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."
Some cats grow by the laws of the wild
Some learn slower and lag in the mud
Some stand up in defense of a style
Some let the big dogs eat them up
At exactly 11:35pm on January 21st I fell asleep sound
At exactly 11:35pm on Januray 21st some shit went down
[Aesop Rock]
Now Benny was a New York City crime kingpin
Five girl, fame, guaranteed to itch pigskin
Raided near the Brooklyn Naval yard, undercover
When they asked him what he pled he said, "You're fuckin' up my color!"
[Mr. Lif]
Okay, Jose is working in the slaughterhouse
Said he's living in the hood, but he wants to get his daughter out
Slipped off a ledge, and fell into a machine
Another dead immagrant, that's the American Dream
[Aesop Rock]
Miss Molly, helpless, made a penny with a data entry temp gig
Overqualified by the rent sticks
Red brick bash with a texted green screen
Like, "I entered my data right into your screen"
[Mr. Lif]
Jane went insane, she's an anchorwoman
Sick of pusing skewed information
And abusing the nation
Had a few options:
Either jump or run
Critical ways or waving a gun
Time for C-H-A-N-G-E
Held a knife to the VP on TV
She demanded that the format be expanded
Beyond fair, everybody clear, understand it?
[Aesop Rock]
Billy was a coke fiend
[Mr. Lif]
Maggy was a cop
[Aesop Rock]
Like a dope he stole green
[Mr. Lif]
She patroled the block
[Aesop Rock]
Banking off his old scheme
[Mr. Lif]
She recognized his plot
[Aesop Rock]
He thought he was home free
[Mr. Lif]
She knew that he was not
[Aesop Rock]
Now it's off to the jail in a blue squad car
[Mr. Lif]
She pocketed the crack before they got far
[Aesop Rock]
Billy watches Maggy from behind steel bars
Like "Where the crack went?"
[Mr. Lif]
"I'ma smoke it tomorrah"
[Aesop Rock]
They call him Larry Luck
Blackjack, big spender
He was married once
Till he bet her ring finger
Seen leaving Las Vegas
With a pick up truck, diamond
Fourty large, and beautiful wife piece
Than what he came with
Itched to get rich found nickels in the couch
Hitched back to the casino with in an hour
Said "I'm here to make a dollar out of fifteen cents"
And was immediately shot to his death over debts
[Mr. Lif]
As Colin died, his mother cried
By the EMS survived
Said that he could be revived but they lied
Afterlife realized that water from the skies
Washes pain from our eyes so our hopes could rise
[Aesop Rock]
Now, J.J. punch drunk, acts like a dumb fuck
Bum touched girls looking young enough to thumb suck
Once sought a life thought it right to write about
Now gets raped by aryans in the big house (OUCH!)
[Mr. Lif]
Ted did 20 years for growing some weed
Though he used to snort coke and dabble with speed
Welcome home, homie, here's a blunt with that
You know the rules, bitch, take two and pass
Some cats grow by the laws of the wild
Some learn slower and lag in the mud
Some stand up in defense of a style
Some let the big dogs eat them up
At exactly 11:35pm on January 21st I fell asleep sound
At exactly 11:35pm on Januray 21st some shit went down
[Aesop Rock]
I got one Jack or Jill
Jill won't, Jack will
Jill didn't, then did it
Jack fell
No cellophane secrets, b
I guess I sense two felt bumps in the tar
No cell
But hell, you jump the bar so well
Parted your partners veil and dipped
I'm New York harbor
Tale of a sail, ripped sorta
Stuck on purpose for tha love of birthplace
But would have carried you home inside of my teeth anyday
Turns out I wasn't cast in the master plan anyway
He holds no grudge, holds his tongue, wow
Same one she used to hold in both smiles
instinctual last shout if it killed me
So you can ride up in the sun city guilt-free
One year passed, the table is wobbling and your hollerin' back
Sippin the fits you skip when shit cracks
They never missed it
Not a long haul, bullshit, kids kicked into the sink
Shoebox, with a flicks of lipstick
I'll love you forever, cuz you know me better
For the record, at one time, would have married you in a second
But kill the rekindling dreams and navigate the friendship
Or else by the time the stress wears out we'll both be dead and friendless
Some learn slower and lag in the mud
Some stand up in defense of a style
Some let the big dogs eat them up
At exactly 11:35pm on January 21st I fell asleep sound
At exactly 11:35pm on Januray 21st some shit went down
[Aesop Rock]
Now Benny was a New York City crime kingpin
Five girl, fame, guaranteed to itch pigskin
Raided near the Brooklyn Naval yard, undercover
When they asked him what he pled he said, "You're fuckin' up my color!"
[Mr. Lif]
Okay, Jose is working in the slaughterhouse
Said he's living in the hood, but he wants to get his daughter out
Slipped off a ledge, and fell into a machine
Another dead immagrant, that's the American Dream
[Aesop Rock]
Miss Molly, helpless, made a penny with a data entry temp gig
Overqualified by the rent sticks
Red brick bash with a texted green screen
Like, "I entered my data right into your screen"
[Mr. Lif]
Jane went insane, she's an anchorwoman
Sick of pusing skewed information
And abusing the nation
Had a few options:
Either jump or run
Critical ways or waving a gun
Time for C-H-A-N-G-E
Held a knife to the VP on TV
She demanded that the format be expanded
Beyond fair, everybody clear, understand it?
[Aesop Rock]
Billy was a coke fiend
[Mr. Lif]
Maggy was a cop
[Aesop Rock]
Like a dope he stole green
[Mr. Lif]
She patroled the block
[Aesop Rock]
Banking off his old scheme
[Mr. Lif]
She recognized his plot
[Aesop Rock]
He thought he was home free
[Mr. Lif]
She knew that he was not
[Aesop Rock]
Now it's off to the jail in a blue squad car
[Mr. Lif]
She pocketed the crack before they got far
[Aesop Rock]
Billy watches Maggy from behind steel bars
Like "Where the crack went?"
[Mr. Lif]
"I'ma smoke it tomorrah"
[Aesop Rock]
They call him Larry Luck
Blackjack, big spender
He was married once
Till he bet her ring finger
Seen leaving Las Vegas
With a pick up truck, diamond
Fourty large, and beautiful wife piece
Than what he came with
Itched to get rich found nickels in the couch
Hitched back to the casino with in an hour
Said "I'm here to make a dollar out of fifteen cents"
And was immediately shot to his death over debts
[Mr. Lif]
As Colin died, his mother cried
By the EMS survived
Said that he could be revived but they lied
Afterlife realized that water from the skies
Washes pain from our eyes so our hopes could rise
[Aesop Rock]
Now, J.J. punch drunk, acts like a dumb fuck
Bum touched girls looking young enough to thumb suck
Once sought a life thought it right to write about
Now gets raped by aryans in the big house (OUCH!)
[Mr. Lif]
Ted did 20 years for growing some weed
Though he used to snort coke and dabble with speed
Welcome home, homie, here's a blunt with that
You know the rules, bitch, take two and pass
Some cats grow by the laws of the wild
Some learn slower and lag in the mud
Some stand up in defense of a style
Some let the big dogs eat them up
At exactly 11:35pm on January 21st I fell asleep sound
At exactly 11:35pm on Januray 21st some shit went down
[Aesop Rock]
I got one Jack or Jill
Jill won't, Jack will
Jill didn't, then did it
Jack fell
No cellophane secrets, b
I guess I sense two felt bumps in the tar
No cell
But hell, you jump the bar so well
Parted your partners veil and dipped
I'm New York harbor
Tale of a sail, ripped sorta
Stuck on purpose for tha love of birthplace
But would have carried you home inside of my teeth anyday
Turns out I wasn't cast in the master plan anyway
He holds no grudge, holds his tongue, wow
Same one she used to hold in both smiles
instinctual last shout if it killed me
So you can ride up in the sun city guilt-free
One year passed, the table is wobbling and your hollerin' back
Sippin the fits you skip when shit cracks
They never missed it
Not a long haul, bullshit, kids kicked into the sink
Shoebox, with a flicks of lipstick
I'll love you forever, cuz you know me better
For the record, at one time, would have married you in a second
But kill the rekindling dreams and navigate the friendship
Or else by the time the stress wears out we'll both be dead and friendless
Lyrics submitted by bengt12
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