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."
Now I don´t want to be your slave
You´re trying to drive me to an early grave
All I ever hear, is that you live an´ breathe for me
But, all you ever do, babe, is shake my tree
´Cos you keep on pushing, baby
Like you never, ever been in love before
I told you once an´ I told you twice
I ain´t no schoolboy you can sacrifice
You want my love an´ you want it now
You try to love me, baby, but you don´t know how
So you keep on pushing, baby
Like you never, ever been in love before
I need love an´ I need time
An´ a little bit of both, if you want to be a friend of mine
I don´t want no woman, drive me outta my head
An´ you´re the kind of girl, guaranteed to wreck my bed
Love is what you need
But, you cut down to the bone an´ make me bleed
I give you everything an´ still you cry
Ooh, mama, the price of loving you is way too high
But, you keep on talking, baby, I´ve heard it all before
Now I don´t want you hanging around, or kicking at my door
But, you keep on pushing, mama
Like you never, ever been in love before
I know love an´ I know shame
An´ I ain´t gonna get caught up in your game
It took a little time to make me see
I ain´t lookin´ for a woman like you to shake my tree
So keep on talking, baby, keep on hangin´ around
Everything you do to me, is sure to drag me down
An´ you keep on pushing, mama
Like you never, ever been in love before
Shake my tree
I don´t want to be your slave
You´re trying to drive me to an early grave
You keep on talking, no matter what you say
I´ve had enough of your kind of love, to last me all my days
So keep on pushing baby, I´ve heard it all before
I don´t want you hanging around, or kicking at my door
Now I don´t want your loving, baby, I can´t take it anymore
I don´t want you hanging around, kicking at my door
If I see your face again, I´ll give you what´s in store
But, you´ll keep on pushing, baby
´Cos you´ve never, ever been in love before
You´re trying to drive me to an early grave
All I ever hear, is that you live an´ breathe for me
But, all you ever do, babe, is shake my tree
´Cos you keep on pushing, baby
Like you never, ever been in love before
I told you once an´ I told you twice
I ain´t no schoolboy you can sacrifice
You want my love an´ you want it now
You try to love me, baby, but you don´t know how
So you keep on pushing, baby
Like you never, ever been in love before
I need love an´ I need time
An´ a little bit of both, if you want to be a friend of mine
I don´t want no woman, drive me outta my head
An´ you´re the kind of girl, guaranteed to wreck my bed
Love is what you need
But, you cut down to the bone an´ make me bleed
I give you everything an´ still you cry
Ooh, mama, the price of loving you is way too high
But, you keep on talking, baby, I´ve heard it all before
Now I don´t want you hanging around, or kicking at my door
But, you keep on pushing, mama
Like you never, ever been in love before
I know love an´ I know shame
An´ I ain´t gonna get caught up in your game
It took a little time to make me see
I ain´t lookin´ for a woman like you to shake my tree
So keep on talking, baby, keep on hangin´ around
Everything you do to me, is sure to drag me down
An´ you keep on pushing, mama
Like you never, ever been in love before
Shake my tree
I don´t want to be your slave
You´re trying to drive me to an early grave
You keep on talking, no matter what you say
I´ve had enough of your kind of love, to last me all my days
So keep on pushing baby, I´ve heard it all before
I don´t want you hanging around, or kicking at my door
Now I don´t want your loving, baby, I can´t take it anymore
I don´t want you hanging around, kicking at my door
If I see your face again, I´ll give you what´s in store
But, you´ll keep on pushing, baby
´Cos you´ve never, ever been in love before
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More Featured Meanings
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
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.
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.
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.
LONG LIVE HAIR ROCK!