Up The Junction Lyrics
With me and the girl from clapham
Out on a 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 into 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.
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.
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
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
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
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
I find the lyrics to this song endlessly fascinating. The story is clear; the song is musically quite unvaried - why does it work so well? I couldn't comment on the detail of the music, but I think that one of the reasons why the lyrics work so well is the way they use shifts of time and perspective. Just when you think you have settled into understanding what you think is now the end of the story (the romance; then the baby; then the birth; then the rupture), the lyrics plunge you into a new time and a new perspective that puts the last "chapter" into a new frame. Given that the music does NOT signal these shifts by moving from verse to chorus or introducing radically different forms or melodies, I think part of the reason for the song's genius is how the propulsive nature of the music acts as a misleading overlay to the time-shifting lyrics.
@jonathanpk It is the compression of story. Dylan used to do it well on some of his narrrative songs. Rarely were they as concise as three minutes though.
@jonathanpk It is the compression of story. Dylan used to do it well on some of his narrrative songs. Rarely were they as concise as three minutes though.
@jonathanpk Exactly, this song uses tense to set you up and then knock you down. The first four verses are past tense ("I never thought", "We moved in", "I got a job", etc). Then the fifth verse is in the present tense ("This morning at four fifty") to make you think he is wrapping up the story with the birth of his daughter - sitting there thinking about how he and his love got to this point. Aw, what a nice story. Then BAM - the lyrics hit you with the painful reality by jumping in time ahead a couple...
@jonathanpk Exactly, this song uses tense to set you up and then knock you down. The first four verses are past tense ("I never thought", "We moved in", "I got a job", etc). Then the fifth verse is in the present tense ("This morning at four fifty") to make you think he is wrapping up the story with the birth of his daughter - sitting there thinking about how he and his love got to this point. Aw, what a nice story. Then BAM - the lyrics hit you with the painful reality by jumping in time ahead a couple of times. Brilliant.
esie32, I don't think this song has anything to do with advocating abortion. The song isn't saying the couple would have been better off without their baby. It actually seems that the daughter is a happy event for them, as evidenced by their happily selling the tv and the father gladly working hard to support his new little family. Also I don't see any indication that the couple are teenagers.
I think what actually drives them apart is the man's drinking:
"She left me when my drinking Became a proper stinging The devil came and took me From bar to street to bookie"
The missus left with the baby when his drinking got so out of hand it was hurting the family.
Anyway I find this song really depressing, because it starts so hopefully and ends with the singer in ruins thanks to his choosing drink over his family. To me, this song is about being your own worst enemy. The guy realises he has ruined their happy life and lost his wife and child, but "Begging's not my business"- he's still too proud to change his habits and beg them to come back, but just the same he knows deep inside what he is missing.
@isabell428 you’ve nailed it. That’s exactly what the song’s about. “The devil came and took me from bar to street to bookie”. Beautifully sad song.
@isabell428 you’ve nailed it. That’s exactly what the song’s about. “The devil came and took me from bar to street to bookie”. Beautifully sad song.
The line about "she'd seen a doctor, and nothing now could stop her" probably means that the narrator had abortion as an initial reaction. Whether or not he brought it up or just realized arguing about it would be futile isn't specified.
The line about "she'd seen a doctor, and nothing now could stop her" probably means that the narrator had abortion as an initial reaction. Whether or not he brought it up or just realized arguing about it would be futile isn't specified.
The "Railway Arms" is a common name for an English pub.
It really helps to understand Squeeze songs if you understand English culture, especially working and middle class culture. Their songs are very English.
The railway arms we're missing means that he is no longer hanging out at the pub, because he's spending his time with his new love. Sadly, his behavior reverts to his old drinking habits, and it costs him his happiness in life--he loses his wife and daughter because he refuses to grow up and out of his adolescent behavior. He comes to understand this, but it's hard-earned knowledge.
I love how this song paints a picture of a life with a couple of simple verses. One minute, he's experiencing the joy of his daughter's birth. A couple of lines later, his daughter's two years older and he's lost his wife and child to another man, a solider who will provide.
He's really up the creek w/out a paddle.
@rbraxley thank you so much for the explanation. I've been wondering what that meant since I first fell in love with the song. In this context, I thought a railway was a common piece of British furniture and they were so poor that it didn't even have arms. Your answer clarified my confusion. Now, what the heck is a "proper stinging"?
@rbraxley thank you so much for the explanation. I've been wondering what that meant since I first fell in love with the song. In this context, I thought a railway was a common piece of British furniture and they were so poor that it didn't even have arms. Your answer clarified my confusion. Now, what the heck is a "proper stinging"?
The ultimate kitchen-sink drama set to music. Love and reality in Sarf London...
I'm pretty sure the lady doesn't leave the baby with the guy. 'No more nights nappies smelling' tells me that she takes the kid with her leaving him with absolutely nothing. Great song tho'
I took it to be "no more nights, nappies smelling" meaning that sleep is a thing of the past because the single dad is up all night changing diapers
I took it to be "no more nights, nappies smelling" meaning that sleep is a thing of the past because the single dad is up all night changing diapers
'alone here in the kitchen' and 'she won't write a letter' suggest to me that he's by himself without the kid, and that the mother isn't letting him see the daughter?
'alone here in the kitchen' and 'she won't write a letter' suggest to me that he's by himself without the kid, and that the mother isn't letting him see the daughter?
Or, alone here in the kitchen can mean Baby is in her nursery sleeping and Dad is unpartnered, sitting in the kitchen sorrowing over Baby's mother and her soldier beau
Or, alone here in the kitchen can mean Baby is in her nursery sleeping and Dad is unpartnered, sitting in the kitchen sorrowing over Baby's mother and her soldier beau
Its a great tune but the lyrics arent that happy are they? I love lyrics that are so straight forward.
@Achterbahnen2 perhaps you should try following a boy band.
@Achterbahnen2 perhaps you should try following a boy band.
@Achterbahnen2 The silver lining here is that it seems everyone is pretty young. The narrator talks about the job with Stanley as if it's his first time working. He still has time to make things right or at least do better in his next relationship.
@Achterbahnen2 The silver lining here is that it seems everyone is pretty young. The narrator talks about the job with Stanley as if it's his first time working. He still has time to make things right or at least do better in his next relationship.
For people not familiar with South London, Clapham Junction is a well-known / important railway transport hub. Locally it’s known as ‘The Junction’ and is a clever call back when the singer says he’s up the junction after his relationship with the girl from Clapham ends. The windy common he mentions in the first verse is most likely Clapham Common. It does have some local infamy as place where people can meet for liaisons – just Google Ron Davis Clapham Common.
The lyrics are the self told tale of a love affair, a wanted pregnancy and child, and destroying what you have by being your own worst enemy. They are down to earth, plain spoken and direct and written as a normal person would speak. The lack of histrionics is part of what makes it so moving, it tells the tale and lets the listeners brain finish painting the picture and summon up an emotional response. It's also a very upbeat and engagingly pretty tune that suits the happy first verses the overlays some melancholic strings(?) near the rather sorrowful end. I particularly like the short train like drum fills at the beginning, a subtle scene setting suggestion to the listener of living near the railway lines around Clapham junction i think.
@bobsto12 it wasn't a wanted pregnancy, it just happened and they went with the flow. They moved in together, not bothering to tie the knot. I know I've been there...
@bobsto12 it wasn't a wanted pregnancy, it just happened and they went with the flow. They moved in together, not bothering to tie the knot. I know I've been there...
This song is so depressing.
I absolutely love this song...it seems like it will be a "love conquers all" song, but it leaves the narrator saying "well, i'm fucked!" hahaha