My birthday present to myself finally came in the mail yesterday: an 8 CD box set of Richard and Linda Thompson's music together. Many of their albums are not available on streaming or easy to find elsewhere, so this is sort of like harpooning the white whale for me.
I first got into them when I was living in Grand Rapids and enduring my first brutal Michigan winter. The long cold nights and dark days came as I was working long hours as a "visiting assistant professor" getting paid little money. I was also in a long distance relationship with my now wife, and being so far apart from her was really tough. The Thompsons' music, especially I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight gave me comfort.
It's a special kind of comfort, one rooted in the knowledge that this is a broken world, rather than cheerily trying to pretend everything is okay. This sentiment is best expressed in "The End of the Rainbow," taking the title from a famously hopeful, yearning song and putting it on a dirge. It's a song sung by a parent to a newborn, letting them know that this world is cruel and hurtful. "There's nothing at the end of the rainbow."
The released version was sung by Richard, but the box set has an unreleased one with Linda on the vocal. She's a much stronger singer, but hearing the words from a mother as opposed to a father makes the song almost too chilling to listen to. Listening to it last night I felt all my emotions of dread about the virus, election, and police killings welling up. At the same time, there was comfort. Sometimes I feel crazy when I look around and other people seem to be far less upset by the current situation than I am. Their false hope in this world is hard to take most days.
The Thompsons also had a knack for romantic songs that acknowledged the ups and downs of long term relationships instead of the giddy electricity of love's first moments. A song like "Don't Renege On Our Love" takes the "please don't leave me" song and makes it feel much more real. This is adult stuff, not teen angst. "Just give me an ounce of sympathy."
That came from the Shoot Out The Lights album of 1982, their biggest seller and their last. You can hear the signs of a faltering marriage in the songs and their tour after the album's release marked the end of the line. Richard Thompson has gone on to make a lot of great music. In fact, he might be the member of his generation who has made the most good albums, and has done it pretty quietly at that.
As good as he has been, however, I still prefer his work with Linda. He is an amazing guitar player, but a middling singer. Linda's voice has a haunting quality that makes me feel the yearning and disappointment in the songs. Their interplay is where the real magic happens.
There's also just something so *adult* in their music together. Blues and country music is for adults, with songs about adult problems. Pop and rock music are for kids, and for old people still pretending to be young. The Thompsons' music faces the reality of adult life instead of running from it. Sitting here in quarantine, facing what seems to be an insurmountable task of just getting through the day and doing it over and over again makes me want music about the struggle of daily existence. That's what Richard and Linda Thompson provide me, and I thank them for it.
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