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.
Impenetrable
Graham Parker Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Am+9 means hammer the be, that is, am 577555 am+9 577557
Am
I'm in a trailer with some white trash.
Em7 dm7
They're drinkin' beer and smokin' grass
Am
There's a dumb chick with peroxide hair.
She's got axl rose tattooed on her ass
Am
They're holding me up like a trophy in a hall
Em7 dm7
Like a deer skin or a bear's head they bought from the mall
Am
I act like I'm with them but I'm behind a wall
Em7 dm7
Behind a wall in the darkness
Chorus
Am am+9 em7 dm7
Impenetrable I can't get inside of it no
Am am+9 em7
Impenetrable I ca - ah - ah - ah - an't
Am
Impenetrable (riff)
I wake up in a foreign bed.
The hotel is empty the porters are dead
The maids are diseased but the manager said:
I'll buy you a drink in the bar pal
Because you're our last customer. you're our last hope
The city's deserted, the government's broke
I act like I'm with him but I'm ready to bolt
Out through the door into the darkness
Chorus repeat
Guitar solos over verse
Out in the darkness the new year's crowd howl
It's the same celebration for 20 years now
I found myself there once alone in a crowd
And the rules haven't changed for a minute
They're hoisting an effigy up on a pole
It's someone I remember, it's someone I know
I can't place the face but when the gasoline flows
I feel the flames lick round my ankles
Fmaj7 dm7 fmaj7 am
Aaaah oh aaah oh
Fmaj7 dm7
Aaaah oh
Chorus repeat /pre>
The song "Impenetrable" by Graham Parker is a reflection on feeling out of place and disconnected from those around him. The first verse describes the singer's discomfort in a trailer with "white trash" individuals who are behaving in ways that the singer finds distasteful. Even though the singer is physically present with them, he feels as though he is isolated behind an impenetrable wall in the darkness. The chorus emphasizes this feeling of detachment, emphasizing that the singer cannot penetrate the wall that separates him from those around him.
In the second verse, the singer has woken up in a foreign hotel room where he seems to be the only living person around. The emptiness of the hotel room is a metaphor for the emotional emptiness that the singer is feeling. The chorus is repeated, emphasizing the feeling of being cut off and disconnected from others.
The guitar solos that come after the second verse continue the sense of isolation and disconnection. The sound of the guitar is piercing and solitary, emphasizing the singer's loneliness. The final verse finds the singer among a crowd of people celebrating the new year. Even though he is surrounded by people, he still feels disconnected from them. The rules of the celebration have not changed in 20 years, and the singer feels like he is stuck in a cycle that he can't break free from. The final line where the flames lick around the singer's ankles is a metaphor for feeling trapped and unable to escape.
Line by Line Meaning
Am
The singer is in a trailer with some white trash
Em7 dm7
The people in the trailer are drinking beer and smoking grass
Am
The singer observes a woman with peroxide hair who has an Axl Rose tattooed on her butt
Em7 dm7
The people in the trailer hold the singer up like a trophy
Am
The singer is pretending to be with them, but he feels like he is behind a wall in darkness
Chorus
The singer is expressing how impenetrable the situation feels
Am+9 em7 dm7
He just cannot seem to get inside of it
Am am+9 em7
No matter how much he tries, he can't
Am
The singer wakes up in an unfamiliar bed
Em7 dm7
The hotel is empty, and the porters are dead
Am
The maids are diseased, and the manager says he is the last customer
Em7 dm7
The city is deserted and the government is broke
Am
The singer pretends to be with the manager, but he is ready to bolt
Chorus
The singer reiterates that he can't penetrate the darkness and chaos
Guitar Solos over Verse
No lyrics - musical interlude
Out in the darkness the new year's crowd howl
The singer is describing a crowd howling in the dark
It's the same celebration for 20 years now
This is an annual celebration that has been going on for two decades
I found myself there once alone in a crowd
The singer once found himself alone in a crowd
And the rules haven't changed for a minute
The same rules apply, and nothing has changed
They're hoisting an effigy up on a pole
The people in the crowd are raising an effigy up on a pole
It's someone I remember, it's someone I know
The effigy is of someone the singer remembers
I can't place the face but when the gasoline flows
The singer doesn't recognize the effigy's face, but he sees gasoline being poured
I feel the flames lick round my ankles
The singer feels the heat of the flames around his feet
Fmaj7 dm7 fmaj7 am
No lyrics - musical interlude
Aaaah oh aaah oh
No lyrics - musical interlude
Fmaj7 dm7
No lyrics - musical interlude
Chorus
The singer repeats that he can't seem to break through the impenetrable darkness
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: GRAHAM THOMAS PARKER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind