You Can't Be Too Strong

Parker wrote "You Can't Be Too Strong" in his parents' home, after coming home from a Wreckless Eric concert that he made a guest appearance in. Parker characterized the song as "something that I just tossed off, and I thought, 'I don't know about this'." In 1979, Parker elaborated on the song's meaning: Of the song's political meaning, he said, "I get fairly rankled when people ask whether it's pro- or anti-abortion. I don't deal with such simplicities. It's about being involved in an event." The song also contains the phrase that gave the Squeezing Out Sparks album its name. Parker attributed the song's "weight" to this new arrangement. ==Release==

"You Can't Be Too Strong" was first released on Parker's fourth studio album, Squeezing Out Sparks, in March 1979. Though not released as a single, the song did appear as the B-side to the Scandinavian-only single release of "Nobody Hurts You." The song also appeared on the Parker 1993 compilation album Passion is No Ordinary Word: The Graham Parker Anthology. A live version of the song recorded in Philadelphia in 1988 has appeared on the Parker live album Live! Alone in America. Alongside the rest of Squeezing Out Sparks, "You Can't Be Too Strong" has appeared in live form on Live Sparks. Of performing the song live, Parker said of performing the song live in 1979, "Every night I got off singing that. It was great because the audience loved it. Girls cried and stuff which kind of gets you into it." ==Reception and legacy==

Steven Rosen of American Songwriter said that "You Can't Be Too Strong" was "maybe his greatest song, is the equal of Costello's 'Alison' or anything by Dylan." Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic describes the song as one of the two "centerpieces" of Squeezing Out Sparks, alongside "Passion Is No Ordinary Word". Erlewine writes that the two songs "indicate that [Parker's] traditionalist musical tendencies are symptomatic of a larger conservative trend. But no one ever said conservatives made poor rock & rollers, and Parker's ruminations over a lost past give him the anger that fuels Squeezing Out Sparks, one of the great rock records of the post-punk era." The New York Times dubbed the song "a gripping retelling of an abortion," while Trouser Press described the song as "a ballad full of disturbing imagery and emphatic phrasing which echoes the album title's judgmental metaphor." Blues Magazine called the track "fantastic" and "insanely beautiful." The song's take on abortion has resulted in its appearance on ''National Review's'' "Top 50 Conservative Songs" list. In the article, John J. Miller writes, "Although it's not explicitly pro-life, this tune describes the horror of abortion with bracing honesty." Parker said of the song's appearance on the list, "I guess you can take what you want from it..." ==Cover versions==

The song has been covered by fellow new wave musician Joe Jackson. Parker said of this, "I heard Joe did 'Strong,' yes. I'm well chuffed with that." The song has also been covered by Bob Geldof. ==References==