Passion Is No Ordinary Word
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"Passion Is No Ordinary Word" 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 were an English prog rock new wave rock band active 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. ...
. The song was released on his 1979 album, '' Squeezing Out Sparks''. Written about faking one's emotion, the song features a stripped-down arrangement. Though not released as a single, the song has since become one of Parker's most famous songs. The song has seen critical acclaim and Parker has named it as one of his favorites from the album.


Background

Parker attributed the song's power to the song's ascending guitar line, stating, "Those ascending chords provided the push. It's great when you come up with those chords. That guitar riff is so lonely, so yearning." Parker noted the song's stripped-back style as symbolic of the album's musical direction as a whole, stating, "In the past, I occasionally found the music running away with itself, and I was fighting in the middle of it. This time I wanted it to be absolutely direct – the whole thing like a heartbeat. All the riffs, like in 'Passion,' I wrote them with the songs. We didn't elaborate on them much". Lyrically, the song was described by writer Geoff Cabin as "rail ngagainst artificiality and false emotions". When asked about the song's implications about faked emotion, Parker responded, "People are dull, aren't they? People aren't living to their max, or to anywhere near it. They're just drones or clones. Especially in England - they're just walking zombies. They believe what the TV tells them. They're just put in a direction and led there". Parker later said that the song was "absolutely" one of his favorites from the album. He explained, "That's a biggie. That's a strong one for me. Those lyrics, again, are kind of beyond what I'm capable of. They're up there." Parker later joked that, because of the loss of sharpness that comes with aging, he "will never again grasp those effervescent wraiths of pure cosmic intangibility that forged the almost impossibly profound 'Passion Is No Ordinary Word.


Release and reception

"Passion Is No Ordinary Word" was first released on Parker's fourth studio album, '' Squeezing Out Sparks'', in March 1979. The song also served as the title track to the Parker 1993 compilation album ''Passion is No Ordinary Word: The Graham Parker Anthology''; Parker performed the song on ''
The Late Show with David Letterman ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production comp ...
'' that same year to promote the compilation, recalling, "I find erforming on TVvery stressful. ... The only time when I've been any good and represented myself in a way I did not consider ruinous to my career was in my last Letterman performance. I was doing 'Passion Is No Ordinary Word', promoting the
Rhino A rhinoceros ( ; ; ; : rhinoceros or rhinoceroses), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant taxon, extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates (perissodactyls) in the family (biology), famil ...
boxed set, and for some strange reason I just nailed that monkey." Geoff Cabin described the song as "one of Parker's signature anthems".
Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...
of
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
describes the song as one of the two "centerpieces" of ''Squeezing Out Sparks'', alongside " You Can't Be Too Strong". Erlewine writes that the two songs "indicate that arker'straditionalist musical tendencies are symptomatic of a larger
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
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." Critic
Geoffrey Himes Geoffrey Himes is an American music critic who has written weekly for ''the Washington Post'' since 1977. He also wrote for '' No Depression'' as a contributing editor in its first print era in the late 1990s to the early 2000s and has written for ...
called the song "the essence of Parker's whole career". ''
The Orlando Sentinel The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is the primary newspaper of Orlando, Florida, and the Central Florida region, in the United States. It was founded in 1876 and is currently owned by Tribune Publishing Company. The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is owned by pare ...
'' describes the song as "enormously tuneful".


Covers

"Passion Is No Ordinary Word" was covered by New York rock band
the Figgs The Figgs are a rock ‘n’ roll band formed in Saratoga Springs, New York in 1987. Originally known as The Sonic Undertones, their output includes thirteen studio albums and multiple EPs and singles. They’ve served as the backing band for r ...
for the Parker tribute album ''Piss And Vinegar: The Songs Of Graham Parker''. The Figgs, made up of lifelong Parker fans, served as Parker's backing band in the late 1990s and early 2000s after meeting in a dressing room when both were on tour separately. Guitarist Mike Gent recalled, "My dad bought those records, ''
Howlin' Wind ''Howlin' Wind'' is the debut album by English singer-songwriter Graham Parker and his band the Rumour, released in April 1976. The Rumour were mainly former pub rock musicians, including guitarist Brinsley Schwarz and keyboardist Bob Andrew ...
'' and ''
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'', when they came out, so I've been listening to this music almost my whole life."


References

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