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 isn't always i am well
for sometimes i am ailing
and yet in steaming night i smile
to downplay this my failing
and make a noise to bury all
of your weeping and your wailing
and then in bed by little light
and closed off from it all
i must try and bring a conscious end to night
and hope that dreams begin to fall
the color of my dreams, they would be you...ruby
oh if i could close my eyes and bring you to me
push your head into
make you not you not you not you but me
and then in dreams i wander free
and see some things i'm meant to see
and sometimes even i see thee
and would the night go on and on
and not tomorrow end at dawn
and whatever mat i lay upon
dissolve
the color of my dreams, if i had dreams, they would be you...ruby
everything i do is done to bring you closer to me
when you sleep your breath it blows right on through me
the color of my dreams, if i had dreams, they would be you...ruby
the color of my dreams, they would be you...ruby
and illness be or wellness thrive
my dream proves i am yet alive"
for sometimes i am ailing
and yet in steaming night i smile
to downplay this my failing
and make a noise to bury all
of your weeping and your wailing
and then in bed by little light
and closed off from it all
i must try and bring a conscious end to night
and hope that dreams begin to fall
the color of my dreams, they would be you...ruby
oh if i could close my eyes and bring you to me
push your head into
make you not you not you not you but me
and then in dreams i wander free
and see some things i'm meant to see
and sometimes even i see thee
and would the night go on and on
and not tomorrow end at dawn
and whatever mat i lay upon
dissolve
the color of my dreams, if i had dreams, they would be you...ruby
everything i do is done to bring you closer to me
when you sleep your breath it blows right on through me
the color of my dreams, if i had dreams, they would be you...ruby
the color of my dreams, they would be you...ruby
and illness be or wellness thrive
my dream proves i am yet alive"
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Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
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.
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.
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.
2am wake up call, great music. and its true that 2am is productively a great time to work, think, reflect, dream while conscious. this song captures that eerie aura successfully. and takes me to another place. will oldham's voice matches the song incredibly well and add's to the feeling created.
Best song ever... 'nuff said.
Not enough people listen to Tweaker. But maybe that's a good thing.
um, that's not exactly the meaning of the song, but whatever. Like happy child, this one seems to be about loss, or maybe never having someone in the first place "everything I do is done to bring you closer to me" and then what he thinks about this person while suffering from insomnia.
I'm going out on a limb here, but...
rape?
"and yet in steaming night i smile to downplay this my failing and make a noise to bury all of your weeping and your wailing"
Weeping and wailing... steaming night... you know.
And also, ruby, the color of blood?
I don't know, I'm just guessing. Excellent song.
Heheh. I just realized that it was almost a year ago today that I posted the second comment on this song.
How...sad.
Scarlet is the literal color of fresh blood. When we think "blood red," we tend to think crimson hues as cerise or.
From tweaker.net:
"Since I'm the type of person who enjoys full albums (records that take me on a journey, teach me, have something special to say), I've tried to capture this with both tweaker records. Where the first album dealt with one concept (one man's journey through life to find contentment), 2 a.m. wakeup call is more of a concept within a concept.
It's a nighttime record about dreams, nightmares, and insomnia -- things that keep us up at night.
My wife was suffering a long bout of insomnia, where she would bolt awake every night, strangely, at exactly the same time Ð 2 a.m.. It led to me sharing her insomnia night after night and I wound up staying up with her and discovered that when the world-at-large was fast asleep I had unearthed a wealth of creative energy in myself. These were the hours when most of the work on 2 a.m. wakeup call occurred.
When collaborating with the guest singers, I explained what my inspiration was and only gave them the directive "What keeps you up at night? And what do you dream about?" What you hear lyrically on the album is how each singer interpreted the music and direction. "
I figure that these lyrics are the nighttime ramblings of someone trying desperately to get to sleep. Just crazy thoughts jumbled together when your mind is so foggy but still keeping you awake.
Crimson (non-spectral red) or simply "real red" contrary to blood red (variants include "devil red", scarlet, brick red, lava and vermilion) which lies on the low frequency end of the solar spectrum -the color of communism- is the color of wine, rubies and fruits i.e. cranberries, pomegranates, raspberries.
Cerise, a variant is the name for "cherry red." Given the speculated location of the Garden of Eden, it is quite possibly the fruit which represents Original Sin is the pomegranate. Isiah 1:18