Song of the Day 4/3: Graham Parker, “You’ve Got to Be Kidding”

Graham Parker wrote a lot of songs with dismissive phrases for titles, which is what happens when you’re a misanthrope. For some reason, I think of all of them as directed at Marjorie Taylor Greene, who was normalized last night in a “60 Minutes” interview with Leslie Stahl.

This one appeared on Parker’s debut LP, “Howlin’ Wind,” released in 1976, and gives a good idea of why critics used terms like “splenetic” and “scabrous” to define his songwriting, which bridged the gap between soul-influenced pub rock, angry punk and hook-happy New Wave.