10 Perfect Rock Songs That Were Never Released As Singles
4. Climbing Up The Walls - Radiohead
No one in their right mind is going to come to a Radiohead record and expect a pick me up. From day one, it's always been par for the course for almost every Radiohead cut to have at least some underlaying sense of sadness behind it. On the back half of Ok Computer, Climbing Up the Walls isn't nearly as sad...it's just absolutely terrifying.
As much as the entire album talks about the dangers of technology becoming more and more involved in our lives, this is the kind of song that feels more indebted to the psychotic nature that exists in everyone's mind. While it's not clear exactly what Thom is supposed to be in this song, it's almost like he's playing a stalker or a demon coming for your soul, as he warns you to lock the kids up safe tonight and getting more maniacal as the track plays out.
The most unsettling part of the song though has to be the chorus, where he talks about being there beside you anywhere you turn and telling you to open up your skull. This is the kind of threat that you can never outrun, and even if you're away from them, you can't purge them from your mind once they're gone. Forget the sad ballads that you got on the first few records...this is the kind of song that sounds like it should be reserved for The Joker.