David Kilgour states, "I started writing 'Christopher Columbus' in my head after being stuck in Barcelona a couple of years back at the end of a Clean tour of Europe. My flight out was delayed by a day, so I spent most of that time hanging around the Rambla de Santa Monica, where a statue of Columbus stands. It got me thinking about how his discovery of America led the world to where we are now." The b-side, "Shifting Sands", was originally recorded in 1967 by The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band. "You can find the track on their LP Part One. I discovered the band in the mid ’70s and have loved those first three LPs ever since."