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."
Here we are again with handguns for hearts
They had a master plan, wanted to tear us apart
Nothing to hold. I'll hope to lead it
Our demise has been completed now
Nowhere left to go but
Down, the flames of hell they give me hope
I drowned in oceans of this tragic part of
Town, where nothing's heard for miles but the
Sound of children wishing they were safely underground
We are the walking burned, we hold this close to our arms
We take our daily breath and thank our unlucky scars
Tried to get by on bread and water
Craving blood poured from the alter now
Not much left to do but
Drown in flames of miscommunication
Down and out and often in search for someone
Proud to translate what we truly dream
About, as we lay in this bed thinking out loud
?
In my broken telepathy
For I'm left with nothing but this
Bloodless river bank, West Memphis
Please, may you start praying for me
Down, the flames of hell they give me hope
I drowned in oceans of this tragic part of
Town, where nothing's heard for miles but the
Sound of children wishing they were safely underground
They had a master plan, wanted to tear us apart
Nothing to hold. I'll hope to lead it
Our demise has been completed now
Nowhere left to go but
Down, the flames of hell they give me hope
I drowned in oceans of this tragic part of
Town, where nothing's heard for miles but the
Sound of children wishing they were safely underground
We are the walking burned, we hold this close to our arms
We take our daily breath and thank our unlucky scars
Tried to get by on bread and water
Craving blood poured from the alter now
Not much left to do but
Drown in flames of miscommunication
Down and out and often in search for someone
Proud to translate what we truly dream
About, as we lay in this bed thinking out loud
?
In my broken telepathy
For I'm left with nothing but this
Bloodless river bank, West Memphis
Please, may you start praying for me
Down, the flames of hell they give me hope
I drowned in oceans of this tragic part of
Town, where nothing's heard for miles but the
Sound of children wishing they were safely underground
Lyrics submitted by TheShowerScene
Prevent This Tragedy Lyrics as written by Derek R. Grant Daniel Michael Andriano
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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CORRECT LYRICS, TAKEN FROM ALBUM INLAY
Here we are again with handguns for hearts They had a master plan, wanted to tear us apart Nothing to hold, all hope deleted Our demise has been completed niw Nowhere left to go but down The flames of hell they give me hope I drown In oceans of this tragic part of town Where nothing's heard for miles but the sound Of children wishing they were safely underground We are the walking dead, we hold this ghost in our arms We take our daily breath and thank our unlucky stars Tried to get by on bread and water Craving blood poured from the altar now Not much left to do but drown In flames of miscommunication down Then out and off in search of someone proud To translate what we truly dream about As we lay in this bed thinking out loud I'm screaming uncle, mercy me And my broken telepathy For I'm left with nothing but this bloodless riverbank West Memphis please I'm begging you, stop praying for me
I love this song. I've been following the West Memphis 3 story for a while now and this year there's a big gathering on July 23rd, Awareness Day, with bands playing shows all over the place and marches and things and petitions being presented... I think it might be their last chance.
As for the song, it fascinates me because I can't work out whose perspective its from, if indeed it is from just one perspective. The "they" as in "they had a master plan" seems to be the government, police and generally authorities who are anti-punk and anti-rock and wish the youth of today would take out the piercings and get their hair cut...
"we are the walking dead" seems to be from the perspective of the wm3 themselves, who are in a maximum security prison, one of them awaiting an upcoming death by lethal injection, but then it could mean the generation of rock/punk/metal music fans. The same goes for "stop praying for me" - it's like, saying "you can't change me, I am this person, I am in this community and culture" in a general sense but if the song is from the perspective of the wm3 then it is more an admission of lost hope - stop praying for us because we're a lost cause?