And if fate should break my stride, then I'll give you my Vincent to ride...

Richard Thompson - 1952 Vincent Black Lightning from his album Rumor and Sigh

In the interest of full disclosure I loved this song for a long time with no clue that this was Richard Thompson's song*. The first time I heard this song was with my family when we saw Jim Henry perform it on stage with Tracy Grammer. He does a really great job, and we enjoyed it thoroughly. He's damn good on that guitar, and Tracy is stellar on harmony. (The video is down below.) A few months later I was driving home in a snowstorm at 5 in the morning and this song came on the radio. (Gotta love WKZE, they play weird music all day long, but in the early hours of the morning they play really great music. I actually enjoyed my early early morning drives...) In any case, I had to pull the car over because I was moved to tears. Every time I hear Thompson sing this song I cry. It always starts out ith goosebumps and I think I'm going to get by without crying, but the final verse in his incredible voice never fails.

*I also have to admit that I grew up listening to Fairport Convention, but had no idea that Richard Thompson was part of the group until a few months ago. I'm a really horrible music fan. This new addition to my blog has been really good for me in that regard.



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