While my influences are mostly in the 70s post-punk and to some extent glam-rock vein, I’ve been on a psychedelic kick lately. I guess this song is partly the product of that. The angular chord changes on some of those late 60s psych records really appeal to me, and you can hear elements of Syd Barrett / early Pink Floyd, Os Mutantes, and the Pretty Things in the melody here.

Lyrically, the song went through a couple of transformations, so it’s very different from where it started. It was initially about a group of mountaineers who climb Mt. Everest only to be arrested when they get to the top, but this first-person voice crept in and kind of shifted the song toward its current shape, equal parts gleeful and menacing.