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This is the first track in the band's repertoire to be described as scary. It relies heavily on strings, but not in the conventional way. The string section, covered by Jonny alone, features 16 different violins playing quarter tones apart from each other.
The audience's cue that the band is about to play this song live comes when Jonny pulls out a small radio and begins tuning it to different stations. During the band's sound checks, Jonny locates classical-music or news-oriented local radio stations, and uses these -never rock stations- to execute Climbing Up the Walls.
Thom: This is about the unspeakable. Literally skull-crushing. I used to work in a mental hospital around the time that Care In The Community started, and we all just knew what was going to happen. And it's one of the scariest things to happen in this country, because a lot of them weren't just harmless ... It was hailing violently when we recorded this. It seemed to add to the mood. Some people can't sleep with the curtains open in case they see the eyes they imagine in their heads every night burning through the glass. Lots of people have panic buttons fitted in their bedrooms so they can reach over and set the alarm off without disturbing the intruder. This song is about the cupboard monster. |
