text: Enduring appeal A testament to the enduring appeal of Larkin's poem came in April 2009, when the first four lines were recited by a British appeal court judge as part of his judgement of a particularly acrimonious divorce case involving the future custody arrangements of a nine-year-old child. Lord Justice Wall referred to the emotional damage caused to the child, saying: "These four lines seem to me to give a clear warning to parents who, post-separation, continue to fight the battles of the past, and show each other no respect."
  Cultural influences
  Literature
  Poet Adrian Mitchell wrote an upbeat parody of the poem that begins with the lines "They tuck you up, your Mum and Dad, / They read you Peter Rabbit, too."
  The poem is extensively featured on Oliver James' books They F*** You Up (2002) and How Not To F*** Them Up (2010).
  Music
  Anne Clark set the poem to music and performed it on her albums Hopeless Cases (1987) and R.S.V.P. (1988).
  In a 2002 interview on Parkinson, David Bowie quoted the first and last stanzas, when asked about his relationship with his parents.
  Television
  Comedian Raphael Bob-Waksberg has cited the poem as an influence on his animated series BoJack Horseman (2014–2020).
  The entire poem is recited in the Ted Lasso episode "Mom City" (2023). The first stanza is quoted in numerous TV series, including the Weeds episode "Dearborn-Again" (2010), the Criminal Minds episode "The Inspired" (2013), the Succession episode "Austerlitz" (2018), and Firefly Lane episode "Reborn on the Fourth of July" (2022).
  Other
  The streetwear brand Supreme printed the first stanza of the poem on items in their Fall/Winter 2016 collection.