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."
There are many things to talk about
Be constructive
There are weapons we can use
Be constructive with your blues
Even when it's only warnings
Even when you talk the war games
Oh why don't you quiet down? (maybe I want peace and honesty)
Why don't you quiet down?
(Maybe I want to live in the children's land and you know maybe, maybe I)
Why don't you quiet down?
(Maybe I'll wander the promised land I want peace and honesty)
Why don't you quiet down?
(I want to live in the promised land and maybe wander the children's land)
Quiet down (yeah, and there, there we can free)
You don't live in a business world and
You never go out and you never stay
We won our goals in a liberal world
Living in times when I could stand it, babe
All over, baby's crying
It'll all be, baby, I can see out of here
All over the planet's dead
All over the planet, so let me out of here
All over the, all over the, all over the, all over the
We are the dollars and cents and the pounds and pence (quiet down)
And the mark and the yen, and yeah
We're gonna crack your little souls (why don't you quiet down?)
We're gonna crack your little souls (why don't you quiet down?)
We are the dollars and cents and the pounds and pence (why don't you quiet down?)
And the pounds and pence, and yeah
We're gonna crack your little souls
Crack your little souls
We are the dollars and cents
Be constructive
There are weapons we can use
Be constructive with your blues
Even when it's only warnings
Even when you talk the war games
Oh why don't you quiet down? (maybe I want peace and honesty)
Why don't you quiet down?
(Maybe I want to live in the children's land and you know maybe, maybe I)
Why don't you quiet down?
(Maybe I'll wander the promised land I want peace and honesty)
Why don't you quiet down?
(I want to live in the promised land and maybe wander the children's land)
Quiet down (yeah, and there, there we can free)
You don't live in a business world and
You never go out and you never stay
We won our goals in a liberal world
Living in times when I could stand it, babe
All over, baby's crying
It'll all be, baby, I can see out of here
All over the planet's dead
All over the planet, so let me out of here
All over the, all over the, all over the, all over the
We are the dollars and cents and the pounds and pence (quiet down)
And the mark and the yen, and yeah
We're gonna crack your little souls (why don't you quiet down?)
We're gonna crack your little souls (why don't you quiet down?)
We are the dollars and cents and the pounds and pence (why don't you quiet down?)
And the pounds and pence, and yeah
We're gonna crack your little souls
Crack your little souls
We are the dollars and cents
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Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
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."
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.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
Wow, who came up with lyrics... whoever wrote that screwed up the meaning. First of all it doesnt say "bear witness, we can use" it says "their weapons, we can use" and at the end it says "crack your little souls" not "kill." This song is a threat to those in control of our society that the people could knock over the entire capitalistic system simply through economics. The line Why don't you quiet down? is the reaction to thoms message. All the types of currency represent the people of the world. Basically i think this is what thoms saying... hey their anarchists anyways! Niam... your a materialist too... all of us are.
soulless materialism and the evil things done in the name of money and the never shutting up, constant advertising, constant hot air blowing around and just singing "quiet down" at the top of your lungs but you can't be heard over the noise what an incredible album
I think this song can be taken as many different contexts. Such as much of Radiohead's lyrics are flexible, which makes them so unique. Personally, I sense the meaning of this song as a bitter confrontation with a depressive state of mind. "There are better things to talk about, be constructive with your blues." To me this serves as a reality check for a ruminating, depressed mindset that gets someone nowhere. Being constructive with your blues, in my view, relates to the troubling truth that often times we know what we want, what would make us happier, so if only we could be constructive with our "blues" and get the hell out of this hole by taking action towards our respective directives.
"Why don't you quiet down?" Rumination that drives us further down; we want these thoughts to stop, but the more we fight them the more we want them to "quiet down", as this question is repeated several times.
"He never goes and he never stays." The warnings never leave, and when they just so happen to, it never stays that way. Back to square one.
"All over the planet's dead, All over the planet so let me out of here." Nothing we encounter in the outside world can truly assuage the pains that leave us back-drifting. Pleasure is temporary, never long lasting - everything lies to you, even though it doesn't.
Just my thoughts...
I think this song is fairly obvious. It seems to me, that Radiohead is directing this lyric towards the record executives. "Be constructive with your blues, bear witness we can use".
Essentially, he's taking the role of the record companies, who are more interested in squeezing the creative juices out of depressed and screwed up people than they are about the souls of the people who are producing the music for them.
How much great music is created by depressed, upset people, who use music as their outlet? If Jeff Buckley had been a happy-go-lucky kind of guy, his music wouldn't have been as recognized as it was.
The instrumentation of this song is incredibly eerie. If im listening to this song in the dark, I feel as if death itself is hovering over my shoulder. Definitely a great song though.
when thom says that we are the dollars and cents, i think it means that we're controlled by the CEOs and business execs and stuff. When he sings "why dont u quiet down?" its kinda like the CEOs telling us to do our job so then can make their money
I always ask myself how differents views of the whole world we can have, me in Argentina, South America and lot of you in developments countries. You really don´t realize how strong are messagges like "D&C" in societies that are still discussing about capitalism or socialism...
radiohead 1125 makes sense. it's within our power to stop the advancement of capitalism by not spending our hard-earnt money with these massive corporations. shop local!
This has got to be one of the best songs Radiohead's ever done (along with "Bullet Proof...I Wish I Was...", "Street Spirit", "The Bends", and "Amazing Sounds of Orgy"). It sounds beautifully brooding, with a modern twist in it. I love this beautifuly repetative resonance! It has a modern jazzy feel to it, and at the same it has a rock beat. It has a desperate tone to it that cries out to you. It seems to me that Thom must have been influenced by Miles Davis, or Talk Talk (after all, their favorite artist is Mark Hollis). This song is very close to perfection!
radiohead, thom in particular, is against globalism and the central banks, the IMF, the WTO, and other organizations that are moving us towards a one world government. And he should be, just like every one of us should be. The agendas of these people are not in the interest of the people, the people are their dollars and cents. It seems to me, like a lot of people I know, that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.