Richard Thompson is another one of those special artists in my life, one I've followed closely for four decades. I've only met him briefly, but my tours to England were organized and led by his wife, Nancy Covay Thompson. (I kind of watched their son Teddy grow up....)
"Wall of Death" was the final song on "Shoot Out the Lights" (1981), the last album by Richard and his first wife, Linda Peters, before their marriage collapsed. On the surface, it seems a very slight song to end such a pivotal album in his life; it's about the motorcycle stunt riders in a carnival, whirling around the walls of the circular track by sheer centrifugal force.
But if you know Richard Thompson, and the songs he writes, the song is a key to his entire output. Thompson writes songs of deep melancholy--with heartbroken and sometimes disturbed characters--but his melodies can be bright and even danceable (if you catch him in the right mood). It's as if he finds writing about these characters on the edge emotionally liberating for both himself and his audience. Or as the song puts it;
On the wall of death All the world is far from me On the wall of death It's the nearest to being free
Richard Thompson has been riding the Wall since he cofounded Fairport Convention in 1967. I'm in for as long as he stays up there....
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Richard Thompson is another one of those special artists in my life, one I've followed closely for four decades. I've only met him briefly, but my tours to England were organized and led by his wife, Nancy Covay Thompson. (I kind of watched their son Teddy grow up....)
"Wall of Death" was the final song on "Shoot Out the Lights" (1981), the last album by Richard and his first wife, Linda Peters, before their marriage collapsed. On the surface, it seems a very slight song to end such a pivotal album in his life; it's about the motorcycle stunt riders in a carnival, whirling around the walls of the circular track by sheer centrifugal force.
But if you know Richard Thompson, and the songs he writes, the song is a key to his entire output. Thompson writes songs of deep melancholy--with heartbroken and sometimes disturbed characters--but his melodies can be bright and even danceable (if you catch him in the right mood). It's as if he finds writing about these characters on the edge emotionally liberating for both himself and his audience. Or as the song puts it;
On the wall of death
All the world is far from me
On the wall of death
It's the nearest to being free
Richard Thompson has been riding the Wall since he cofounded Fairport Convention in 1967. I'm in for as long as he stays up there....
https://youtu.be/GcFhyy2kgdo