The Thompsons recorded three albums I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight (1974), Hokey Pokey (1975) and Pour Down Like Silver (1975) before they decided to leave the music business and moved to a Sufi commune in East Anglia. Songwriting was by Richard throughout, lead vocals generally by Linda,and backing by a consistent core band of English folk-rock stalwarts
I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight showed a clear development from Richard Thompson's first solo effort Henry The Human Fly with Linda's vocals adding grace, as well as the opportunity for Richard to write from a female perspective. Although Thompson's trademark gloom is already evident, the lightness and beauty of the arrangements counterbalances this to produce moments of great beauty. The use of brass, from the renowned CWS silver band in particular takes forward Thompson's continuing crusade to find a more contemporary and ordinary expression of Englishness in music,(as opposed to say the forays into the Morris form of his Fairport contemporary Ashley Hutchings, solo and with The Albion Band). The next year's release, Hokey Pokey to some extent repeats the formula, although it is improved in production values, and is stylistically more adventurous still. A Heart Needs a Home is a minor miracle of songwriting, expressing the longing for love without cynicism and has a standout multi-tracked vocal from Linda.
Pour Down Like Silver extended the reach of Richard and Linda's music, and without the occasional weaker tracks of the preceding releases. Here in the writing cynicism is balanced with humour, (Hard Luck Stories, Streets of Paradise), and love and need is expressed directly, and to touching effect ( Jet Plane in a Rocking Chair, Beat the Retreat). The impact of Sufism on their lives is expressed in Night Comes In, which borrows imagery from Sufi mystic poetry, and the practice of finding union with the Spirit through dance. The playing, arrangements and production are uniformly excellent throughout.
In 1978, Thompson decided to take his family out of the commune and go back to their old home in Hampstead. He also decided to return to making music, partly because, as he commented at the time, he'd come to realise "that [he] wasn't really any good at anything else".
Re-uniting the core band, the resulting album, First Light was warmly received by the critics but did not sell particularly well. Neither did its follow up, 1979's harder-edged and more cynical Sunnyvista. Chrysalis Records did not take up their option to renew the contract, and the Thompsons found themselves without a contract, but not without admirers.
About a year later Joe Boyd signed the Thompsons to his small Hannibal label and a new album was recorded. Shoot Out the Lights included new recordings of many of the songs recorded in 1980, and was clearly a very strong album. Linda Thompson was pregnant during the sessions, and so the album's release was held back until the Thompsons could tour in support of the new album. Linda's pregnancy also meant that she did not sing on all of the songs.
On its release in 1982, Shoot Out the Lights was lauded by critics and sold fairly well - especially in the USA. The Thompsons, now a couple for professional purposes only, toured the USA to support the album and then went their separate ways. Both the album and their live shows were well received by the American media, and Shoot Out the Lights effectively relaunched their career - just as their marriage was falling apart.
As against the first phase of their career, this last offering is sparer, without the instrumental augmentation that characterized the earlier albums, much more rock orientated, and altogether more ferocious. Although Thompson in interviews has always resisted over-personal interpretations of his songs, it is difficult not to see in its energy, tone and themes the difficulties of the final stages of the Thompson's marriage, transmuted into musical gold.
Wishing
Richard & Linda Thompson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Wishing that I could steal your heart away
Dreaming of the time I can hold you tight
Wishing that the time would come tonight
I been hopin' all along things would turn out right
If I could find a wishing star then I would spend the ni-i-ight
Wishing that I could see you every day
Wishing that I could steal your heart away
If I could find a wishing star then I would spend the ni-i-ight
Wishing that I could see you every day
Wishing that I could steal your heart away
The lyrics of Richard & Linda Thompson's "Wishing" convey the deep longing and desire to be with someone special. The singer yearns to be with this person every day and dreams of holding them tight. He wishes for the time to come tonight, expressing his impatience to make his dreams come true. However, he acknowledges that things have not turned out as he had hoped and continues to hope that they will turn out right. The song's repeated emphasis on 'wishing' underscores the sense of yearning and the dilemma of wanting something that seems unattainable.
Overall, the song's lyrics portray a deep sense of longing and hope for a special someone. The singer is willing to do whatever it takes to make his wishes come true, even if it means waiting all night for a wishing star. The melody and the lyrics of the song complement each other perfectly, creating a haunting, melancholic atmosphere that captures the emotions of the singer.
Line by Line Meaning
Wishing that I could see you every day
Expressing a strong desire to be able to see the person one loves on a daily basis
Wishing that I could steal your heart away
Desiring to win the affection of the person one loves, to make them love them back
Dreaming of the time I can hold you tight
Imagining a future moment of physical intimacy with the person one loves
Wishing that the time would come tonight
Wishing for the moment of meeting and being together, and hoping it would happen soon
I been hopin' all along things would turn out right
Having the persistent hope that one's relationship with the loved one will have a positive outcome
If I could find a wishing star then I would spend the ni-i-ight
Expressing the willingness to go to great lengths, even to wish upon a star, if it means being with the loved one
Wishing that I could see you every day
Expressing a strong desire to be able to see the person one loves on a daily basis
Wishing that I could steal your heart away
Desiring to win the affection of the person one loves, to make them love them back
I been hopin' all along things would turn out right
Having the persistent hope that one's relationship with the loved one will have a positive outcome
If I could find a wishing star then I would spend the ni-i-ight
Expressing the willingness to go to great lengths, even to wish upon a star, if it means being with the loved one
Wishing that I could see you every day
Expressing a strong desire to be able to see the person one loves on a daily basis
Wishing that I could steal your heart away
Desiring to win the affection of the person one loves, to make them love them back
Contributed by Audrey K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.