Thompson

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Richard Thompson turned to the chaos in Iraq for inspiration on his latest Shout Factory release, "Sweet Warrior."

"Dad's Gonna Kill Me," a track from the album that has received national media attention, begins with a graphic account of a vulture pecking at the head of a dead soldier in the middle of the desert.

The title of the song comes from Internet postings Thompson found online created by soldiers who have served time in Iraq. "Dad" is slang, Thompson said, that soldiers use when referring to the Iraqi capital city of Baghdad.

"I found the language used about Iraq to be very interesting," Thompson added in a phone interview last week from Idaho. "Phrases like, 'Dad is in a bad mood, Dad's got the blues.' The song is about the soldier's predicament, how he deals and the language he uses in that predicament."

Thompson brings "Sweet Warrior" to the Rialto Theatre Tuesday in a show that will include a full band and a selection of the singer/songwriter's music going all the way back to his Fairport Convention days in the late 1960s.

Thompson said the songs from "Sweet Warrior" fit in well with his extensive repertoire of music, a career that has earned him a nod as one of the top 20 guitarists of all time by Rolling Stone magazine and a BBC Lifetime Achievement Award.

"The songs all seem to fall in a certain area," he said. "There are a lot of songs about conflict, be it personal or political. If you could pick a theme, I think that would be about as close as it gets."

Thompson said the feedback from soldiers who have heard "Dad's Gonna Kill Me" has been very positive. "Most of them liked that I expressed their viewpoint," he said. "Veterans of other wars have said the same thing."

Families of soldiers currently in Iraq were less appreciative.

"They hated it," he said. "I suppose it is because they have to feel their sons are out there for a cause. Their stated cause is for freedom and democracy. I think this war is neither for freedom nor democracy.

"Over the course of the song it becomes clear that, while I am sympathetic with the soldier, I am not sympathetic with the politicians that sent him to Iraq in the first place. Most of these soldiers become soldiers because it is a way to get through college or learn engineering skills or something. The last thing they tell you is, 'By the way, you have a one in something chance of coming back.' "