Discovered a very fine BBC documentary on the great Richard Thompson this week, courtesy of my YouTube feed. A Solitary Life struck me as powerfully revealing about an incredibly powerful artist.
Two aspects of it particularly hit me hard. The first was a simple statement from RT regarding his adoption of our shared faith. It speaks so much for me that I intend to use it in future if anyone asks me the perennial question: I don't think there's any conversion; I think you just realise who you are.
The second doesn't exactly relate to RT, to be honest. One of the great things about the documentary is the space it gives to Linda Thompson who is obviously an extraordinarily strong character in her own right. I'd heard of the fabled tour in support of Shoot Out the Lights when their marriage was falling apart, but to see footage of her singing the great songs of marital discord and break-up and the rawness of her pain, made me much, much more aware of the damage even the most well-intentioned of us can cause and the ugliness of emotional suffering even in its disconcerting nobility.
The programme dates back to 2003. I wonder what a version covering the last 20 years would be like?
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