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."
the boat that we're sailing on can't stop in town
'cause the waves that the boat is on won't settle down
if this boat flips over and everyone drowns
well, that's alright with me
that's alright with me
god's green pasture's not heaven to me
i'll spend forever deep down in the sea
singing and swimming and being happy
weightless and painless eternally
one grandpa's ashes and one's underground
one grandma's ashes and one's still around
if this boat flips over and everyone drowns
well, that's alright with me
that's alright with me
god's green pasture's not heaven to me
i'll spend forever deep down in the sea
singing and swimming and being happy
weightless and painless eternally
i don't want to die alone, i am too proud
that you can tell me from the rest of the crowd
if this boat flips over and everyone drowns
well, that's alright with me
that's alright with me
god's green pasture's not heaven to me
i'll spend forever deep down in the sea
singing and swimming and being happy
weightless and painless eternally
the angels and seagulls will ask themselves how
i've got my head in the crow's nest, my feet starboard bough
and the ocean will say: "well, she's one of us now,"
and i will be set free
i will be set free
i will be set free
i will be set free
'cause the waves that the boat is on won't settle down
if this boat flips over and everyone drowns
well, that's alright with me
that's alright with me
god's green pasture's not heaven to me
i'll spend forever deep down in the sea
singing and swimming and being happy
weightless and painless eternally
one grandpa's ashes and one's underground
one grandma's ashes and one's still around
if this boat flips over and everyone drowns
well, that's alright with me
that's alright with me
god's green pasture's not heaven to me
i'll spend forever deep down in the sea
singing and swimming and being happy
weightless and painless eternally
i don't want to die alone, i am too proud
that you can tell me from the rest of the crowd
if this boat flips over and everyone drowns
well, that's alright with me
that's alright with me
god's green pasture's not heaven to me
i'll spend forever deep down in the sea
singing and swimming and being happy
weightless and painless eternally
the angels and seagulls will ask themselves how
i've got my head in the crow's nest, my feet starboard bough
and the ocean will say: "well, she's one of us now,"
and i will be set free
i will be set free
i will be set free
i will be set free
Lyrics submitted by delial
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This is definitely one of my favourite songs in the world, even if she means it in a more metaphorical kind of way, I can completely relate to it, taking it literally, but not in a depressing or suicidal way. Just that I love the sea more than anything, and if I could chose how I'd die, I would drown and spend forever with it, and though I don't believe in god at all, if there was a heaven like the one we're told about I wouldn't want to go there. This is the first and only about drowning or the sea that I've ever really related too or felt knew what it was talking about, even if it doesn't mean it literally, it's so beautiful =)