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."
Meister, Meister gib mir Rosen,
Rosen auf mein weißes Kleid,
Stech die Blumen in den bloßen
Unberührten Mädchenleib.
Ein gutes Mädchen lief einst fort,
Verließ der Kindheit schönen Ort;
Verließ die Eltern und sogar
Den Mann, dem sie versprochen war.
Vor einem Haus da blieb sie steh'n,
Darinnen war ein Mann zu sehn
Der Bilder stach in nackte Haut,
Da rief das gute Mädchen laut:
Meister, Meister gib mir Rosen,
Rosen auf mein weißes Kleid,
Stech die Blumen in den bloßen
Unberührten Mädchenleib
„Diese Rosen kosten Blut“,
So sprach der Meister sanft und gut,
„Enden früh dein junges Leben,
Will dir lieber keine geben.“
Doch das Mädchen war vernarrt,
Hat auf Knien ausgeharrt
Bis er nicht mehr widerstand
Und die Nadeln nahm zur Hand.
Meister, Meister gib mir Rosen,
Rosen auf mein weißes Kleid,
Stech die Blumen in den bloßen
Unberührten Mädchenleib
Und aus seinen tiefen Stichen
Wuchsen Blätter, wuchsen Blüten,
Wuchsen unbekannte Schmerzen
In dem jungen Mädchenherzen.
Später hat man sie geseh'n,
Einsam an den Wassern steh'n.
Niemals hat man je erfahr'n,
Welchen Preis der Meister nahm.
Meister, Meister gib mir Rosen,
Rosen auf mein weißes Kleid,
Stech die Blumen in den bloßen
Unberührten Mädchenleib
Meister, Meister gib mir Rosen,
Rosen auf mein weißes Kleid,
Stech die Blumen in den bloßen
Unberührten Mädchenleib
Rosen auf mein weißes Kleid,
Stech die Blumen in den bloßen
Unberührten Mädchenleib.
Ein gutes Mädchen lief einst fort,
Verließ der Kindheit schönen Ort;
Verließ die Eltern und sogar
Den Mann, dem sie versprochen war.
Vor einem Haus da blieb sie steh'n,
Darinnen war ein Mann zu sehn
Der Bilder stach in nackte Haut,
Da rief das gute Mädchen laut:
Meister, Meister gib mir Rosen,
Rosen auf mein weißes Kleid,
Stech die Blumen in den bloßen
Unberührten Mädchenleib
„Diese Rosen kosten Blut“,
So sprach der Meister sanft und gut,
„Enden früh dein junges Leben,
Will dir lieber keine geben.“
Doch das Mädchen war vernarrt,
Hat auf Knien ausgeharrt
Bis er nicht mehr widerstand
Und die Nadeln nahm zur Hand.
Meister, Meister gib mir Rosen,
Rosen auf mein weißes Kleid,
Stech die Blumen in den bloßen
Unberührten Mädchenleib
Und aus seinen tiefen Stichen
Wuchsen Blätter, wuchsen Blüten,
Wuchsen unbekannte Schmerzen
In dem jungen Mädchenherzen.
Später hat man sie geseh'n,
Einsam an den Wassern steh'n.
Niemals hat man je erfahr'n,
Welchen Preis der Meister nahm.
Meister, Meister gib mir Rosen,
Rosen auf mein weißes Kleid,
Stech die Blumen in den bloßen
Unberührten Mädchenleib
Meister, Meister gib mir Rosen,
Rosen auf mein weißes Kleid,
Stech die Blumen in den bloßen
Unberührten Mädchenleib
Lyrics submitted by annibanani
Kleid Aus Rosen Lyrics as written by Michael Boden Ingo Hampf
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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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:
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Ed Sheeran
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Sometimes a tattoo is just a tattoo... I would take it as a symbol for rape. There is absolutely no prove for that point. Bodenski is not a fan of telling people his interpretation of the lyrics because people tend to belive any other point of view is wrong. Some people even interpret the girl killed herself at the end when she was standing lonely near the water. Though even Bodenski said she was just supposed to stand there lonely. Here is what I belive the song is about:
The song is basically just about growing up (as I later found out this was once even vertified by Bodenski even though I cant tell you where he said that) and starting to make your own choices. So the girl choses not to do what her parents tell her to do anymore and runs away. She gets to the stranger who prints tattoos. She asks him to give to get her roses as a tattoo. In the past tattoos often ended up in a person dieing because they bleeded a lot so the stranger didnt wanted to do it even though he was a "Meister" in this art. But as the girl kept asking him to do it he couldnt resist anymore and did it. At this point I'd like to point out that I do see the hint for the sexual intercourse and it might be true and so she MIGHT have offered him to sleep with him so he couldnt resist her bidding any more. By trying this she gets the roses (something she wants) but also learns there always is a price to pay in life. The "unkown pain". It isnt neccesaryly a realy pain but maybe something more like the pain of loosing your childly innocence (not sexually (at least not primary) but more like the uncareing type of innocence). She realizes how hard live can be but also realizes she is unable to go back. So she feels a bit lonely "standing lonely near the waters". The prize for making your own decicions always is your innocence. The Meister might reasemmble something the possibility to design your own live more than just the ordinary guy who does tattoos. Its like saying: Ok, you get to chose what you do in your live but there is a price. Your inncence (once again you can take it sexually though, for reasons of neutrality I do prefer not taking that part into account).
It's about a young grl running away from home, and ginvig up herself and finally her life for a tattoo.Beautiful lyrics
P.S. "Mädchenleib" is a single word in german.
I guess there are three possibilities: 1.) the tattoo 2.) the tattoo as a symbol for a rape 3.) the tattoo as a symbol for first sex Since the girl wanted to have the tattoo, I think that 3.) is the most likely. Maybe she wanted to make experiences/feel love, no matter "what it costs" - but this first experience marks her for the rest of her life and hurts her deep. (that's why she appears so lonely at the end)
I like this song, it's very athmospheric and impressive.
I guess Kalvin is absolutely right.
i guess the tattoo is a symbol for the bad side of love. the girl wants to fall in love and in the end she's alone, because love can hurt and can easily turn bad. (think about the roses, usually they're a symbol for love!)
Sounds rather like the girl wanted to lose her virginity. She left her parents and family because they wanted to marry her with another man, that she didn't love. Instead she loved a man that wasn't really out for her, more just for the sex and to break her heart afterwards. So acctually he stole her heart after he slept with her.
SRY!!! Mistake in the first line: I MEANT WOULDNT :( Totally changes the meaning of the sentence...
NOT TRUE! the tatoo symbolizes a rapeture!