Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective
Tear-Stained Letter
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Remove ads
"Tear-Stained Letter" is the opening track from Richard Thompson's 1983 album Hand of Kindness. The song has been recorded by others, including a notable hit version by Jo-El Sonnier in 1988.
Remove ads
Content
With a strong zydeco feel, the song's length is 4 minutes and 40 seconds.[1] The main riff is performed on saxophones by Pete Thomas and Pete Zorn, who also performs the background vocals, and on accordion by John Kirkpatrick. The coda features a duet between a sax solo, accordion solo, and guitar solo by Richard Thompson.
The song is in the key of G major, with a fast tempo in 4/4 time. It uses a chord pattern of E7-A-E7-A-D-G on the verses, and B7-C-D-G twice on the chorus.[2]
The lyrics feature a narrator who has broken up with a tumultuous romantic partner: "Just when I thought that things would get better / Right through the door come a tear-stained letter".
Remove ads
Personnel
- Richard Thompson – guitar, vocals
- Dave Pegg – bass guitar
- Dave Mattacks – drums
- Simon Nicol – guitar
- Pete Zorn – saxophone, backing vocals
- Pete Thomas – saxophone
- Clive Gregson – backing vocals
- John Kirkpatrick – accordion
Jo-El Sonnier version
Country music singer Jo-El Sonnier covered the song on his 1988 album Come On Joe. His version was released as a single in 1988, reaching number nine on the Hot Country Songs charts.[3] Kenny Greenberg plays lead guitar on Sonnier's version.[4] Actor Judge Reinhold appears in the music video for the song.
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Other versions
Patty Loveless covered the song on her 1996 album The Trouble with the Truth.[8]
Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes covered the song on their 2005 album Into the Harbour.[9]
References
Wikiwand - on
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Remove ads