Speaking with Songfacts about this song in an interview, Glenn Tilbrook explained : "The lyric was a story that had no obvious repeats, and I thought it read perfectly well as it was. I was thinking of something like Positively 4th Street as a template when I wrote the music."
A blink and you miss it intro, a punched drum fill and you're in. The desire for economy is taken to extremes: no time wasting chorus and definitely no soloing, even the birth takes only half an hour. The arrangement is simple and breathtakingly subtle: the bridge being the verse's melody over different backing and the final heartbreaking passage sung over a pared down band with a simple string arrangement.
The focus rests almost entirely on the words. Lyrically it's probably the most unpretentiously detailed song since She's Leaving Home, from the opening line "I never thought it would happen...", through the job with Stanley and the bunch of flowers we hang on every word. Until in the end, as we always knew, there is tragedy.
It seems to have been quietly forgotten, but this very English kitchen sink drama shines as brightly today as any of it's more celebrated contemporaries and on a par with the greats.
Highlights abound, I suppose we all have our favourites, but the line that gets me? "I'd beg for some forgiveness, but begging's not my business."
And there you have it: a story of al fresco sex, happiness, birth, alcoholism, gambling, separation and good ol' fashioned remorse, crammed into three detail packed minutes.
You can hear all the great story records from Patches through Hey Joe and Piss Factory right up to Common People singing down the years. A masterpiece.
Up The Junction
Squeeze Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
With me and the girl from Clapham
Out on the windy common
That night I ain't forgotten
When she dealt out the rations
With some or other passions
I said "you are a lady"
"Perhaps" she said. "I may be"
We moved in to a basement
With thoughts of our engagement
We stayed in by the telly
Although the room was smelly
We spent our time just kissing
The Railway Arms we're missing
But love had got us hooked up
And all our time it took up
I got a job with Stanley
He said I'd come in handy
And started me on Monday
So I had a bath on Sunday
I worked eleven hours
And bought the girl some flowers
She said she'd seen a doctor
And nothing now could stop her
I worked all through the winter
The weather brass and bitter
I put away a tenner
Each week to make her better
And when the time was ready
We had to sell the telly
Late evenings by the fire
With little kicks inside her
This morning at four fifty
I took her rather nifty
Down to an incubator
Where thirty minutes later
She gave birth to a daughter
Within a year a walker
She looked just like her mother
If there could be another
And now she's two years older
Her mother's with a soldier
She left me when my drinking
Became a proper stinging
The devil came and took me
From bar to street to bookie
No more nights by the telly
No more nights nappies smelling
Alone here in the kitchen
I feel there's something missing
I'd beg for some forgiveness
But begging's not my business
And she won't write a letter
Although I always tell her
And so it's my assumption
I'm really up the junction
The lyrics to Squeeze's song Up The Junction narrate the story of an ill-fated relationship between the singer and a girl from Clapham. The song starts with the singer reminiscing about the night they met, out on the windy common, where they shared some rations and confessed their attraction to each other. The relationship progressed and they moved into a basement, with thoughts of getting engaged. Despite the dingy surroundings, they spent their time kissing and enjoying each other's company.
However, things took a turn when the singer got a job with Stanley, which pushed him into a routine of long hours and working through the bitter winter weather. Despite this, he saved a little money each week to help his girlfriend, who had fallen sick. Eventually, she gave birth to their daughter, who looked just like her mother.
But as the years went by, the singer's drinking problem spiraled out of control, and his girlfriend left him. He finds himself alone, missing his partner and daughter, but unable to do anything about it. The song ends with the singer acknowledging that he's "up the junction", meaning his life is at a dead end.
The lyrics of Up The Junction expertly capture the rise and fall of a romantic relationship, while highlighting the struggles of life in a lower socioeconomic bracket. The rawness and vulnerability in the storytelling make this song a timeless classic.
Line by Line Meaning
I never thought it would happen
I never thought this would happen
With me and the girl from Clapham
With me and the girl from Clapham that I met one night on the windy common
Out on the windy common
We met each other for the first time out in the windy and cold common
That night I ain't forgotten
Even after all this time, I still remember that night as clear as day
When she dealt out the rations
When she gave me something to eat and drink that night
With some or other passions
With some kind of passion, emotion or feeling between us
I said "you are a lady"
I called her a lady
"Perhaps" she said. "I may be"
She simply responded by saying that she might be one
We moved into a basement
We found a basement to live in together
With thoughts of our engagement
We had thoughts of becoming engaged to each other
We stayed in by the telly
We spent most of our time together indoors, watching television
Although the room was smelly
Even though the room had an unpleasant smell
We spent our time just kissing
We spent most of our time together kissing
The Railway Arms we're missing
We missed going to our favorite pub, the Railway Arms
But love had got us hooked up
But we were completely in love with each other
And all our time it took up
And all of our time was spent on each other
I got a job with Stanley
I got a job working for Stanley
He said I'd come in handy
He said that I'd be useful to him
And started me on Monday
He started me at the job the following Monday
So I had a bath on Sunday
I took a bath on Sunday in preparation for my new job
I worked eleven hours
I worked for 11 hours
And bought the girl some flowers
I bought my girlfriend some flowers
She said she'd seen a doctor
She told me that she had seen a doctor
And nothing now could stop her
And nothing could stop her from having a baby
I worked all through the winter
I worked throughout the winter months
The weather brass and bitter
The weather was very cold and harsh
I put away a tenner
I saved ten pounds each week
Each week to make her better
So I could take care of my girlfriend
And when the time was ready
When the time finally came
We had to sell the telly
We had to sell the television to get some extra money
Late evenings by the fire
We spent most of our evenings together near the fire
With little kicks inside her
With a baby growing inside of her and moving around
This morning at four fifty
Earlier this morning at 4:50am
I took her rather nifty
I quickly took her to the hospital
Down to an incubator
To the place where there were incubators for babies
Where thirty minutes later
And in just thirty short minutes
She gave birth to a daughter
My girlfriend gave birth to our daughter
Within a year a walker
Within a year she was already walking around
She looked just like her mother
Our daughter looked just like her mother
If there could be another
If there could be another child just like her
And now she's two years older
And now our daughter is two years older
Her mother's with a soldier
Her mother is now with a soldier and not with me
She left me when my drinking
She left me when my drinking became a serious problem
Became a proper stinging
Became a real issue for her and our relationship
The devil came and took me
I became a slave to drinking and other vices
From bar to street to bookie
I went from bar to gambling on the street to betting at the bookmakers
No more nights by the telly
I no longer have nights spent at home in front of the television
No more nights nappies smelling
I no longer have nights spent smelling and changing dirty nappies
Alone here in the kitchen
I'm now alone in the kitchen
I feel there's something missing
I feel like there's something important missing in my life
I'd beg for some forgiveness
I wish I could apologize and seek forgiveness
But begging's not my business
But I'm not the type to beg or plead for forgiveness
And she won't write a letter
My girlfriend won't even write me a letter
Although I always tell her
Even though I always try to communicate with her
And so it's my assumption
So I'm assuming that it's the end of our relationship
I'm really up the junction
I'm in a really bad situation or position now
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: CHRISTOPHER HENRY DIFFORD, GLENN MARTIN TILBROOK
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Philip Kassabian
Yet another excellent song by Squeeze.
@thelen3553
Don’t worry! If your listening to this in 2024 you are not alone
@ChunkyLover69420
i thought people stopped posting these fucking cringe comments years ago
@robpugh1000
Yes, I've read the same message to so many tunes. Its a marketing thing
@johnalpfecubillo6178
a facebook reel led me to this video lol
@joanne4361
@@ChunkyLover69420calm down mate, just enjoying a good tune
@joanne4361
@@robpugh1000 not a marketing thing, a genuine person loving this song..
@joebyrne-ev8rs
“I beg for some forgiveness, but beggings not my business” what a lyric by a legendary band!!
@sd3457
The golden era of British lyricists. Tilbrook and Difford, Weller, Dury, Costello...
@HarryHopkins-fv3li
Fuckin spot on my friend