Story Behind The Song

Set in East Berlin during the 1980s, A Knock At The Door is a passionate love story, interwoven with social and political satire, a touch of human tragedy and moments of pure farce. As the dramatic tension builds, fear mingles with laughter as we take a surrealist look at the illogicalities of life in a police state where walls, quite literally, have ears and even the moon could be a secret Stasi spy. Nothing here is ever quite what it seems. The action centres around a group of cadets and their leaders, whose well planned lives are changed dramatically by the arrival of a mysterious stranger in their midst. A story of idealism, hope and love in adversity, the dynamics of the plot reflect the growing tensions in the Eastern Bloc during the run up to the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the show closes with the mixed emotions of East Berliners as the seemingly unshakeable system which has been their ?reality? for so many years falls apart. Celebrations and rejoicing, yes. But just who will get the happy ending? The title refers to the metaphorical knock of history on the door of the future as well as to the literal knock on the door in the middle of the night that heralded a visit by the dreaded Secret Police under communism. The characters and story line are my own creation and I have attempted to cover themes which are chillingly relevant to today?s audiences. The questions raised by ever-increasing levels of state surveillance, anti-terrorist ?suspect? laws, detention without trial, trial without jury, freedom of (mis) information, the politics of spin, Big Brother, censorship and the morality of war are all issues that hold particular resonance for contemporary audiences. And then there's love... Yes, these are all "big" themes, but I have tackled them through the eyes of down-to -earth human characters with whom every local audience can empathise.

Song Description

A number from "A Knock At The Door", an original new musical by Nicol Walsh and Ville Hildén

Lyrics

Child Of The System

For me to think again
I?d have to go back then...

A child of barely four
He heard them slam the door
As they tore him from his mother's loving care
Told him he'd forget
In time he did, but yet
In his wretched nights and broken dreams she's there

A child with no heroes
Has no one to turn to
Who helps him to learn to
Tell which honesty to believe in
His past counts for nothing
He daren't unscramble
What made them gamble
His childhood, their freedom

Instrumental

Spoken bitterly, just before the first theme repeats

Free? Who's free

Sings:

Tell him he could choose
Say he could refuse
All the new ideas that colonised his mind

I am what they made me
A child of the system
Not coward not victim
Keep my head down, do they as they tell me
I'm nobody's hero
Won't be a martyr
The State is my father
My brothers
No others

I'm nobody's hero... his voice breaks

Nobody's hero

Spoken bitterly:

So Mumma, tell me - was it worth you giving your son for?

Sings:

A child of the system
No other perspective
I serve the collective.
Except if...
There's no if!
That's me

Instrumental

Yes Mother look at your son. Look at what you have done. Look at what he?s become
Look at me now
Mother, look in my eyes. Am I what you despise? Mother look at me
See what the system has made him
Look what they've done to your child