Beginning in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Parker sang in small-time amateur English bands such as the Black Rockers and Deep Cut Three, while working in dead-end jobs at a glove factory and a petrol station. In late 1974 he placed an ad in Britain’s "Melody Maker" music mag seeking like-minded musicians and he began performing professionally. In 1975, he recorded a few demo tracks in London with Dave Robinson, who would shortly found Stiff Records and who connected Parker with his first backing band of note.
Graham Parker & the Rumour (with Brinsley Schwarz and Martin Belmont on guitar, Bob Andrews on keyboards, Andrew Bodnar on bass and Steve Goulding on drums) formed in the summer of 1975 and began doing the rounds of the British pub rock scene. Their first album, Howlin' Wind, was released to acclaim in 1976 and rapidly followed by the stylistically similar Heat Treatment. A mixture of rock, ballads, and reggae-influenced numbers, these albums reflected Parker's early influences (Motown, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan) and contained the songs which formed the core of Parker's live shows -- "White Honey", "Soul Shoes", "Lady Doctor", "Fool's Gold", and his early signature tune "Don't Ask Me Questions", which hit the top 40 in the UK. Like the pub rock scene he was loosely tied to, the singer's class-conscious lyrics and passionate vocals signaled a renewal of rock music as punk rock began to flower in Britain.
Parker preceded the other "new wave" English singer-songwriters, Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson. Early in his career his work was often compared favorably to theirs, and for decades journalists would continue to categorize them together, long after the artists' work had diverged. Characteristically, Parker would not hesitate to criticize this habit with caustic wit.
The first two albums' critical acclaim was generally not matched with LP sales. Graham Parker and the Rumour appeared on BBC television's Top of the Pops in 1976, performing their top 30 hit version of The Trammps' "Hold Back the Night".
At this point, Parker began to change his songwriting style, reflecting his desire to break into the American market. The first fruits of this new direction appeared on Stick To Me (1977). The album broke the top 20 on the UK charts but divided critical opinions.
Energized by his new label, Arista, and the presence of legendary producer Jack Nitzsche, Parker followed with Squeezing Out Sparks (1979), widely held to be the best album of his career. For this album, The Rumour's brass section, prominent on all previous albums, was jettisoned, resulting in a spare, intense rock backing for some of Parker's most brilliant songs. Of particular note was "You Can't Be Too Strong", one of rock music's rare songs to confront the topic of abortion, however ambivalently.
Squeezing out Sparks is still ranked by fans and critics alike as one of the finest rock albums ever made. Rolling Stone named it #335 [1] on their 2003 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In an early 1987 Rolling Stone list of their top 100 albums from 1967-1987, Squeezing Out Sparks was ranked at #45, while Howlin' Wind came in at #54 [2].
Although marginally less intense than its predecessor, 1980's The Up Escalator was Parker's highest-charting album in the UK and featured glossy production by Jimmy Iovine and guest vocals from Bruce Springsteen. Nevertheless it was Parker's last album with the Rumour, although guitarist Brinsley Schwarz would join most of the singer's albums through the decade's end.
The 1980s were Parker's most commercially successful years, with well-financed recordings and radio and video play. Over the decade, the British press turned unkind to him, but he continued to tour the world with top backing bands, and his 1985 release Steady Nerves included his only US Top 40 hit, "Wake Up (Next to You)". The singer began living mostly in the United States during this time.
In early 2011, Parker reunited with all five original members of The Rumour to record a new album. The record, titled Three Chords Good, was released in November 2012.
Fly
Graham Parker Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And the waves of time part behind your back
As your life crumbles and turns into fiction
And the end of it becomes a fact
And play with an imaginary ball
You will be released and pardoned
Now there's nowhere left to fall
Chorus good bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye
Now fly fly fly fly fly fly fly fly fly
A steam rises out of the water
And a mist hangs over the field
The tears of your wife and daughter
Have all but released their yield
The ghosts of lovers will walk toward you
And beckon you into their arms
And the mighty bells of chaos
Will no longer sound their alarms
Chorus repeat (plus way way way way way)
Shake off your carcass leave us in the dark
That's us fumbling 'round like ants on the ground
In palaces and hovels reading mystery novels
But we never get the plot maybe you got it now
Shake that mortal coil leave us to toil
Take off that weight take off that weight
Listen to the silence know the end of violence
Is a clean slate is a clean slate
Chorus repeat
The song "Fly" by Graham Parker is a hauntingly beautiful track that reflects on life, death, and what lies beyond. The opening lines set the scene for a surreal experience, as the singer looks into an "invisible landscape" and the "waves of time part behind your back." These lines suggest a feeling of detachment from reality, as if the singer is no longer constrained by the limitations of the physical world. As life crumbles around him and "turns into fiction," he is ready to embrace the "fact" of death and move on to whatever awaits him.
The second verse continues this theme, with the haunting image of "ghosts of children" playing in the garden and "lovers" beckoning from beyond. There is a sense of release and freedom in these lines, as if death is not to be feared but welcomed. The final chorus repeats the refrain of "fly" over and over, driving home the message that the singer is ready to leave this world behind and embark on a new journey.
One interesting element of this song is Parker's use of repetition and rhyme. The chorus consists entirely of the word "bye" repeated nine times, followed by "fly" repeated nine times. This gives the song a hypnotic, almost ritualistic feel, as if the repetition is itself a kind of incantation. Another interesting element is the use of imagery drawn from nature: the mist, the steam rising from the water, the empty garden. These images create a sense of detachment from the human world, and reinforce the idea that the singer is moving on to something new and different.
Overall, "Fly" is a powerful meditation on life and death, and the idea that there may be something beyond this world waiting for us. It is a song full of mystery and wonder, and one that invites the listener to contemplate the big questions of existence.
Line by Line Meaning
As you look into an invisible landscape
As you contemplate the unknown and uncertain future ahead of you
And the waves of time part behind your back
And the events of your life that have brought you to this point are now behind you
As your life crumbles and turns into fiction
As your once solid foundation and reality begin to fall apart and become unbelievable
And the end of it becomes a fact
And the inevitability of your own mortality becomes a reality
The ghosts of children will run in your garden
The memories of your childhood and youth will come back to you
And play with an imaginary ball
And you will reminisce about the innocence and simplicity of those times
You will be released and pardoned
You will find freedom and forgiveness from your past and your mistakes
Now there's nowhere left to fall
You have reached the bottom and there is nowhere to go but up
A steam rises out of the water
An eerie mist grows from the unknown depths
And a mist hangs over the field
And the uncertainty and confusion of the future shrouds any clarity or understanding
The tears of your wife and daughter
The sorrow and grief of your loved ones
Have all but released their yield
Have almost been completely emptied and spent
The ghosts of lovers will walk toward you
The memories of lost loves will resurface and confront you
And beckon you into their arms
And you will be tempted to surrender to them as a form of refuge and escape
And the mighty bells of chaos
The chaos and turmoil of the world
Will no longer sound their alarms
Will no longer have any effect on you
Shake off your carcass leave us in the dark
Cast off your old self and leave us behind in our ignorance and confusion
That's us fumbling 'round like ants on the ground
That's us searching aimlessly and blindly for meaning and purpose
In palaces and hovels reading mystery novels
Whether in luxury or poverty, we are still left with the mysteries of life
But we never get the plot maybe you got it now
But we can never fully understand the complexities of life - perhaps you do now
Shake that mortal coil leave us to toil
Shake off the limitations and constraints of life and leave us to continue our struggles
Take off that weight take off that weight
Release yourself from the burden of earthly problems and worries
Listen to the silence know the end of violence
Embrace peace and tranquility and realize the end of conflict and struggle
Is a clean slate is a clean slate
Is the opportunity for a fresh start and a new beginning
good bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye
Saying goodbye and letting go of old burdens
Now fly fly fly fly fly fly fly fly fly
Embracing freedom and soaring towards new possibilities
Chorus repeat (plus way way way way way)
Repeating the call to embrace a new beginning with even more emphasis
Contributed by Isaiah W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.