"Up the Junction" was the third single released from Squeeze's second album, Cool for Cats. It is one of the band's most popular and well-remembered songs (especially in the UK), and reached #2 on the UK Singles Chart.

Up the Junction is a novel by Nell Dunn, first published in 1963. Lyricist Chris Difford said that the title phrase was lifted from the 1965 TV play version of the novel, directed by Ken Loach, and its subsequent 1968 movie remake. (see Up the Junction). Although the song is not derived, it includes several references to the drama:

• Portrayal of daily life in Clapham / Battersea area (the song begins "I never thought it would happen with me and the girl from Clapham")
• "Junction" refers to Clapham Junction
• Colloquial working-class language
• The subject of unplanned pregnancy and abortion (the TV play is one of the first UK portrayals of abortion; the song a decision to keep the baby, with the oblique couplet: "She said she'd seen a doctor, and nothing now can stop her")

The song is well known for its use of half-rhymes, such as "ready" and "telly" or "kitchen" and "missing".

"Up The Junction (Zane Lowe Sessions)" is the main B-Side off the second single, Superstar Tradesman. It features a ska cover version of Up the Junction by Squeeze for a Zane Lowe session.