As with
"Ode to Billie Joe", it takes great skill to tell a whole story in a
short pop song, and Squeeze acquit themselves admirably with this 1979 classic.
It is a kitchen sink drama of the rise and fall of working class couple's
relationship.
It starts
with a signature tune from Jools Holland's organ (the prominent organ is a
characteristic of all the early Squeeze singles) and then a brief pause. There is a double
drum fill, and Glenn Tilbrook delivers the classic opening line "I never
thought it would happen / With me and the girl from Clapham".
But it did
happen, they quickly moved in together, a "smelly" basement flat, enjoying
evenings of "kissing" and "telly".
He got a job, but she was pregnant, so he worked long low-paid hours during the
cold Winter, even sacrificing the television. A
daughter was born but within two years the relationship had floundered, due
to his drinking and gambling. It ends with him alone in the kitchen, and his
regrets, wanting her back as the band play out. A complete and sad story in barely
three minutes.
Chris Difford
wrote the lyrics, homesick while on tour in New Orleans, words coming fast as
he remembered his working class roots, and his love of 1960s TV dramas. It
shares its title with a 1960s TV play and movie, and means to be in trouble or a
bad situation.
The most distinctive
element is the lyrics - clever, poignant,
colloquial, with its conspicuous rhymes - some good (forgiveness / business) some
contrived (Stanley / handy) and some laughable ("This morning at four fifty
/ I took her rather nifty"). It was also his eye for detail of working
class life ("had a bath on Sunday").
As normal he
passed the completed lyrics to Tilbrook who composed the music (the Deptford
Lennon and McCartney), and added such a great melody.
The song is
unusual as it has no chorus (this was deliberate to accommodate the seven
verses), and also the title only appears at the end of the song, a homage to
Roxy Music's Virginia Plain. There is also
just one vocalist, and no backing vocals.
In 1998 they
revisited the girl in "A moving story", as she left Clapham and moved
to live by sea (few artists provide updates to their most famous works, but
"Peggy Sue got married" is another example).
"Up the
Junction" is the best example of the Difford / Tilbrook chemistry of an
memorable rhythm and precise lyrics to form a great song, and provides a great
drama from 1970s England.
Hear Now - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQciegmLPAo (the video was shot in the kitchen of John
Lennon's Ascot house)
Hear Next -
There are several good Squeeze albums, but the best entry point is
"Greatest Hits" which contains all the early classics but also from
the later reunions.
** The book of "Song from a Quarantine" is now available on all Amazon sites in paperback and ebook formats - https://tinyurl.com/y43mbr2b
** The book of "Song from a Quarantine" is now available on all Amazon sites in paperback and ebook formats - https://tinyurl.com/y43mbr2b
