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."
In trouble with the dogs
Yapping like the trogs on that tape
Getting stepped on like a baby
Maybe slept too long
Is that so wrong?
So at sunrise we moved on
At lunch the storm had gone away
I didn't swim
But I watched the waves
While others stayed
Under for over an hour
While lovers hovered around the towel
We washed our mouths at the riverbed
When we noticed something glowing
It was growing
Things are going to change
Hot rainfalls made of magma
Melts Alaska
And in icy Argentine they say now I've seen it all
Who knew? Volcanoes
In trouble with the gods
We didn't always misbehave
Where the sun shone, now it's gone
We've been waiting for so long
Now it's on
Not that we would do ourselves in
Funny how things work out in the end
I never learned to swim
Now I'm wasted, I'm too old
Just hold on for as long as you can
I'm so afraid to die
We washed our mouths at the riverbed
When we noticed something glowing
It was growing
Things are going to change
Hot rainfalls made of magma
Melts Alaska
And in icy Argentine they say now I've seen it all
Who knew? Volcanoes
The frogs, the frogs got it first
And the birds all knew it too
The worst was the worse smell on earth
Silver and snow
Silver and snow
Don't breathe
Don't breathe
Don't breathe
Don't breathe
We washed our mouths at the riverbed
When we noticed something glowing
It was growing
Things are going to change
Hot rainfalls made of magma
Melts Alaska
And in icy Argentine they say
Now I've seen it all
Who knew? Volcanoes
Who knew? Volcanoes
Yapping like the trogs on that tape
Getting stepped on like a baby
Maybe slept too long
Is that so wrong?
So at sunrise we moved on
At lunch the storm had gone away
I didn't swim
But I watched the waves
While others stayed
Under for over an hour
While lovers hovered around the towel
We washed our mouths at the riverbed
When we noticed something glowing
It was growing
Things are going to change
Hot rainfalls made of magma
Melts Alaska
And in icy Argentine they say now I've seen it all
Who knew? Volcanoes
In trouble with the gods
We didn't always misbehave
Where the sun shone, now it's gone
We've been waiting for so long
Now it's on
Not that we would do ourselves in
Funny how things work out in the end
I never learned to swim
Now I'm wasted, I'm too old
Just hold on for as long as you can
I'm so afraid to die
We washed our mouths at the riverbed
When we noticed something glowing
It was growing
Things are going to change
Hot rainfalls made of magma
Melts Alaska
And in icy Argentine they say now I've seen it all
Who knew? Volcanoes
The frogs, the frogs got it first
And the birds all knew it too
The worst was the worse smell on earth
Silver and snow
Silver and snow
Don't breathe
Don't breathe
Don't breathe
Don't breathe
We washed our mouths at the riverbed
When we noticed something glowing
It was growing
Things are going to change
Hot rainfalls made of magma
Melts Alaska
And in icy Argentine they say
Now I've seen it all
Who knew? Volcanoes
Who knew? Volcanoes
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Corrections, from the liner notes:
a. so at sunrise we blew dawn by lunch the storm had gone away ... While lovers hovered around my towel
b. then we washed our mouths at the riverbed when we noticed something glowing and it was growing things are going to change a hard rain falls, made of magma
c. we did it our way, misbehaved ... they've* been waiting for so long ... and we thought that we should do ourselves in
d. then we washed our mouths at the riverbed ... and it was growing things are going to change a hard rain falls made of magma melts Alaska
e. Silver in snow Silver in snow
f. and* it was growing, things are going to change a hard rain falls, made of magma
This will always be one of the most beautiful songs written..I love the imagery and it's pretty damn self explanatory I would think.. We can get so caught up thinking we'll ruin the earth and then outta nowhere mother nature will just claim back what is hers in her ever changing landscape. Imagine thats how it ends?
Who knew? Volcanoes!
Best.
The intro to this song freaks me out.
i know ! i'm scared of 2007... but i love it.
I had just watched White Noise and when I heard the beginning of this song I was all, "OMG! AVP! Nooo!"
But I listened anyway. And I love it. Yay for Islands!
I just bought "return to the sea" the other week. It's so great, this is one of my favourites on the album! It's just too darn catchy though I've had it in my head all day!
i freaking love this cd.
spooky intro it sounds like the lyrics are pushing an idea of the world freakishly going into volcano destroy mode, but can that really be it?
its on the surface, but i dont know
I find the intro funny.
I think the song is just about people experiencing the end of the world, as described in the intro.