Song Lyric Sunday: Bright Lights

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For this week’s Song Lyric Sunday Jim is inviting us to play a song from Rolling Stone magazine’s list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, from any of the four versions they have done, in 2003, 2012, 2020, or 2023. His post A Recurring Opinion Survey tells you all you need to know. I thought at first we had done this before, but I was wrong: the previous time was their list of best songs, not albums. After the obligatory research (yes, I admit, I didn’t know all four lists off by heart) I found an album that I bought when it first came out and have loved ever since, so this was a no-brainer of a choice for me. Richard and Linda Thompson’s I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight made all four lists, at #471 in 2003 and 2012, and at #485 in 2020 and 2023. Those might seem low to you, but when you consider how many albums have been released over the years I think it meritorious that a genuine folk rock record is on the list at all, and to be on all four of them is quite something.

I’m guessing that not many will know this album, apart from one or two tracks at best. I’m being self-indulgent and playing you four of them today, to give you a good feel for it. I’m relying on audio-only versions as YouTube isn’t all that forthcoming with good quality live performances – it’s English folk rock, so what chance do I have? Let’s start with the title track:

And as this is Song Lyric Sunday, here are those lyrics:

I’m so tired of working everyday
Now the weekend’s come I’m gonna throw my troubles awayIf you’ve got the cab fare mister you’ll do alright.I want to see the bright lights tonight
Meet me at the station don’t be lateI need to spend some money and it just won’t waitTake me to the dance and hold me tightI want to see the bright lights tonight
There’s crazy people running all over townThere’s a silver band just marching up and downAnd the big boys are all spoiling for a fightI want to see the bright lights tonight
Meet me at the station don’t be lateI need to spend some money and it just won’t waitTake me to the dance and hold me tightI want to see the bright lights tonight
A couple of drunken nights rolling on the floorIs just the kind of mess I’m looking for.I’m gonna dream ’till Monday comes in sightI want to see the bright lights tonight
Meet me at the station don’t be lateI need to spend some money and it just won’t waitTake me to the dance and hold me tightI want to see the bright lights tonight
Take me to the dance and hold me tightI want to see the bright lights tonight
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Richard John (gb1) Thompson
I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight lyrics © Warlock Music Ltd

 

As regular readers will know, I have long been a fan of Richard Thompson, going right back to his days as a founder member of Fairport Convention and the birth of the English folk rock genre (along with Steeleye Span, of course). I first saw the Fairports in my early days at uni, by which time Richard had left the band to first go solo, for one album (Henry The Human Fly, a forgotten and undervalued classic) and then to form a duo with his then fiancee, and later wife. They played in January 1974 at my uni, the University Of East Anglia, when they were still billed as Richard Thompson and Linda Peters, and they were fantastic. I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight was recorded in May 1973, so they were playing us songs from their forthcoming album: it wasn’t released until April 1974, having had to take its place in the queue at a time of vinyl shortages (miners’ strike times, anyone?). Obviously I can’t remember the set list after more than fifty years, but it’s a fair bet that all ten of its tracks would have been included, along with some of Richard’s earlier stuff.

Although it was initially ignored by reviewers, I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight later came to be highly regarded, and is now viewed as a classic of English folk rock and one of the Thompsons’ finest achievements. Richard was well known in the English folk scene at the time, and assembled a veritable Who’s Who of musicians to play on the album. On that track you will also have heard the CWS (Manchester) Silver Band: brass bands have long been a welcome addition to folk records here, and are also great to hear in concert.

Here’s another of my favourites from the album:

As the video shows, that was We Sing Hallelujah, which featured Brian Gulland and Richard Harvey playing krummhorn (a double reed instrument dating back to Renaissance times, which has made a comeback in folk music here since the Sixties), as well as the wonderful bass vocals of Royston Wood, previously of the English folk band The Young Tradition. They all combine well, I think, in a rousing little anthem.

I’m playing these in any old order so for my third song here, of course, is the one that opens the album:

The same two guys popped up again with their krummhorns on this one, as did John Kirkpatrick, well known as a fine accordion and concertina player back then, who I also saw at uni with his own band. His son is Benji Kirkpatrick, who has been a mainstay of my favourite live band, Bellowhead, and has played in several others too, including his own band and a spell with the latter day Steeleye Span: the English folk scene lives on through its children. And thanks to the wonders of recording techniques, Richard played guitar, mandolin, and tin whistle on that, though I can’t recall him doing that in a live show!

I could play the entire album – it’s that good! – but I said I’d restrict myself to four, so I’m closing with the other track which featured John Kirkpatrick. This one always brought the house down at live shows:

I still have fond memories of Linda acting the coquette while singing that. Sadly, they didn’t return to UEA during our time there: they went back in November 1975, by which time we had left and were having to work for a living, but they played a London date a few days before that so we saw them there instead: on a Sunday evening, if memory serves me right. They are still some of my favourite concerts that I have ever been to: great songs, fun stories in between them, and great musicianship – what more could you want?

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed revisiting a favourite album, and am grateful to Jim for the theme that gave me the chance to do so. I hope you’ve enjoyed the music as much as I have.

50 thoughts on “Song Lyric Sunday: Bright Lights”

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  4. These songs are new to me. I enjoyed them all, especially the first and the last ones. The write up is great too. Thanks for posting them! (I’m late commenting bc I’m busy having fun while traveling 😉).

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    • I thought these would be new to most, and I’m pleased you enjoyed them and the bits in between. No need to apologise: it’s good that your travels are fun 😊

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    • I’m pleased you like them – this has long been a favourite album of mine. You may have heard them here before, as they came up on the list when I added tags to this post, but I’ve no idea what or when that was!

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  7. I not only know this album but I have it and others of theirs. I came to the group through Richard’s signature tune, 1952 Vincent Black Lightning. They’re a great duo of musicians. He’s damfine on the guitar and her voice is heavenly.

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    • I’m really pleased to have found another fan! They were a great duo, and both have gone on to make more great music since they broke up. Linda lost her ability to sing for a while through illness, but has made a bit of a comeback. I last saw them as part of an evening celebrating Fairport Convention. They always close the show with a mass singalong of Meet On The Ledge, and their children – Teddy and Kami – could be seen ushering a little lady in her overcoat onto the stage. Guess who!

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      • Neat info on their current situations. I knew Richard went solo and that Linda lost her voice, but did not know she got it back. I saw a video a few years ago with her singing with Teddy on guitar.

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      • Her voice has come and gone, though she did manage to sing a track on an album released in her name last year: Proxy Music. Teddy and Kami are both talented too – I especially love Teddy’s duet with his Dad on Persuasion.

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  9. I’m a Yank who loves British folk rock. Saw Richard live, here in the states, back in the ‘90s (Pegg and Mattacks in his band). Sadly, this album is really elusive over here. Been wanting a vinyl copy for decades, no luck! Thanks for the great article.

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    • Good to know there are fans over there! I should imagine that vinyl copies of this album are long out of print. Mine has been lost over time through house moves, sadly, so I just stream it now! Glad you liked the piece 😊

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  11. Sadly only “We Sing Hallelujah” opened for me, Clive. After I’ve had my second cup of coffee, I will attempt to find the others on YouTube.

    I was surprised when I read that this album appeared on all four lists; I never thought to check the other lists for my song choice. Nice piece of trivia!

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    • Richard Thompson now lives in the US and has played there a lot, so you may well get a chance. This is an early incarnation, with the lady who is now his ex-wife, and I guess it wouldn’t have appealed over there. Happy to have made the introduction 😊

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