Richard Thompson OBE (born 3 April 1949, Notting Hill, London) is a British… Read Full Bio ↴Richard Thompson OBE (born 3 April 1949, Notting Hill, London) is a British singer/songwriter and guitarist. Highly regarded for his guitar techniques, Thompson was awarded the Orville H. Gibson award for best acoustic guitar player in 1991. Similarly, his songwriting has earned him an Ivor Novello Award and, in 2006, a lifetime achievement award from BBC Radio. Thompson made his debut as a recording artist as a member of Fairport Convention in September 1967. He left the group in 1971 and began recording with his wife as Richard & Linda Thompson, before their marriage dissolved in 1983. Since then, Thompson has maintained a critically-acclaimed solo career.

He continues to write and record new material and performs live frequently throughout Canada, the United States, Europe and Australia.

Thompson was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2011 New Year Honours for services to music. On 5 July 2011, the degree of Doctor of Philosophy honoris causa was conferred on Thompson by the University of Aberdeen, in a ceremony at the University's Elphinstone Hall.

Gypsy Love Songs
Richard Thompson Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Tropical night, Malaria moon
Dying stars of the silver screen
She danced that famous Gypsy dance
With a hole in her tambourine

I was young enough and dumb enough
I swallowed down my Mickey Finn
She'd hijacked a few hearts all right

I went into a tailspin

Don't sing me, don't sing me, don't sing me
No more gypsy love songs
Don't sing me, don't sing me, don't sing me
No more gypsy love songs
Don't stir it up again

I put my arm around her waist
Says she, young man, you're getting warm
The room was going somewhere without me
And she laughed as she read my palm

Don't sing me, don't sing me, don't sing me
No more gypsy love songs
Don't sing me, don't sing me, don't sing me
No more gypsy love songs
Don't stir it up again

Stillborn love, passionate dreams, pitiful greed
And the silver tongues of the tinker girls
Who throw their book of life at you
But don't know how to read

She was third generation Transylvanian
I was the seventh son of a seventh son
I begged the band don't play that tune
Please don't beguine the begun

When I awoke, she'd cut and run
She stole my blueprints and my change
Just a horseshoe and a note on the bed
And all it said was--strange

Don't sing me, don't sing me, don't sing me
No more gypsy love songs
Don't sing me, don't sing me, don't sing me

No more gypsy love songs
Don't stir it up again

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Richard Thompson's "Gypsy Love Songs" depict a story of a young man who falls for a mysterious woman, whose charms and allure can be felt even from afar. The first stanza sets up the mood of the song, describing a tropical night and a Malaria moon - a time and place characterized by feverishness, instability, and danger. The woman at the center of the story is described as someone who had danced a famous Gypsy dance but whose tambourine has a hole in it - a symbol that all is not as it appears to be. Despite the warning signs, the singer falls for her and takes a Mickey Finn, perhaps to muster enough courage to approach her. He admits that she had already "hijacked a few hearts" before his, but he still succumbs to her charms. The chorus seems to be a plea to the singer to stop stirring up or invoking "gypsy love songs" as it brings back painful memories of a love that didn't quite work out.

In the second section of the song, the woman reads the singer's palm, and he puts his arm around her waist, suggesting that they've grown even closer. However, there is a sense of disorientation in the surroundings, which could be a side-effect of taking the Mickey Finn or a reflection of how he's losing himself in their romance. The next three lines show a sense of disillusionment and regret as he refers to "stillborn love, passionate dreams, pitiful greed" - all suggestive of an ill-fated and short-lived affair. He then refers to the "silver tongues of the tinker girls" - a derogatory term used for a group of gypsy women who are known for being good with their words but have a manipulative streak. The song's final lines reference both the woman's background and his own, with the singer being the seventh son of a seventh son and her being a third-generation Transylvanian. He begs the band to not play "that tune," indicating that it may have some significance to their story. He wakes up to find her gone, having taken what she could and leaving behind only a horseshoe and a note that simply says "strange" - a fitting epitaph for their relationship.

Line by Line Meaning

Tropical night, Malaria moon
Describing the environment on this night

Dying stars of the silver screen
Referencing the downfall of famous personalities

She danced that famous Gypsy dance
Describing the woman's dance

With a hole in her tambourine
Noting damage to the tambourine that accompanied her dance

I was young enough and dumb enough
The artist acknowledges his immaturity at the time

I swallowed down my Mickey Finn
He drank a spiked drink given to him by the woman

She'd hijacked a few hearts all right
The woman had previously stolen hearts of others

I went into a tailspin
The artist was impacted heavily by the woman's actions

Don't sing me, don't sing me, don't sing me
Repeating his request not to hear the song

No more gypsy love songs
The type of song the woman had once sung

Don't stir it up again
Asking the songwriter not to bring up the past

I put my arm around her waist
Describing a physical interaction between the artist and woman

Says she, young man, you're getting warm
The woman made a flirtatious remark towards the singer

The room was going somewhere without me
The singer was confused or unaware of what was happening in the room

And she laughed as she read my palm
Describing another interaction between the singer and woman

Stillborn love, passionate dreams, pitiful greed
The artist reflects on what was probably a toxic relationship

And the silver tongues of the tinker girls
Referring to the craftiness of the women the artist had come across

Who throw their book of life at you
Suggesting the women were quick to jump into the singer's life without truly understanding it

But don't know how to read
Essentially saying the women were not truly knowledgeable or capable of reading the singer

She was third generation Transylvanian
Describing the woman's heritage

I was the seventh son of a seventh son
Describing the artist's own heritage

I begged the band don't play that tune
The artist had a negative association with a particular tune

Please don't beguine the begun
Describing the tune the singer didn't wish to hear

When I awoke, she'd cut and run
The woman left before the artist woke up

She stole my blueprints and my change
The woman took something valuable from the singer

Just a horseshoe and a note on the bed
The only thing the woman left behind was a horseshoe and a note

And all it said was--strange
The note left by the woman was cryptic or confusing

Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Written by: ERROL THOMPSON

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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Ken Soehn

on Love in a Faithless Country

33w

At a show at the Culch (The Vancouver East Cultural Centre) decades ago, Thompson said the song was inspired by two British serial killers, who seemed to be inspiring each other through the newspapers. Now you know why it sounds so spooky.