Thompson, Richard - Can't Win Lyrics

The GREATEST guitarist and the GREATEST guitar solo of all-time.

Period.

Simply amazing. This is one powerful tune, and it feels as if that fiddle solo ignited every emotion in RT, and he just explodes with so much passion. I’m literally sobbing after listening to and feeling that guitar solo. Good Lord, this man’s guitar touches my very soul. I’m an aging guitarist, and I’d consider myself blessed to achieve a small fraction of what Richard Thompson does here.

He's a hero

Is this off a DVD?

I would say it was a show-stopper - except that everything RT plays is a show-stopper. Thanks for posting it.

This is from the DVD below...

The Richard Thompson Band - Live at Celtic Connections 2011
Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, Scotland, UK
25 January 2011

Richard Thompson : Guitar & Vocals
Joel Zifkin : Electric Violin , Mandolin & Vocals
Taras Prodaniuk : Bass & Vocals
Michael Jerome : Drums and Vocals
Pete Zorn : Saxophones, Flute , Tin Whistle, Acoustic Guitar , Mandolin , & Vocals

One would have to be a loaf of bread not to want to move...

I"ll be so thankfull that i've seen this live

... and I thought I knew this guys stuff. A modern day master at work
Is that Jean luc Ponty on violin ?

Joel Zifkin

While everyone else is playing guitar, RT is performing brain surgery.

Accroche toi Clapton !! Accroche toi !!!

Holy Shit!!!!!!

Simply one of the best songs ever written and here quite possibly a contender for the best live performance of a song by a band EVER! Check the guitar solo out (you won't miss it) How to write an angry song! Truth speaks to power and heartbreak to loss. Peerless and extraordinarily brilliant, the man has no equal. Happy Birthday Mr Thompson! MAESTRO!

Most amazing performer I’ve ever seen. His songs are endless and original .......... love him like crazy
But watch the amazing musician on his right: the incredible PETE ZORN who plays more instruments than is humanly possible! Add on the BV’s and that makes him the best Side Man ever. Sadly I’ve encountered rumours that PETE ZORN died in 2016. Very, very sad, but you can see how much fun and the amazing rapport he & RT had......... never mind, Meet on the Ledge and all that

Whenever I feel fucked off with my life I play this and know I am not alone. Epic!

Spellbinding!!!

I started to cry, they put gin in my cup
I started to crawl, and they swaddled me up
I got up and run, they said "Easy, son,
Play up, play the game"
They told me to think and forget what I'd heard
They told me to lie and they questioned my word
They told me to fail, better sink than sail,
Just play the game
Oh, towers will tumble and locusts will visit the land
Oh, a curse on your house and your children and the fruit of your hand
They said "You can't win
You can't win
You sweat blood
You give in
You can't win. You can't win
Turn the cheek
Take it on the chin
Don't you dare do this
Don't you dare do that"
We shoot down dreams,
We stiletto in the back
Oh the nerve of some people,
The nerve of some people,
The nerve of some
I don't know who you think you are,
Who you think you are
Oh what kind of mother would hamstring her sons?
Throw sand in their eyes and put ice on their tongues
Ah better to leave than stay here and grieve
And play the game
Don't waken the dead as you sleepwalk around
If you have a dream, brother, hush, not a sound
Just stand there and rust, die if you must
But play the game
Oh, if we can't have it,
Why should a wretch like you?
Oh, it was drilled in our heads,
Now we drill it into your head too
They said "You can't win
You can't win
You sweat blood
You give in
You can't win
You can't win
Turn the cheek
Take it on the chin
Don't you dare do this
Don't you dare do that"
We shoot down dreams,
We stiletto in the back
Oh, the nerve of some people,
The nerve of some people,
The nerve of some people
I don't know who you think you are
The nerve of some people, the nerve of some people
The nerve of some people, the nerve of some people
The nerve of some people, the nerve of some people
The nerve of some people, the nerve of some people

Totally unique style of playing, he finds notes and chords that don't exist anywhere else

Utterly amazing

Saw him do this Saturday in Chicago. Absolutely killed it!! just amazing!! GREAT show

un-f'ing-believable!!!!! peak performance. Joel Zifkin, who is a marvelous musician in his own right, taking delight in RT's guitar solo is pretty damn cool to see. Michael Jerome !!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've liked RT since his Fairport Convention days, the Richard & Linda Thompson days. Now I'm appreciating his right hand technique of adding the 3rd and 4th finger strumming and picking with a properly held pick (plectrum) in hand. Thanks for the experience, again ! He is simply devastating, isn't he?

This is sublime! Streets ahead of anything else. You can see the emotion in R.T.s face.

I think that must be the 'angriest' guitar solo I've ever heard.

Is this available on DVD anywhere?

So, I'm reading the comments and I'm saying to my self "oh for goodness sake, it can't be *that* good", and then the song kicks it up a gear and the violin starts, then RT let's rip. Okay. You were all right. Oh. My. God.

It was a great tour with that line-up. RIP Pete Zorn, he was such a great musician.

RT is totally amazing!
Makes me wonder where Jimi Hendrix's skill level would be if he'd had 50 more years in which to hone it. Astronomical!

If I was choosing band members RT would be immediately followed by Michael Jerome on drums. The guy is faultless.

This is very miserable song - lyrics like this actually do him no favours - silly trot.

The pinnacle of creative lead guitar

Incredible performance! Where/when was this from?

Amazing stuff as ever from RT and friends - but for me the performance would get 100% rather than only 97% if the solo was a minute or 2 shorter.

Nice jam session

I had the honor of shaking the great man's hand a few years ago a speaking a few words with him. I wish that he and Ian Anderson would collaborate on something.

RT certainly tops the world for sheer inventiveness and I'm sorry for the kids who give up after hearing him in this frame of mind. No matter how technically skilled a player gets to be they couldn't match this without what can't be learned. RT seems to have a computer like ability to relate a random string of notes to the chords or mode of the original tune, a safety line that means he always knows the way back to the root of the piece. He had this weird skill when only a teen. We mustn't forget the titanic part played by Michael Jerome surely also one of the world's best on drums. Nothing flashy just sheer competence and a tireless performance. Every band needs an anchor. Michael could keep an oil tanker in place.

I remember being rather pleased with myself for figuring out what he was doing on a 1976 recording of 'Night Comes In'. Then I listened to an early 90s version of 'Can't Win' and realised that RT had moved on as a guitarist in a way that most of his contemporaries hadn't. His guitar solos have become increasingly atonal and his choice of scales (if 'scales' is a word for the groups of notes he plays) increasingly exotic. Even his songwriting has strayed into some wonderfully strange places at times. Trying to understand why he chooses the harmonies and melodies he does is a real challenge. I'm only up to some of the Richard and Linda stuff.

Fierce, angry, uncompromising, brilliant!

WHAT JUST HAPPENED?

Absolutely Brilliant,Awesome!
Thank You For Sharing Quality Music!

This is how you paint a masterpiece with sound! True art and a piece of social commentary, that given the state of our country at the moment is all the more relevant. It's not just a song, it's the honest truth.

I've watched this (as a fan) 5 times in a couple of days. I can't say I've seen anything better. The violin and the drumming was fantastic,. The guitar from Richard drove them all forward. Just brilliant!

Richard you are the greatest guitarist actually

I'm smiling and crying at the same time. That was truly awesome. Not 'awesome', as used by kids these days to mean 'quite good'. I mean jaw-droppingly, mind-blowingly awesome. Richard Thompson is unbelievably good. It helps that he has a band of musicians here who know him and have worked with him for some time. They were really solid. I saw him, the drummer and bassist in Liverpool on the Electric Tour a few years ago and they were brilliant. I've got tickets to see them again in August this year. If you're in the UK and you've never seen Richard Thompson live, try to see him this summer. He's getting on a bit now and he spends most of his time in the USA. Who knows how many more chances you'll get.

What a treat seeing RT and Joel Zifkin going at it together! Let's get the names of the others in this amazing band.

Okay - think this is right: Michael Jerome: Drums; Taras Prodaniuk: Bass; Pete Zorn (RIP 2016): Guitars, Flute, Sax, Mandolin; Joel Zifkin, Montréaler: Violin, Mandolin ...and some other guy on electric guitar.

This sounds pretty good.
HI Robby. HI Mel.

RT is a legend and only Joe Bonamassa comes close imho. I think even Hendrix would have struggled to play as well as this - simply superb.

Richard Thompson is truly in a class by himself.

Amazing!

50 yrs after Jimi, Cream,Doors the holy ghost of the Convention still licks ass..just f**king amazing, so proud of RT-they're all so good, wow!

EPIC!!!

Love this.

Speechless!

It's only 7:30 in the morning, but I feel like a whole day's work has already been done - what an incredible piece of musicianship and artistry, not to mention utmost humility. What a giant in today's world.

Yeah...astoundingly fucking astonishing. That is just way out in the glittering darkness of space. What. A. Fucking. Brilliant. Performance.

Amazing harmonies with both voices and instruments. These guys are all really good musicians. Hard to figure out how someone could even conceive music like this. Good stuff. I am going to play this again.

I like this better than the studio version.

Amazing music from an amazing artist!

Well I'll be selling my guitar after hearing this! You just can't win.

Epic. What tour was this? When, where? DVD? Totally bitchin' band.

Richard Thompson Band - Live at Celtic Connections DVD
http://www.theconnextion.com/richardthompson/richardthompson_cat.cfm?CatID=179

Outrageously brilliant saw Richard play this at the Sage Gateshead a few years ago staggering!!

BRAVO!!!

Гениальный музыкант и гитарист!!! A brilliant musician and guitarist!!!

RIP Pete Zorn (on acoustic, singing backup).

I want to hear the song after THIS!!!

Just at the of the vid, you can see him picking up his acoustic.

Well, there you have it. Another good reason to live.

One of the best guitar solos ever!! This guy is amazing!!!

It's the reason I call him The Master. Because he is one. Absolutely brilliant! Thanks for sharing.... Ramcey in Nashville

Bloody Brilliant! These guys are Monsters.

RIP Pete Zorn ......1950 -2016 ..........♪8^(

+lastnickeldrifter I've lost two good friends to cancer over the past couple of years, another friend is currently battling colon cancer, and the ex-girlfriend I *didn't* get over also had a bout with colon cancer. I wouldn't wish it on _anyone_, including Trump.

The good part, if you think in those terms, is that Trump's nomination largely guarantees the Republicans won't get the White House. Many _Republican_ voters can't stand Trump. It's unclear whether they'll hold their nose and vote for a Democrat, or just sit out the Presidential elections. The Donald, of course, will never admit he was part of the problem.

But off topic, and the last thing I want to do is discuss politics. Pete left behind a musical legacy. Time to dig out the Albion Band and Steeleye Span LPs he worked on, as well as Richard's stuff, and raise a dram in his memory.

+Dennis McCunney I'm in the UK Dennis, Trump means fart here, how the hell anyone can support a totally rancid POS like him is completely beyond us.

+lastnickeldrifter Trump will mean fart in the UK if he gets elected President of the US. I don't expect that to happen, but can't guarantee it won't.

I don't understand his support either, but I think every democracy has examples. Given current opinions about her, how did Maggie Thatcher get elected PM in the UK?

Trump's appeal to his base is emotional. He says things that resonate with what they already believe. Their beliefs tend not to be supported by verifiable fact, but facts are irrelevant to belief.

The US Presidential election will be yet another example of "which is the _lesser_ of two evils?" I don't think either major party is all that grounded in reality.

Many of us can't.

@lastnickeldrifter What a disgusting thing to say. You seem like the 'rancid piece of shit' here.

Un-fxxking-believable! The ol' brain circuits are sizzling...

Unbelievable. Can you think of a single guitarist of his generation that is playing with anything like this passion and inventiveness? NO!! ...and most people you meet have never even heard of him!!

Tom G. That's because Richard is a musicians musician & has been since his early days & though he stays under the radar & media he is known by all who enjoy real playing without the aid of a zillion pedals & effects that so many players rely on to get their own sound where Mr. Thompson needs none of those to achieve what we know to be his unique & true style on both electric & acoustic guitars. All things he's had since his earliest days. He's just one of those special players that can draw on so many styles & do it without a hitch. I can think of one guy in his league & that would be Phil Keaggy .

Better for me. I got to see him four time inside of a year. Still he's criminally overlooked. On the other hand, if he's within 500 miles of me, I'm so there.

@T.A. Martin - going to see the great man in August - he is playing at a music festival I go to every year in Devon SW England - so his performance will be like the icing on the cake!! Missed his electric trio last October because my car blew up on the way there - many tears were shed - lol!!

the fiddler!

And they don't seem to want to. Tell someone to do themself a favor and check him out and they'll mutter something about Clapton or change the subject.

Brilliant as ever. Clapton, eat your heart out....

Clapton once said RT was the best guitarist he'd heard

Amazing song from an all time favorite

I've seen RT more than a dozen times, each magnificent. But this is an inspired performance to say the least!

The song in itself is brilliant. Then the band takes it to another level at around the 4 minute mark. Smoking!

I really can't comprehend why every member of the audience did not leap from his seat when this ended! Heartfelt, brilliant playing!

+doylesull Have you ever been to a concert with RT? It's like been carpet bombing for 90 min. Try to leap of your seat after such an treatment...

Because they leapt beforehand?

breathtaking ... the guitar solo is out of this world

The absolute best

Incredible

Watched this again...it's just spell bindingly unbelievable...only surprised the amps didn't catch on fire and explode...what a gift to be able to watch...thank you!

i can't stop watching this; he just DRIVES everybody so hard!! the drummer is smoking it, they're all so great!

I missed seeing Beethoven & Mozart, but holy m-fer RT is the ghostly mist of druids & Stone Hedge ...does it all, think he worked up a bit of sweat on this one!!!!....love Robbie on the freakin drums the way starts to roll them over...I want to be a Thompson

Awesome

Extraordinary even by RTs off the chart standards. Words fail here.Thanks so much for posting.

Where/When is this?  RT is shreds the solo toward the end, thanks!

The Band:  Pete Zorn, Michael Jerome, Joel Zifkin,Tarus Prodaniuk amazing....

True story: I went to see RT at a solo show at Maxwell's in Hoboken back in the mid-late '80s, and while I was leaving the back room where the music was, I saw Bob Mould of Husker Du leaving as well. I asked him how he liked it and he just held his hand up as though they were seal flippers and shook his head.

@kinseymilkbone Bob Mould does a song on one of the RT cover/tribute albums. It's called Beat the Retreat and Bob Mould does Turning of the Tide. It's great. Lots of good stuff on that CD, including what might be the best one: X doing Shoot out the Lights.

That's a great album. All good covers. It's hard to pick a favourite from there but Maddy Prior singing The Great Valerio makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

Pwecko Sadly, Prior & Carthy ruin "Farewell, Farewell" on the same album by getting the lyric wrong. Bob Mould also covers Shoot Out the Lights on one of his live albums.

amazing...

RT ftw.  Will be spending some quality time with him on Cayamo in January and I couldn't possibly be happier about it.

Outstanding! One of the very best.

Clapton, eat your heart out.

Marvelous, as per usual with Sir Richard

OK, that was pretty good!

holy Christ! I've loved this song for years...heard it live many times, but wow.

Richard Thompson is the greatest guitarist such a Masterfully played tune.  Awesome.....  :-) Thanks Angel Warrior.  Fantab-conclusion..... Oh Yeah!  

What I can't understand is how the audience stayed sitting throughout that!!!!

Thank god for typing because I am fucking speechless.

Fuck me, that was awesome.