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."
I've no number if you want to call, Massif Centrale
There's an ivy crawling on my gate, I stay up late
Sleeping gardens where I play my loop, where I lay my roots
Now the clock is stopping faithfully, she's taking me
My show's at nine, that is my promise
Have some wine, please, don't run away
My love's a nine, babe be honest
Have some wine, please, don't run away
I thought I'd take a chance, and forget about the states
Yeah I thought I'd gravitate to the hills of central France
And so I left the world below, and into the rocks I climbed
Now I'm living in the cold, but I'm lookin for the sign
That's the sign of her love behavior
That's the sign that I'm lookin for
And I've seen you in the movies, and I've seen you at the store
And if I stare a little more, that's because you move me
And I can see it in your eyes, and I can hear it when you talk
Darlin' when I see you walk, you seem so very nice
That's the sign of your love behavior
Yeah, that's the sign that I'm lookin' for
That's the sign of her love behavior
Ooh, that's the sign that I'm lookin' for
It sure is cold here in the summer, I haven't got a number
But the sky is very bright and the sun is very clear
And I can smell it in the wind, cause I guess that it's the time
And I saw the way you grinned, yeah you were giving me the sign
Yeah, that's the sign of your love behavior
That's the sign that I'm lookin' for
Oh that's the sign of her love behavior
That's the sign that I'm lookin' for
My show's at nine, that is my promise
Have some wine, please, don't run away
My love's a nine, Oh babe be honest
Have some wine, please, don't run away
No, please don't run away
No no, please don't run away
There's an ivy crawling on my gate, I stay up late
Sleeping gardens where I play my loop, where I lay my roots
Now the clock is stopping faithfully, she's taking me
My show's at nine, that is my promise
Have some wine, please, don't run away
My love's a nine, babe be honest
Have some wine, please, don't run away
I thought I'd take a chance, and forget about the states
Yeah I thought I'd gravitate to the hills of central France
And so I left the world below, and into the rocks I climbed
Now I'm living in the cold, but I'm lookin for the sign
That's the sign of her love behavior
That's the sign that I'm lookin for
And I've seen you in the movies, and I've seen you at the store
And if I stare a little more, that's because you move me
And I can see it in your eyes, and I can hear it when you talk
Darlin' when I see you walk, you seem so very nice
That's the sign of your love behavior
Yeah, that's the sign that I'm lookin' for
That's the sign of her love behavior
Ooh, that's the sign that I'm lookin' for
It sure is cold here in the summer, I haven't got a number
But the sky is very bright and the sun is very clear
And I can smell it in the wind, cause I guess that it's the time
And I saw the way you grinned, yeah you were giving me the sign
Yeah, that's the sign of your love behavior
That's the sign that I'm lookin' for
Oh that's the sign of her love behavior
That's the sign that I'm lookin' for
My show's at nine, that is my promise
Have some wine, please, don't run away
My love's a nine, Oh babe be honest
Have some wine, please, don't run away
No, please don't run away
No no, please don't run away
Lyrics submitted by HagbardCeline
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Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
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Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
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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,
When We Were Young
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Amazing
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Page
Ed Sheeran
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