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."
It's not the heat
It's the inhumanity
Plugged into the sweat of a summer street
Machine gun images pass
Like malice through a looking glass
The slackjaw gaze of true profanity
Feels more like surrender than defeat
If culture is the curse of the thinking class
If culture is the curse of the thinking class
Ceiling unlimited
World so wide
Turn and turn again, turn again
Feeling unlimited
Still unsatisfied
Changes never end, never end
The vacant smile of true insanity
Dressed up in the mask of Tragedy
Programmed for the guts and glands
Of idle minds and idle hands
I rest my case or at least my vanity
Dressed up in the mask of comedy
If laughter is a straw for a drowning man
If laughter is a straw for a drowning man
Ceiling unlimited
Windows open wide
Look and look again, look again
Feeling unlimited
Eyes on the prize
Changes never end, never end
Winding like an ancient river
The time is now again
Winding like an ancient river
The time is now again, the time is now again
The time is now again
The time is now again, the time is now again
The time is now again,
The time is now again
The time is now again
Ceiling unlimited
World so wide
Turn and turn again, turn again
Feeling unlimited
Still unsatisfied
Changes never end, never end
Changes never end, never end
Winding like an endless river
The time is now again
Winding like an ancient river
The time is now again
Hope is like an endless river
The time is now again, the time is now again, the time is now again
It's the inhumanity
Plugged into the sweat of a summer street
Machine gun images pass
Like malice through a looking glass
The slackjaw gaze of true profanity
Feels more like surrender than defeat
If culture is the curse of the thinking class
If culture is the curse of the thinking class
Ceiling unlimited
World so wide
Turn and turn again, turn again
Feeling unlimited
Still unsatisfied
Changes never end, never end
The vacant smile of true insanity
Dressed up in the mask of Tragedy
Programmed for the guts and glands
Of idle minds and idle hands
I rest my case or at least my vanity
Dressed up in the mask of comedy
If laughter is a straw for a drowning man
If laughter is a straw for a drowning man
Ceiling unlimited
Windows open wide
Look and look again, look again
Feeling unlimited
Eyes on the prize
Changes never end, never end
Winding like an ancient river
The time is now again
Winding like an ancient river
The time is now again, the time is now again
The time is now again
The time is now again, the time is now again
The time is now again,
The time is now again
The time is now again
Ceiling unlimited
World so wide
Turn and turn again, turn again
Feeling unlimited
Still unsatisfied
Changes never end, never end
Changes never end, never end
Winding like an endless river
The time is now again
Winding like an ancient river
The time is now again
Hope is like an endless river
The time is now again, the time is now again, the time is now again
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
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
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.
My favorite song on Vapor Trails also.