Album of the Day: Shoot Out The Lights

Before leaving for work today I listed to Richard and Linda Thompson - Shoot Out the Lights. I am amazed at how well this album holds up. It does not seem dated at all. It has a very classic sound. I listed to the album over breakfast. Thirteen hours later, I am still singing the songs from this album.

I first fell in love with this album when I was in college. That was 20 years ago. At that point the album was about looking at the adult world from the outside. These were stories that happened to people that have lived more than me. Now I look at these stories and I understand what the people are going through.

Shoot Out the Lights is one of my favorite songs of all time. The text of the song is about a boy sitting in a house in Afghanistan, trying to hide from a Russian tank. The subtext of the song is about the tension in a relationship. This tension is something that I understand from a first hand point of view now.


Best songs on the album:
Walking on a Wire
Man in Need
Shoot Out the Lights
Did She Jump or Was She Pushed?
Wall of Death