Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
The Kombucha mushroom people
Sitting around all day
Who can believe you?
Who can believe you?
Let your mother pray
Sugar
Sugar
I'm not there all the time, you know
Some people, some people, some people
Call it insane, yeah, they call it insane (sugar)
I play Russian Roulette everyday, a man's sport
With a bullet called life, yeah, mama, called life (sugar)
You know that every time I try to go
Where I really wanna be
It's already where I am
'Cause I'm already there
The Kombucha mushroom people
Sitting around all day
Who can believe you?
Who can believe you?
Let your mother pray
Sugar
I got a gun the other day from Sako
It's cute, small, fits right in my pocket
Yeah, right in my pocket (sugar)
My girl, you know, she lashes out at me sometimes
And I just fucking kick her, and then, ooh baby, she's okay (sugar)
People are always chasing me down
Trying to push my face to the ground
Where all they do is suck out my motherfucking brains, my brains (sugar)
The Kombucha mushroom people
Sitting around all day
Who can believe you?
Who can believe you?
Let your mother pray
I sit, in my desolate room
No lights, no music
Just anger
I've killed everyone
I'm away forever, but I'm feeling better
How do I feel?
What do I say?
Fuck you, it all goes away
How do I feel?
What do I say?
Fuck you, it all goes away
How do I feel?
What do I say?
In the end it all goes away
How do I feel?
What do I say?
In the end it all goes away
How do I feel?
What do I say?
In the end it all goes away
How do I feel?
What do I say?
In the end it all goes away
How do I feel?
What do I say?
In the end it all goes away
How do I feel?
What do I say?
In the end it all goes away
In the end it all goes away
In the end it all goes away
In the end it all goes away
In the end it all goes away
Sitting around all day
Who can believe you?
Who can believe you?
Let your mother pray
Sugar
Sugar
I'm not there all the time, you know
Some people, some people, some people
Call it insane, yeah, they call it insane (sugar)
I play Russian Roulette everyday, a man's sport
With a bullet called life, yeah, mama, called life (sugar)
You know that every time I try to go
Where I really wanna be
It's already where I am
'Cause I'm already there
The Kombucha mushroom people
Sitting around all day
Who can believe you?
Who can believe you?
Let your mother pray
Sugar
I got a gun the other day from Sako
It's cute, small, fits right in my pocket
Yeah, right in my pocket (sugar)
My girl, you know, she lashes out at me sometimes
And I just fucking kick her, and then, ooh baby, she's okay (sugar)
People are always chasing me down
Trying to push my face to the ground
Where all they do is suck out my motherfucking brains, my brains (sugar)
The Kombucha mushroom people
Sitting around all day
Who can believe you?
Who can believe you?
Let your mother pray
I sit, in my desolate room
No lights, no music
Just anger
I've killed everyone
I'm away forever, but I'm feeling better
How do I feel?
What do I say?
Fuck you, it all goes away
How do I feel?
What do I say?
Fuck you, it all goes away
How do I feel?
What do I say?
In the end it all goes away
How do I feel?
What do I say?
In the end it all goes away
How do I feel?
What do I say?
In the end it all goes away
How do I feel?
What do I say?
In the end it all goes away
How do I feel?
What do I say?
In the end it all goes away
How do I feel?
What do I say?
In the end it all goes away
In the end it all goes away
In the end it all goes away
In the end it all goes away
In the end it all goes away
Lyrics submitted by me109cito, edited by qwe17, cooldudeachyut, I'm_Who_I'm_-_, Maxitos
Sugar Lyrics as written by Shavo Odadjian Daron Malakian
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
My believe is that this song is mainly about our lack of being independent from society. We all accept mediocrity with wanting nothing more than to be average as we live our lives pissed at the world, but instead of fighting for change we take our anger and frustration out on the ones close to us, such as a girlfriend. After they lose the ones close to them they "I sit, in my desolate room, no lights, no music,Just anger, I've killed everyone" Killed everyone means the individual is completely alone in life with nothing more than their own self destructive anger and hatred towards the world. The main reason we choose to live our lives safe, but filled with emptiness rather than taking a risk and living a fulfilled life of joy is the media. The media influences are thoughts whether we notice it or not with news stations giving us what we want to hear (which is hardly ever true) to the good ole' sitcoms showing us pure fun and joy living day by day just like an "average " family would with a very mild conflict from time to time. System of a Down's band name is protest in its self against the wrongs commited by our government. SOD has also wrote numerous songs that protest current problems in society today from the war in iraq to the poverty in our country to the bullshit war on drugs. Such as Boom is an example in which it protests the US's obsession with spending much needed money on warfare to cause death rather than give life to people all across the world. Anyways.. Towards the end of sugar you can feel the anger in Serj's voice as he sings these lyrics
How do I feel, What do I say, Fuck you, it all goes away,
"What do I feel, what do i say" shows how one is struggling for individuality, "fuck you" then shows the giving in aspect after a struggle of conflicting thoughts within one as they turn their thought over to the media's powerful influence. Once they no longer have to think on their own the conflict they faced ends, hence "It all goes away".
I love your comment.<br /> Do you think that capitalism is in the core of all of it, or is the problem in human psychology? Capitalism making only profit important, or people Escaping form freedom? (Eric Fromm) Or perhaps something else?
Pretty concise, yes. <br /> It's about being a sheep.<br /> Which is a bit hypocritical as most music (theirs included) does the same thing, just for the other side of the coin. <br /> The fact that they say 'they like the audience to 'draw their own meaning' - is stupid, because they clearly always have a message (most songs), they just hide it and make you think you find it on your own, it's sneaky, underhanded propaganda, so they're in the same realm as the propaganda machine they so often attack, 'hypocrisy'. Own up to it Serj!<br /> <br /> And in a sense it is Anti Capitalism because Capitalism is synonymous with everything they're against. Greed, power, war, propaganda, etc etc...<br /> Which also makes them hypocrites because they'll claim to fight 'the system' but still take their millions, and brainwash people for their own agendas.<br /> <br /> Nevertheless, great music.<br /> <br /> @ Flip. Both. Capitalism stems from humans' psychological drive for power, money, attention, fame, etc.
This song is so cool. Whenever I have a bad day, I like to just have myself a nice little mini-mosh-pit. This is the perfect song.
@Xx TheDude xX yep :D
@Xx TheDude xX
This is my interpretations of Sugar and makes a lot of sense to me, probably for you too, hope you like it. Greetings from Brazil.
This song is about four things, the first one is about Aspartame, a substance created to substitue sugar that is usually found on diet foods and drinks. According to a research, the frequent ingestion of aspartame based meals can make you have a violent behavior. That explains the lines which he says everyone thinks he is insane, then he hited his girlfriend, got a gun from Sako and killed his family. The second thing is about what everyone who listened to Sugar wanted to understand: The Kombucha Mushroom People. There is a Fungus called Kombucha, that is wrongly called a mushroom. According to some alternative medicine treatments, this fungus has healing properties, so some people drink the Kombucha tea. The line "The Kombucha Mushroom People, sitting around all day" makes a reference to a 1995 incident in Iowa, where a lot of people were found unconscious on their houses, and some were found dead or died later. The severe illness cases were explained when the investigators discovered that these people were drinking Kombucha Tea for some reason. The third thing is about the media that always manipulate the information given to us by newspapers, television and radio, and we simply "eat it" without questioning, like some kinda delicious candy, that explains the "Sugar!", it's like "Yummy!". Also explains the "How do I feel? What do I say? Fuck you! it all goes away!". The fourth thing is about the Mushroom effect produced when a very powerful bomb explodes. It's a reference to Hiroshima, Nagasaki and the Vietnam War. You can see a footage of a nuclear test, right in the last seconds of the Sugar clip.
oh yea and the "mushroom" may be toxic....
This is my first SOAD song. I heard it a couple years back and fell in love with them. They have so much to say... every time I listen to one of their songs I get something new out of it. Just trying to interpret their music is like putting a puzzle together.
good song
i like thev's meaning the best...i haven't seen the video can you tell me somewhere I can get it for download? By the way if you've never heard of Kombucha, go to kombucha.org ....it's not a mushroom!
that's probably how the band got their name...the kombucha mushroom people that is... go to metalshop.com.au/thebeast/cabba/my_page.html
well it looks like this dude some uhhh..... anger management classes!! I love this song......its one of my angry songs(songs I listen to when I'm mad.)
that is how the kombucha mushroom people got their name. they are very metal live, one of them looks like a vampire when he screams. Scary stuff.