Weekend Song – X
June 9, 2007
X – Shoot Out The Lights
Here’s a song written by Richard and Linda Thompson in the fading embers of their ill-fated marriage.
Richard Thompson is a tunesmith of the finest order, but his voice never grew on me. Crunchy guitars and face-melting solos did, so I love this version of it by X.
I’d wager “shoot out the lights” I think is a metaphor for bitterness in the bedroom and the razor’s edge honed by years of intimacy which is often wielded too carelessly. Being in a failing relationship is a frustrating thing to put it mildly, especially when you’re keeping up outward appearances to mutual friends.
Keep the shade down on the window.
Keep the pain on the inside.
Just watching the dark.
Just watching the dark.
Listen – X – Shoot Out The Lights
3 comments
I kinda like that song. Richard Thompson and his banmds never made it much across teh pond.
I have a nephew who fell in love with the song “Wall of Death” when he was three years old. (Of course, he heard REM covering it, not the original.)
As soon as he heard the song begin, he would start rocking back and forth while intoning “No, no, no, no, no…”
For the record, his other faves were “All The Way To Reno” (REM) and “Mother Mary” (Eels, which he calls “the snake song” for some reason).
Good kid. His dad – my brother Bob – has taught his ear well.
Leemer – Wall of Death (I’m certain you know this) is on that same album – Beat The Retreat. I like it better than the original and I can hear the “No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Let me…”
Leave a comment. Play nice. I will turn this blog around.