Richard Thompson

To stand up on a stage alone with an acoustic guitar requires bravery bordering on heroism. Bordering on insanity.

I think the reason kids get into drugs and smoking is they don't have anything to do.

I'm always making a conscious effort to be viable and accessible.

There's a part of me that wishes I'd never said one single solitary word on any subject publicly. Then I could have been the tortured poet, and there's so much mileage in that. But it's too late to stop now.

Well, first of all it's entertainment. That stops us becoming too pretentious or thinking we're great artists.

As the writer, you're always a presence in the song. If you get close to what human beings are like, you're writing about common experience. We all do much the same things, so if you nail somebody, then you've also nailed yourself.

It's fun to sing sad songs. And it's fun to listen to sad songs. Enjoyable. Satisfying. Something.

When you stand up acoustic in front of an audience, you really are a man without any clothes on. And that can be fun - it depends how much of an exhibitionist you are, I suppose. I quite enjoy it.

You want the audience to be uncomfortable.

The thing I do, really, is a communication with audiences more than any achievement through records.

The best thing you've got going for you is individuality.

I like the idea of playing in unison with yourself.

I have to remind myself not to set boundaries.

I'm glad there are a lot of guitar players pursuing technique as diligently as they possibly can, because it leaves this whole other area open to people like me.

Amplifying acoustic instruments more than a little is really cheating, and everything becomes a compromise.

I just like to entertain myself by sitting down and writing songs.

It's amazing what some people read into songs.

What I wanted to hear didn't exist, so it was necessary for me to go out and create it.

All audiences should be slightly off balance.

I try to make songs visual and tactile to kind of put you into the action.

But music can save your life sometimes. It probably saved me from working in a bank or something. That's a kind of salvation right there.

I probably wrote three-quarters of the songs without an instrument in my hands.

People want to hear about the extremes of human nature. They want things that are larger than their own lives, and more romantic, and not necessarily of their own experiences.

I try to look for the good in everybody, regardless of the way they're labeled.

I want people to come to my music without prejudice. I want them to get the music first. And who I am isn't that important. If they like the songs to me that's a good thing.