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God is dead but Graham Parker's still rocking

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Emma Woolgatherer
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Joined: February 27th, 2008, 12:17 pm

God is dead but Graham Parker's still rocking

#1 Post by Emma Woolgatherer » June 11th, 2008, 5:03 pm

About thirty years ago, I was something of a fan of a short, skinny London rocker with a receding hairline and aviator sunglasses. Anyone remember Graham Parker? He was the so-called "angry young man" who arrived on the pub rock/new wave scene a year or so before Elvis Costello, and who sang with a similar pseudo-American snarl. His band was called the Rumour. "Don't Ask Me Questions" was one of their early "hits", and the 1979 album Squeezing Our Sparks was widely considered something of a masterpiece.

Anyway, by chance I came across his blog today, The Thoughts of Chairman Parker. And it referred to a single he released last October called "The End of Faith" [---][/---] a title inspired, as you might guess, by Sam Harris's book of the same name. Reading that book, along with Dawkins's The God Delusion and Christopher Hitchens's God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, was a "mind-expanding experience" for Parker. He's been rather anti-religion for quite a while (see Rolling Stone, 21 August 2001), but he's been loath to call himself an atheist. Now, it seems, he's lost his last inhibitions. Out of nostalgia and curiosity, I spent 79 pence on downloading the track from iTunes. Here are the lyrics, as far as I can make out:
I can’t wait till all the mosques are turned into discos
And I can’t wait till all the priests move to San Francisco
I can’t wait till God is dead and over and done with
I can’t wait till the Age of Reason is the world we live in
And I can’t wait till the synagogues are turned into dance halls
And I can’t wait till the temples rock and the Vatican rolls
And I can’t wait till the end of faith
I can’t wait till the end of faith

I can’t wait till we rid the world of superstitions
And I can’t wait till the holy books are in their final editions
I can’t wait till this nightmare’s finally gone
And we’ll look back and wonder how it went on for so long
Till there’s only earth beneath and only sky above us
And Heaven’s Gate is just the name of a movie that cost too much
Oh, I can’t wait till the end of faith
I can’t wait till the end of faith
Yeah!

I can’t wait till this grand illusion is finally thrown out
And I can’t hate this insanity any more than I do now
Why is it our fate to spread this poison in the hearts of children?
It’s not too late; we can stop this madness that perverts and kills them
And we can come to the end of faith
Yeah we can come to the end of faith
I can’t wait till the end of faith
The end of faith

Religion poisons everythang!
Well, he certainly loved that subtitle.

Even the best lyrics tend to look a bit lame in print. And these aren't the best lyrics. But I can't honestly say that they're much better when attached to a melody and an arrangement. The trouble is, my musical taste is very different from what it was in the late 1970s. Graham Parker, on the other hand, sounds a lot like he did then [---][/---] at least, he does on this track. As much as I'd like to, I can't get enthusiastic about the song. It's all rather repetitive and predictable and clichéd and ... slightly embarrassing.

And yet, at the same time, when I listen to it, I feel an overwhelming affection for the man. Nowadays Graham Parker lives in Woodstock, New York, and to judge from some of the comments on his blog he has a lot of US fans who are Christians. But he's not afraid to piss people off. He may be pushing sixty but he's still passionate, still snarling, and I rather like that.

But then, I used to be something of a fan. And these things never really die.

Emma

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Lifelinking
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Re: God is dead but Graham Parker's still rocking

#2 Post by Lifelinking » July 8th, 2008, 11:49 pm

Just saw this thread. I was a fan of Graham Parker's music back in the day. Great post.
"Who thinks the law has anything to do with justice? It's what we have because we can't have justice."
William McIlvanney

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Emma Woolgatherer
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Joined: February 27th, 2008, 12:17 pm

Re: God is dead but Graham Parker's still rocking

#3 Post by Emma Woolgatherer » July 10th, 2008, 5:44 pm

Marvellous! I'd been feeling a bit foolish about my post, as I suddenly realised that I had known only one other Graham Parker fan back in 1979, and haven't met any since, so the odds of there being one on this list now were pretty slim. But there you are! :D

Emma

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Lifelinking
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Re: God is dead but Graham Parker's still rocking

#4 Post by Lifelinking » July 12th, 2008, 10:41 am

I like his version of hold back the night
"Who thinks the law has anything to do with justice? It's what we have because we can't have justice."
William McIlvanney

Occam
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Joined: April 6th, 2008, 6:37 pm

Re: God is dead but Graham Parker's still rocking

#5 Post by Occam » July 14th, 2008, 7:21 am

Emma, I know Parker's a common name, and I saw you said he was from London. Too bad he wasn't from Scotland, since my grandfather emmigrated from Johnston, a small town that used to be outside Glasgow about 130 - 140 years ago.

Occam

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Alan H
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Re: God is dead but Graham Parker's still rocking

#6 Post by Alan H » July 14th, 2008, 8:02 am

Occam wrote:Johnston, a small town that used to be outside Glasgow about 130 - 140 years ago.
It still is [---][/---] they haven't moved it! However, I don't think you can see where Glasgow ends and Johnstone begins.
Alan Henness

There are three fundamental questions for anyone advocating Brexit:

1. What, precisely, are the significant and tangible benefits of leaving the EU?
2. What damage to the UK and its citizens is an acceptable price to pay for those benefits?
3. Which ruling of the ECJ is most persuasive of the need to leave its jurisdiction?

Occam
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Re: God is dead but Graham Parker's still rocking

#7 Post by Occam » July 16th, 2008, 3:40 am

That's what I figured. When I was a small child, my grandfather said it was 4 miles outside Glasgow, but I was sure, that by now, it had been engulfed. :smile:

Occam

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