"You Can't Be Too Strong" is a song by British rock musician Graham Parker, recorded with his backing band the Rumour.

Written about abortion, the song originated as a country-style shuffle before Parker and producer Jack Nitzsche changed it to a slower acoustic ballad.

[4] In 1979, Parker elaborated on the song's meaning: When you're sixteen, or eighteen or something, you haven't got any money or anything, and the only thing you can think about is, 'God, I only hope she gets rid of it.'

[2] "You Can't Be Too Strong" was first released on Parker's fourth studio album, Squeezing Out Sparks, in March 1979.

"[2] The song also appeared as the title track to the compilation You Can't Be Too Strong: An Introduction to Graham Parker & the Rumour.

"[4] 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.

"[8] 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.

"[9] The New York Times dubbed the song "a gripping retelling of an abortion,"[10] while Trouser Press described the song as "a ballad full of disturbing imagery and emphatic phrasing which echoes the album title's judgmental metaphor.

[12] In the article, John J. Miller writes, "Although it's not explicitly pro-life, this tune describes the horror of abortion with bracing honesty."