"Protection" is a song by British rock musician

Graham Parker Graham Thomas Parker (born 18 November 1950) is an English singer-songwriter, who is best known as the lead singer of the British band Graham Parker & the Rumour. Life and career Early career (1960s–1976) Parker was born in Hackney, East L ...

, recorded with his backing band

the Rumour The Rumour was an English rock band in the late 1970s and early 1980s. They are best known as the backup band for Graham Parker, whose early records (from 1976 to 1980) were credited to Graham Parker & The Rumour. However, The Rumour also ...

. The song was released on his 1979 album, ''

Squeezing Out Sparks ''Squeezing Out Sparks'' is the fourth studio album by English singer-songwriter Graham Parker and his band the Rumour. The album was released in March 1979. Although the Rumour were not credited on the cover, their name was included on the album ...

''. "Protection" was lyrically inspired by a

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

line and featured a stripped-down arrangement. The song was released as a single in the UK in 1979, but did not chart there. The song has since become one of Parker's most famous songs.

Background

Graham Parker wrote the opening lines to "Protection" after hearing a Winston Churchill quote. He later explained in an interview, "As far as mentioning Churchill goes, I recall seeing a clip of him saying 'So all of you be damned, we can’t have heaven crammed' and found it quite offensive so I used it verbatim as the opening salvo on 'Protection. Parker recalled sending producer

Jack Nitzsche Bernard Alfred "Jack" Nitzsche ( '; April 22, 1937 – August 25, 2000) was an American musician, arranger, songwriter, composer, and record producer. He first came to prominence in the early 1960s as the right-hand-man of producer Phil Spec ...

an early version of "Protection" in an interview; he explained, "When itzscheheard that line in 'Protection', 'It ain't the knife through the heart that tears you apart/it's just the thought of someone sticking it in', he was like, 'Fuck!' He was like, 'This is Dylan! That's what you are, man, you're smarter". Like many other songs on ''Squeezing Out Sparks'', "Protection" features a rawer, more-rock oriented sound than much of Parker's previous work. He explained, "New wave and punk had happened and it seemed to me that I was sometimes thought of as old hat, perhaps an R&B stylist like

Southside Johnny John Lyon (born December 4, 1948), better known by his stage name Southside Johnny, is an American singer-songwriter who usually fronts his band Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes. Southside Johnny has long been considered the Grandfather of ...

, who also used a horn section. In fact we had done two tours with him and the

Asbury Jukes Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes are an American musical group from the Jersey Shore led by Southside Johnny. They have been recording albums since 1976 and are closely associated with Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band. They have recor ...

. I picked up on the clean and often minimal sound of new wave and used that to some degree on ''Sparks''".

Release

"Protection" was released in the UK as the first single from the ''Squeezing Out Sparks'' album. Initially, the single was backed with "

Mercury Poisoning Mercury poisoning is a type of metal poisoning due to exposure to mercury. Symptoms depend upon the type, dose, method, and duration of exposure. They may include muscle weakness, poor coordination, numbness in the hands and feet, skin rashe ...

", a song Parker wrote as a satirical criticism of his former label,

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...

. However, Mercury felt the song damaged their commercial interests and pressured

Phonogram Phonogram may refer to: * A sound recording – see Geneva Phonograms Convention * ''Phonogram'' (comics), a comic book by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie * Phonogram (linguistics), a grapheme which represents a phoneme or a combination of phone ...

, the head of Parker's new label,

Vertigo Records Vertigo Records is a record company with United Kingdom origins. It was a subsidiary of the Philips/Phonogram record label, launched in 1969 to specialise in progressive rock and other non-mainstream musical styles. Today, it is operated by Uni ...

, to switch the B-side to Parker's version of the

Jackson 5 The Jackson 5 (sometimes stylized as the Jackson 5ive, also known as the Jacksons) are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was founded in 1964 in Gary, Indiana, and for most o ...

's "

I Want You Back "I Want You Back" is the first national single by the Jackson 5. It was released by Motown on October 6, 1969, and became the first number-one hit for the band on January 31, 1970. It was performed on the band's first television appearances, on ...

". Discussing "Mercury Poisoning", Parker said, "The public liked it anyway and Arista arker's American labelliked it a lot. ... I just wanted to put it out as a single but they wouldn't let us. It was silly really because it's just a song. It's not going to break down a whole business—a massive conglomerate." The single ultimately failed to chart in the UK, despite a promotional music video being filmed for the song.

Reception

Since its release, "Protection" has received positive reception from music critics.

Greil Marcus Greil Marcus (born June 19, 1945) is an American author, music journalist and cultural critic. He is notable for producing scholarly and literary essays that place rock music in a broader framework of culture and politics. Biography Marcus wa ...

of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' called "Protection" a "good song". Dan MacIntosh of ''SongFacts'' called the song "wonderful" and characterized it as "antagonistic and blunt".

Charts

References

{{Graham Parker & The Rumour 1979 singles 1979 songs Graham Parker songs Vertigo Records singles Song recordings produced by Jack Nitzsche