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."
Well once I knew a railway girl
her age was 17
I gave her all I had to give
but the baggage of my dreams
stole me from the games we play
scorned me for my mask
and if she's gone, she lingers on
I beg you, please don't ask
'twas on a dark March evening
south bound I did ride
my head was out the window
and I found her at my side
asked where I was going to
I told but where I came
'fore the jails in which ive done my time
I fail hard to regain
dark girl, dark girl
it kills me so to watch you so afraid
you know that you've been to real
to those whom realness should be paid
her eyes gone wide, "alive" she cried
does pleasure ever last?
we live to see but patiently
I beg you, please don't ask
she took me in, despite my sins
fed me tea and such
and as she fell, just like a child
I crumbled 'neath her touch
I held my breath and feared to weep
for the fragments of my brain
see, each day's but a moment
that I fail hard to regain
but as it goes
the fiddler throws
all values to the street
and old world fame stains his gaze
and patience is his feat
as captives of this paltry trade
we curse our mortal task
forgive us though, we all must go
and where to please don't ask
and now I am a misspent man
who knows not where he's been
and though so sapped with suffering
the worst is yet unseen
renounce myself for further wealth
I take each breath in vain
still haunted by that railway girl
I fail hard to regain
her age was 17
I gave her all I had to give
but the baggage of my dreams
stole me from the games we play
scorned me for my mask
and if she's gone, she lingers on
I beg you, please don't ask
'twas on a dark March evening
south bound I did ride
my head was out the window
and I found her at my side
asked where I was going to
I told but where I came
'fore the jails in which ive done my time
I fail hard to regain
dark girl, dark girl
it kills me so to watch you so afraid
you know that you've been to real
to those whom realness should be paid
her eyes gone wide, "alive" she cried
does pleasure ever last?
we live to see but patiently
I beg you, please don't ask
she took me in, despite my sins
fed me tea and such
and as she fell, just like a child
I crumbled 'neath her touch
I held my breath and feared to weep
for the fragments of my brain
see, each day's but a moment
that I fail hard to regain
but as it goes
the fiddler throws
all values to the street
and old world fame stains his gaze
and patience is his feat
as captives of this paltry trade
we curse our mortal task
forgive us though, we all must go
and where to please don't ask
and now I am a misspent man
who knows not where he's been
and though so sapped with suffering
the worst is yet unseen
renounce myself for further wealth
I take each breath in vain
still haunted by that railway girl
I fail hard to regain
Lyrics submitted by euthanasia27, edited by ahle6481
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Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
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This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
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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.
A few corrections to make
"'twas on her dark march she pinned south bound I did ride"
Should read: "'Twas on a dark March evening, southbound I did ride."
"you know that you've been to real to those whom realness should be vague."
Should read: "You know that you've been real to those whom realness should be paid."
"as captives of this paltry train,"
Should read: "as captives of this paltry trade"
This is just amazing. Truly poetic, abrasively harsh; a masterpiece of writing and composition. Nobody, but nobody, writes songs like this.