Beginning the second side, "Playground Twist" is a "swirling mass of flanged guitars" with church bells; it includes a nursery rhyme section. The song "talks about adults who act like children and children who think they're adults". Siouxsie explained: "It's about the cruelty of children and that whole aspect of being thrown out into the playground in the winter in howling gales and left to fend for yourself. It's not the sort of thing you're supposed to write pop songs about". It was the band's third single in less than a year and "probably the best", according to the music historian Clinton Heylin. The single did not sound catchy, but it nevertheless entered the top 30. Severin later recalled the head of A&R at Polydor telling him he expected a commercial failure.