<Li> In April 2009 a British Appeal Court judge quoted the opening stanza during a custody case, saying "These four lines give a clear warning to parents". The popular tabloid newspaper The Sun, reporting on the story, took the opportunity to quote the poem in full . </Li> <Ul> <Li> The opening line was quoted by the Monkey Dust character known only as Chat room pervert, who writes "they fuck you up, your mum and dad...as eminem says". </Li> <Li> British clinical psychologist Oliver James published a book in 2002 entitled They F * * * You Up, starting each chapter with a line or stanza from Larkin's verse, followed in 2010 by a further book on parenting and child development called How Not to F * * * Them Up . </Li> <Li> The Talking Heads song "Sax and Violins" features a variation of the poem's opening line: "Mom and Pop, they will fuck you up, for sure ." </Li> <Li> The Philadelphian punk band Ex Friends put the words of the poem to music in their digital single "This Be The Verse". </Li> <Li> The American television program Criminal Minds quoted the first verse in the second episode of its ninth season, but used the euphemism "They mess you up, your mum and dad ." </Li> <Li> Grant Morrison's Multiversity name checks the poem in the third issue, Earth Me, in which Alexis Luthor, daughter of Lex Luthor refers to it as "the best poem ever". </Li> <Li> In The Wicked + The Divine, the first verse of the poem is associated with the character of Lucifer . </Li> <Li> A former peer quotes the opening verses to Nancy in "Dearborn - Again", the episode 10, season 6 of Weeds, an American TV show . </Li> <Li> A Bit of Fry and Laurie possibly references the opening of this poem in one of the voxpops of the first episode of season four . Laurie's character says to the correct iambic rhythm: "oh, how does that poem go?' They bring you up, your mum and dad ."' The interlude is characteristically vague and without context . </Li> <Li> Allison Williams' character can be seen quoting the first two lines of the poem to Benedict Cumberbatch's character in the trailer for Patrick Melrose . </Li> <Li> Streetwear brand Supreme used the first verse of the poem on both a hoodie and t - shirt as part of its FW16 collection . </Li> </Ul> <Li> The opening line was quoted by the Monkey Dust character known only as Chat room pervert, who writes "they fuck you up, your mum and dad...as eminem says". </Li> <Li> British clinical psychologist Oliver James published a book in 2002 entitled They F * * * You Up, starting each chapter with a line or stanza from Larkin's verse, followed in 2010 by a further book on parenting and child development called How Not to F * * * Them Up . </Li>

They mess you up your mum and dad they may not mean to