Music and Songwriting/The Songwriter's Grooves Project - A Guide to Singing and Playing Guitar/The Synthetic Strumming Song Series/Wall of Death

Wall of Death - Richard Thompson[edit | edit source]

Wall of Death has Richard's characteristic potpourri of picking techniques that are notoriously difficult to pin down. There is a simplified lesson that includes the iconic riffs and focuses on a basic interpretation of the song without oversimplifying.

History[edit | edit source]

The song was originally released on Shoot Out the Lights in 1982 and has since been performed many times by Richard in live shows.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoot_Out_the_Lights#Track_listing

Flagship Recordings/Performances[edit | edit source]

On Acoustic Classics

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFcl3Y9nJBI

With Linda

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSwu88ZMFPI

McCarter Theater from Afar, 2013

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qAcbUCkTFU

Seattle 1990

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wm5veik7Di0

Playing tips[edit | edit source]

It's helpful to understand the chord shapes and develop a simplified interpretation of the song which you can then expand on. Copying Richard's performances is extremely difficult due to the constant variation in performances and the noisy style of picking/strumming the song.