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."
Eyeless in the morning sun you were
Pale and mild, a modern girl
Taken with thought, still prone to care
Makin' tea in your underwear
You went out in the yard to find
Something to eat and clear your mind
Something bad inside me went away
Quaking leaves and broken light
Shifting skin the coming night
The bearers of all good things arrive
Climb inside us, twist and cry
A kiss on your molten eyes
Myriad lives like blades of grass
Yet to be realized, bow as we pass
They are cold
Still
Waiting in the ether
To form
Feel
Kill
Propagate
Only to die
They are cold
Still
Waiting in the ether
To form
Feel
Kill
Propagate
Only to die
Dissolve
Magically
Absurdly
They'll end
Leave
Dissipate
Coldly
And strangely
Return
Pale and mild, a modern girl
Taken with thought, still prone to care
Makin' tea in your underwear
You went out in the yard to find
Something to eat and clear your mind
Something bad inside me went away
Quaking leaves and broken light
Shifting skin the coming night
The bearers of all good things arrive
Climb inside us, twist and cry
A kiss on your molten eyes
Myriad lives like blades of grass
Yet to be realized, bow as we pass
They are cold
Still
Waiting in the ether
To form
Feel
Kill
Propagate
Only to die
They are cold
Still
Waiting in the ether
To form
Feel
Kill
Propagate
Only to die
Dissolve
Magically
Absurdly
They'll end
Leave
Dissipate
Coldly
And strangely
Return
Lyrics submitted by doobeydoobeydude, edited by smallwonderrobot, s7s
Those to Come Lyrics as written by James Russell Mercer
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
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This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
No Surprises
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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.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
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.
Very nice comments by houseofjess.
It is definitely mostly about having mixed feelings after having sex ("shifting skin") about maybe having a baby (which will "climb inside us, twist and cry") and thinking about how it will grow up but eventually die like everything else. The Shins have a very existential streak in most of their lyrics which I guess could be considered kind of depressing, but if you feel the same way, that is probably why you love The Shins (in addition to their fantastic melodic music and interesting lyrics). Other than the mixed feelings about babies, I think there is a sad feeling because even though his girlfriend is beautiful he doesn't understand her because she is "still prone to care" unlike him who has come to terms with the fact that nothing matters and everthing dies eventually (even though he is still slightly mystified by the cycle of life - the whole last verse). Very philosophical and much more complex lyrics than 99% of bands out there.
The Shins are amazing!
i think its a combo of UNC1EMOE and DYOLFKNIP's comments...Double Meaning...not only is is a beautiful "perfect" moment, where words said become practically meaningless because they are fleeting in a moment like this... the words cannot embody the emotion and physical connection btwn these two humans, where love and lust intertwine in ecstacy... each of us in some context defines our lives by these moments that are fleeting like the words, like the emotion, the love, the lust, as well as human life...we live for moments like these becuase they make us feel alive...follow me? so the subject that is "waiting in the ether" is not only Words, Human Life, but the Moments of Human Connection...
and possibily more...
I love how this song contrasts the warm beauty of love with the cool, cylical nature of life. To me it is about the warth of love and sex, and the possibility of making new life. I love the details of his love (eyless in the morning, making tea in her underwear). But it also strips life down to its barest forms (form, feel, kill, propagate, die). The song takes us from morning to night, warm to cool, as it takes us from the emotional, spiritual aspects of life, to the very cold, bare facts of it all.
I'm a new listener and I love this song. The part where he says Waiting in the Ether to Form Feel Kill Propogate Only to die This sounds to me like the process of human life. I'm probably completely wrong, but thanks for all the gread ideas on what the song means!
I thought it was about people who hadn't been conceived yet, as weird as that sounds.
i think the song is really commenting on the "life" of relationships and life as a whole. relationships exist, they begin (waiting in the ether), serve their purpose (form, feel, kill, propogate), and die. however, they become such a center of attention, all-important, those in the relationship don't realize that the relationships are very small in the large picture (die, dissolve, magically, absurdly they end, coldly and strangely return). Like relationships, life becomes to immeshed in itself, and yet, it simply exists, goes through the motions, dies, and appears again. or maybe i'm crazy. but i like thinking of it that way.
Reading the title, it means it's about those who are to come. It's been mentioned already, but it's very definitely about life and it's strangeness, the absurdity of death, the unanswered question.
Making tea in her underwear: we perceive beauty, but
Shifting skin: it's about making love
The bearers of all good things arrive Climb inside us, Twist and cry: conception (sperm, egg)
We're created hunting beauty but a strange feeling of emptyness arises when pondering life and its mysteries. That's what the song means for me.
I love this song.
@JibbaJabba84 i thought something about "making tea in your underware.." like the girl period and "they are cold, still, waiting in the ether ...." like sperm. Very contemplative, a moment that could be empty, or sacred.
Well, yeah I get the metaphors and symbolism. But it's about those bugs that hibernate all their lives, wake up, screw and die. But it's basically saying that we, too, are the bugs.
"eyeless in the morning sun" to me is simply visual imagery of the rising sun glaring in your eyes, or if you're wearing glasses and the sun reflects light off of them; how in the morning when the sun rises, when it glares on your face, you can't really see the person's eyes, just the light.
most of this song i think is the singer watching his lover move about in the morning after a night together, watching her make tea and breakfast. a lot of the nature imagery makes me think of the way dew glistens on the blades of grass and everything in the morning. it's a beautiful, quiet, peaceful scene under a sunrise, and yet he thinks about how all this beauty is cyclical --> life and death.
I want to live in this song