Climbing Up the Walls
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| ""Climbing Up the Walls"" | ||
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| Song by Radiohead | ||
| from the album OK Computer | ||
| Released | 16 June 1997 | |
| Recorded | 1996, 1997 | |
| Genre | Alternative Rock | |
| Length | 4:45 | |
| Label | Parlophone | |
| Producer(s) | Nigel Godrich with Radiohead | |
| OK Computer track listing | ||
| "Electioneering" (8) |
""Climbing Up the Walls"" (9) |
"No Surprises" (10) |
"Climbing Up the Walls" is a song by Radiohead, from the band's 1997 album OK Computer.
The song is often considered one of Radiohead's more disturbing pieces, and is based more around synthesiser than other songs on OK Computer. The chords used in the main riff are B minor, G major, then E minor. The string section of the song, composed by guitarist Jonny Greenwood alone, features 16 different violinists playing quarter tones apart from each other (he has admitted to being inspired by Krzysztof Penderecki, and has also stated that arrangements "haven't changed since The Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby").
The song opens with a few moments of atmospheric white noise. Before being played live, Jonny pulls out a small shortwave radio transmitter, and begins tuning it to different stations. During the band's soundchecks, Jonny locates classical or spoken word radio stations, such as BBC Radio 4, and uses them to introduce "Climbing Up the Walls". He comments on this, saying "I spend about 20 minutes tuning in some local radio stations before the show, theres always the danger that Huey Lewis and the News are going to turn up in an inappropriate part of the song, but that’s all part of the fun, I suppose". The band use a similar process in live performances of their later song "The National Anthem".
Thom Yorke has commented on the song, saying "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".
The distant scream heard at the end of this song is caused by Thom flipping his acoustic guitar up to his face and screaming into it, creating the distorted and hollow effect for his vocals.
