' (1991) and on the ''Nature's Best'' album of the top 30 New Zealand songs, as voted by APRA New Zealand members (2002).

== References ==

== External links == * [http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/not-given-lightly-1989 Music video at NZ On Screen] * {{YouTube|eCUeK_eiNpI|Vogel's bread ad}} * {{YouTube|xixf8gpBwoM|Chris Knox and Barbara Ward talk about the song in 1997, with a solo performance from Knox}} * [https://www.audioculture.co.nz/articles/counting-the-beat-not-given-lightly-by-chris-knox Musical analysis of 'Not Given Lightly'] on [https://www.audioculture.co.nz/ AudioCulture]

Category:1989 singles Category:APRA Award winners Category:Chris Knox songs Category:Flying Nun Records singles Category:1989 songs