Song of the Day 10/13: Richard Thompson, “Persuasion”

Despite a 50-plus-year career filled with more high points than the landscape of Nepal, Richard Thompson remains what John Peel called him early in his career, “the best-kept secret in the world of music.” He’s equally adept on both acoustic and electric guitar, and his melodic compositions, whether pure folk or folk-rock, tap into emotions most songwriters only wish they could articulate.

This song had the strangest gestation of any in his voluminous catalog. The melody was written for the soundtrack of a quickly forgotten Australian film, “Sweet Talker,” released in 1991, and recorded as an instrumental. Thompson did not enjoy the experience, and the resulting soundtrack LP was dismissed by critics.

The tune somehow caught the attention of New Zealander Tim Finn, the singer-songwriter best known for playing with his brother Neil in Split Enz and Crowded House. He wrote lyrics set to part of the original instrumental and began playing the resulting song in concert. Thompson, in turn, heard Finn’s version and liked it so much that he and Finn played it together on Jools Holland’s TV show.

By the end of the decade Thompson had adapted it to acoustic guitar and begun playing it in concert, both solo and as a duet with his son Teddy.

Thompson relocated a couple of years ago to Montclair, N.J., where he gave an outdoor concert over the summer while waiting for indoor live music to be safe again.