Up the Bracket (song)

"Up the Bracket" is the second single from the Libertines and their first from debut album Up the Bracket.

Contents

• Track listing
• CD 1
• CD 2
• 7
• References

The song alludes to London street crime: the "two shadow men on the Vallance Road" who the protagonist defies are a reference to the Kray brothers, two notorious London gangsters of the 1960s; the title is a slang term used by comedian Tony Hancock for a punch to the throat; while "two crooked fingers" refers to the V-sign. "Joseph bloody in the hole" is a reference to Genesis, chapter 37.

In May 2007, NME magazine placed "Up the Bracket" at number 47 in its list of the 50 Greatest Indie Anthems Ever.