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."
Big lizard in my backyard
Can't afford to feed him anymore
Big lizard in my backyard
Bustin' down my neighbor's door
I bought a big lizard, only a dollar-fifty
Well, that's pretty neat, yeah, it's fuckin' nifty
But I just can't afford to feed it
And you should see the way it shits
I've got a big lizard in my backyard
Can't afford to feed it anymore
Big lizard in my backyard
Bustin' down my neighbor's door
I was knocked outta bed
Late last night
I was woken up by the sound of dynamite
I ran downstairs to find an army man
He says "we gotta blow up those things we don't understand!"
There's no more big lizard in my backyard
I won't have to feed him anymore
No more lizard in my backyard
They shipped his ass to El Salvador!
Was knocked outta bed
Late last night
I was woken up by the sound of dynamite
I ran downstairs to find an army man
He said "we gotta blow up those things we don't understand!"
Big lizard in my backyard
Can't afford to feed it anymore
Big lizard in my backyard
Bustin' down my neighbor's door
I bought a big lizard, only a dollar-fifty
Well, that's pretty neat, yeah, it's fuckin' nifty
But I just can't afford to feed it
Can't afford to feed him anymore
Big lizard in my backyard
Bustin' down my neighbor's door
I bought a big lizard, only a dollar-fifty
Well, that's pretty neat, yeah, it's fuckin' nifty
But I just can't afford to feed it
And you should see the way it shits
I've got a big lizard in my backyard
Can't afford to feed it anymore
Big lizard in my backyard
Bustin' down my neighbor's door
I was knocked outta bed
Late last night
I was woken up by the sound of dynamite
I ran downstairs to find an army man
He says "we gotta blow up those things we don't understand!"
There's no more big lizard in my backyard
I won't have to feed him anymore
No more lizard in my backyard
They shipped his ass to El Salvador!
Was knocked outta bed
Late last night
I was woken up by the sound of dynamite
I ran downstairs to find an army man
He said "we gotta blow up those things we don't understand!"
Big lizard in my backyard
Can't afford to feed it anymore
Big lizard in my backyard
Bustin' down my neighbor's door
I bought a big lizard, only a dollar-fifty
Well, that's pretty neat, yeah, it's fuckin' nifty
But I just can't afford to feed it
Lyrics submitted by floating_eye
Big Lizard Lyrics as written by Dean Sabatino David Schulthise
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, O/B/O DistroKid
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Plastic Bag
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“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.
This sounds almost like a protest song...
"I ran downstairs to find an army man He said 'We gotta blow up those things we don't understand!'"
The government and other groups act violently because of their ignorance. The big lizard could represent just about anything that the public would go in a panic about, like when black people were protesting for their civil rights. Did the police stop to think of what they were doing? Hell naw dawg, they hosed the protestors down and sprayed the crap out of them with tear gas. They didn't even bother trying to comprehend other's pains. It could also relate to specific individuals, like people who stick out and are hassled because of it (the stereotypical jock vs. nerds thing.)
The Dead Milkmen can right something really catchy and funny but they can be smart. Like, "Surfin Cow"? That song is the truest, best song ever written and has more emotion than national anthems.
i know the meaning! this song is about a big lizard in his backyard that he can't feed anymore. there problem solved.
I sing this song to my baby boy all the time, he loves it
i think the meaning of this song is pretty obvious ha i love song so much
I, um, don't think it's obvious. I don't get it at all. But it's stuck in my head!
The lizard just has to represent something... but what?!
LOL RIET WRITE RIGHT
Rodney had a roommate in college, who had an Iguana. It kept getting bigger and bigger, and that's how this song came to be.
i thought this song was about Godzilla owell
Interesting. ;)
I can only talk about one experience of mine that happened to me at a time when this song was being played, it turns out that I let a problem of mine be something that at the time I didn't care much about, you could say it was something "cheap" and this escalated, it's like I had left my problem in the back room and then when it became a situation out of my control panic set in and that's when we made bad decisions like the military trying to bomb it.