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."
Hush; may I ask you all for silence?
The dreamer is still asleep
May the goddess keep us from single vision
And you to sleep
The dreamer is still asleep
The dreamer is still asleep
He's inventing landscapes in their magnetic field
Working out a means of escape
We'll cut across the crop circles
The seer says no
Not much time left for these escape attempts
Look at it this way
In ten years' time
Who'll care? Who'll even remember?
One dies like that, deep within it
Almost inside it
It's there for a reason
I'll give you my old address
And take that little book
To tear and cut the paper
The beginning is also the end
Time defines it, time defines it
It will end
Like close friendship
Nothing could be further
We forget the space between people and things
Is empty
We forget, and don't notice the loss
Crossing into venerable degeneration
It's that radiant pollution
The god with the silver hands surveys this vast contamination
The dreamer is still dreaming
The dreamer is still dreaming
In the heart of your heart
Your eye remains
Is that hurt you? Is that blister you call loveless?
Your whole life is a cold slow shock
Your whole life is a cold slow shock
Take all your time
Track the shabby shadow down
Through hissy mists of history
The dreamer is still dreaming
The dreamer is still dreaming
Hush; may I ask you all for silence?
Will he wake in time to catch the sunset?
Hush; may I ask you all for silent?
May I ask you all for silent?
The dreamer is still asleep
May the goddess keep us from single vision
And you to sleep
The dreamer is still asleep
The dreamer is still asleep
He's inventing landscapes in their magnetic field
Working out a means of escape
We'll cut across the crop circles
The seer says no
Not much time left for these escape attempts
Look at it this way
In ten years' time
Who'll care? Who'll even remember?
One dies like that, deep within it
Almost inside it
It's there for a reason
I'll give you my old address
And take that little book
To tear and cut the paper
The beginning is also the end
Time defines it, time defines it
It will end
Like close friendship
Nothing could be further
We forget the space between people and things
Is empty
We forget, and don't notice the loss
Crossing into venerable degeneration
It's that radiant pollution
The god with the silver hands surveys this vast contamination
The dreamer is still dreaming
The dreamer is still dreaming
In the heart of your heart
Your eye remains
Is that hurt you? Is that blister you call loveless?
Your whole life is a cold slow shock
Your whole life is a cold slow shock
Take all your time
Track the shabby shadow down
Through hissy mists of history
The dreamer is still dreaming
The dreamer is still dreaming
Hush; may I ask you all for silence?
Will he wake in time to catch the sunset?
Hush; may I ask you all for silent?
May I ask you all for silent?
Lyrics submitted by fetus
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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."
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
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.
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.
Probably right, its about Blake but I doubt Jhon Balance would have been unaware of the other image the title conjours up : that of HP Lovecraft's Cthulhu, who's followers recite the mantra "In his house in R'lyeh dead Cthulhu waits dreaming."
I don't know enough about Blake to know how the lyrics might apply to him, but where it talks about working out a means of escape and crop circles that would seem to apply to Cthulhu.
Also the phrase "The space between people and things" echoes the phrase used by Lovecraft in the Dunwich Horror : "The Old Ones were, the Old Ones are, and the Old Ones shall be. Not in the spaces we know, but between them, they walk serene and primal, undimensioned and to us unseen" - Cthulhu was one of the "Great Old Ones."
I'm fairly sure Coil are familiar with Lovecraft and Cthulhu - a) they just would be as people with an interest in the occult b) Tentacles rising out of the water on the old Threshold house logo, and the squiddy design on the inside of Unnatural History II are both fairly suspicious.
It's a tribute to poet William Blake (the dreamer of the title).
I don't doubt the Lovecraftian implications, by any means. Adding a tenuous thread of credence to that is that both John and Peter were acquainted, via David Tibet, with the reclusive American horror writer Thomas Ligotti, himself a Lovecraft fanatic.
one of my all time favorite songs. so beautiful. the lyrics should read:
may the goddess keep us from single vision and Newton's sleep
it's a paraphrased quote from William Blake.. "May God us keep from single vision, and Newton's sleep!"
sleepingexplorer is right about the lyric correction. Blake referred to the multiple significances everything has, in contrast to the rationalistic explanations newtonian mindset would always give. The lyrics in general are very spiritual, but in fact I think they talk about how insignificant human life is.
Check out Othon Mataragas and David Tibet's cover