Thompson, Richard - I'll Never Give It Up Lyrics

I saw him in Denver in 2012-ish (with this lineup). I stood 20 feet from him in an intimate venue. He is easily the greatest rock guitarist I have ever seen (with Billy Gibbons, Steve Howe, and Martin Barre on the short list). Hard to compare Thompson with jazz/Spanish virtuoso Al DiMeola, but I enjoyed Thompson more, I know that. He was an entertaining storyteller between songs. And I was even blown away with his singing. The man is the complete package!

Thompson is the man. It's a fact

someone asked me what "style" of music Thompson plays... and I found myself unable to answer the question.  Seems he can and does play about any style there is, and VERY well.  Just bought my 1st CD (Sweet Warrior) and am blowing out my car speakers.  Amazing artist!  He and Susan Tedeschi are both diamonds in a world of coal.  Music is wonderful... and RT is wonderful.

Diamonds in a world of coal ..priceless , and im a miners son ..haha lol..

Can anyone tell me which album to find this track on, I love it, thanks

+googalsalot Its on sweet Warrior. I'm sure you will have found it by now, but just in case

thinking peoples' guitar monster

How come I missed this guy??? Wicked

Fantastic song, fantastic performance.

Fierce! Every one of them.

perfect for those.....! who live next door !lol

This drummer is a joy to watch... awesome sound

So, how many Brits get admitted to live in Pakistan each year?

This is as good as anything from his glory days

I just read a comment that Mark knopfler got his style from this guy, you can really hear that in this solo

Well he's certainly pissed off with them. Rightly so. A lot of anger in that song and all the better for it.

I saw RT in Birmingham on Thursday(21/2/13) and he was superb. When I have seen Clapton live, he leaves me cold as though he is just coasting and by the end of the gig he looks as though he has enough energy to go and play a game of squash, Richard Thomson looked as though he had given the 1 hour and 50 minutes he was on for, everything he could, never holding back.

Clapton=the only thumbs down. ;(

is he? or is that wiki's doing?

It's about the BNP.

It's about supporters of the British Nationalist Party.

Oh no! He might become lazy and stop making his wonderful songs!

85 my f.....ass he was born in '49. Used to play with Faireport Convention.

@adjrean57 why analyze? because music is a tool for communication. last i checked, all communication analyzable.

Give the man a damn knighthood!

Who doesn't like the video?!
I'm gonna kill him!

A Muslim guitar player with a Jewish star on his hat. Coexist!

Not only has SAMCRO given me hours of tv enjoyment, they have also turned me onto hours upon hours of great music catalouges. Especially Richard Thompson.

@MonaLaMoyne u meant 58?

Nobody mentions the fact that he is 85 years old in this video.

Over the past couple over years I've been to dozens of show. I've seen Rush, Tommy Emmanuel, John Butler Trio, hell even Slipknot. But seeing Richard Thompson so far has blows everything out of the water, simply an incredible artist and performer.

JUST heard of these guys and this music is hot hot hot LOVE THEIR SOUND (they are pretty freaking hot too !!!!!) Gotta find me some of their CDs this is just great stuff

is anybody else here because of soa?

@GrungeHippie95 True enough, but he lives in LA, I think.

Fantastic live performance, just what to expect from RT.

Great performer. Love me some Richard.

You want an angry old man? Look no further that the great Rchard Thompson. If only Weller could claim such dignity and vitality even at 8 years younger.

Please, stop the song analysis. It's just a good song, and you ruin the fun for some people.

Dude i heard their song dads gonna kill me on soa but i fucking love this its really good

I agree with your analysis! I have always thought this song was about Bush//Bin Laden...from Bin Laden's perspective.

Four guys playing--but it sounds like 6 or 7. Strictly in terms of chops, it's hard to imagine a group playing any better or tighter than Thompson-Thompson-Jerome-Zorn. (Of course, you really can't do any better than RT's songs, either!)

one more: "there's no halfway with you": you're either with us or against us

I always thought this was about right-wing commentators (e.g., Limbaugh, Fox "News", etc.) smearing people who didn't agree with what the Bush administration was doing. The Bush/Cheney interpretation is basically the same thing, though, I guess.

More:

"When you crawl out of your sick little hole": Cheney's undisclosed location.

"reptile smile": I'd like to think this is Cheney's smirk

"you want me dead or alive": what Bush said about Bin Laden

"you see red white and blue": duh

"when the sky fell in you cried": 9/11

"Come on, do your worst, boy
That's the way, that's the way
Hit me where it hurts, boy,
That's the way, that's the way": torture?

How do you figure? I'd love to believe it, but I can't make the lyric scan under that interpretation. Sounds like something about someone specific from his own life - disgruntled ex-collaborator or something. Kind of the opposite number from "Put It There."

It's about Bush/Cheney.

this smokes! and i just might! bubble up!

They're two different breeds, brother. SRV copied, RT invented! Most guitarists who solo sound bluesy, and RT is devoid of all of them. He invented a style, he plays stuff that took him years to perfect, and not any guitar player can do it.

and that's supposed to be a bad thing?

Said so perfectly!

Jools Holland show rules. Also this song is amazing. Guitar solo is superb, too.

IMO Richard has no peer. While most of his contemporaries settle into semi-retirement or rest on past laurels, RT keeps pushing himself as an artist and producing work that, if anything raises the bar even further.

Does anyone have any thoughts as to what this song is about?

It's a shame he isn't as popular as he deserves to be!!! Been a big fan since the 80's..

one of my biggest musical heroes - catch Danny Thompson on bass!! awesome. Richard is one of the best songwriters.

Freaking awesome. The man can do no wrong. Thanks a million for posting this.

This was the first song I ever heard from RT.. It was instant love. I cant get enough of his music. Brilliant"! Thank you

What a group! More energy and more power then lots of young groups today!

thats my new fav song iv been listenin to it solid for 5 days now

It's nice to see live, basic, music again! Yes, the drummer does well with his "basic" kit, what would he be like on a Ginger Baker style kit???

thx very mutch!

Drummer is Michael Jerome. There's a video of this band doing Hard on Me on which the drumming is just spectacular.

Who' s the drummer? He's cool and good!

Great stuff!! Thanks joni36. Don't know about the ageist, patronising slant but otherwise I agree, hope someone will post Dad's Gonna Kill Me from the same episode. Blew everyone else on the show away-Rock and Roll and RT at their very best. Mind you we born of the 50s and 60s should be good at rock-we invented it.