Stevie Parker covers 'Different For Girls' by Joe Jackson - premiere

Exclusive: British newcomer Stevie Parker on what Jackson's song means to her, and why she chose to cover it

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When I was much younger, and confused, I found relating to and befriending girls difficult.

I felt alienated to most, and to those who slipped that net, I often found myself wanting things from them that they could not provide.

Joe Jackson's 'It's Different For Girls' resonated with me when I first started to understand its possible message.

Stevie Parker covers 'It's Different For Girls' - premiere

My interpretation; Not so much a linear narrative, but a frustrated social comment. An acidic, misunderstood, unsung perspective. The male, reversing the tired perceptions of the time and openly longing for an emotional closeness that the female party, dismissive, doesn't want. Alluding to something unconventional - the male assuming a role of humility and open hearted yearning, the female and her untypical blasé dismissal - perhaps only interested in the physical.

It was new territory for the era, but in essence, it still somehow felt bitterly familiar to me.

I found the role reversal fascinating - reminiscent of times where I had felt a chasm and discomfort in my own sexual identity. I always had an inner acceptance of myself, but when it came to relationships, I was almost embarrassed, ashamed to embrace this part of me that, if exposed to, the objects of my desire would spurn. I was, internally, the perverse reverse.

I had always felt intrigued about the inspiration behind 'It's Different For Girls'. I really feel that Joe Jackson had something unexpected and challenging to say about the values of young men and women at the time. Unusual and valuable.

I was desperate to sing it, retreating to my typical practice of covering endless songs, with obsessive teenage piety.

Arguably the female character in this case is rejecting of his intimacy, wanting everything but... 'All he's got', in fact.

In my realm, I was regularly experiencing this with the girls I grew close to, but it was more uncompromising. It was ok to be close, so close - painfully close - but there was always a limit and a withholding, even if that's not what either person wanted. I was so disheartened by these recurring situations. It just didn't seem to matter what resided in these sensitive adolescent hearts - it was never OK. It was different for girls. It was forbidden.

Unintentionally I realised that spoken from a girls' perspective, shifting the social paradigm to young sexuality as opposed to gender roles, the song felt more accessible to me.

I was nervous to project anything gay, to throw that out there in any incidental fashion - raising questions and eyebrows. But this too was an unsung perspective, at least in my vulnerable young world.

I don't mean to draw any intellectual comparisons with Joe Jackson, or to presume to tamper with his vision - I was just a youngster stumbling upon little ways to mediate some inner angst -

And, you know, it is different for girls. Luckily I've moved away from those years of mixed messages and conflict in my self identity - and music has certainly played a role in that liberation and the liberation of many - artists like Joe Jackson, and Bowie and Madonna forever pushing those boundaries.