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."
You used to get it in your fishnets
Now you only get it in your night dress
Discarded all the naughty nights for niceness
Landed in a very common crisis
Everything's in order in a black hole
Nothing seems as pretty as the past though
That Bloody Mary's lacking in Tabasco
Remember when you used to be a rascal?
Oh, the boy's a slag, the best you ever had
The best you ever had is just a memory and those dreams
Weren't as daft as they seem, not as daft as they seemed
My love, when you dream them up
Flicking through a little book of sex tips
Remember when the boys were all electric?
Now when she's told she's gonna get it
I'm guessing that she'd rather just forget it
Clinging 'til I'm getting sentimental
Said she wasn't going but she went still
Likes her gentlemen not to be gentle
Was it a Mecca Dauber or a betting pencil?
Oh, the boy's a slag, the best you ever had
The best you ever had is just a memory and those dreams
Weren't as daft as they seem, not as daft as they seemed
My love, when you dream them up
Oh, Flo, where did you go?
Where did you go? Where did you go? Oh
You're falling about
You took a left off Last Laugh Lane
Just sounding it out
But you're not coming back again
You're falling about
You took a left off Last Laugh Lane
You were just sounding it out
But you're not coming back again
You used to get it in your fishnets (falling about)
Now you only get it in your night dress
Discarded all the naughty nights for niceness (you took a left off Last Laugh Lane)
Landed in a very common crisis
Everything's in order in a black hole (we're sounding it out)
Is everything as pretty as the past though?
That Bloody Mary's lacking in Tabasco (but you're not coming back again)
Remember when you used to be a rascal? Oh
Now you only get it in your night dress
Discarded all the naughty nights for niceness
Landed in a very common crisis
Everything's in order in a black hole
Nothing seems as pretty as the past though
That Bloody Mary's lacking in Tabasco
Remember when you used to be a rascal?
Oh, the boy's a slag, the best you ever had
The best you ever had is just a memory and those dreams
Weren't as daft as they seem, not as daft as they seemed
My love, when you dream them up
Flicking through a little book of sex tips
Remember when the boys were all electric?
Now when she's told she's gonna get it
I'm guessing that she'd rather just forget it
Clinging 'til I'm getting sentimental
Said she wasn't going but she went still
Likes her gentlemen not to be gentle
Was it a Mecca Dauber or a betting pencil?
Oh, the boy's a slag, the best you ever had
The best you ever had is just a memory and those dreams
Weren't as daft as they seem, not as daft as they seemed
My love, when you dream them up
Oh, Flo, where did you go?
Where did you go? Where did you go? Oh
You're falling about
You took a left off Last Laugh Lane
Just sounding it out
But you're not coming back again
You're falling about
You took a left off Last Laugh Lane
You were just sounding it out
But you're not coming back again
You used to get it in your fishnets (falling about)
Now you only get it in your night dress
Discarded all the naughty nights for niceness (you took a left off Last Laugh Lane)
Landed in a very common crisis
Everything's in order in a black hole (we're sounding it out)
Is everything as pretty as the past though?
That Bloody Mary's lacking in Tabasco (but you're not coming back again)
Remember when you used to be a rascal? Oh
Lyrics submitted by sedders, edited by FClef, happysadfun, ponderst, jt, ElephantBones, rouf29
Fluorescent Adolescent Lyrics as written by Alex Turner Johanna Bennett
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
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im sure it's about a woman who used to be a 'fluorescent adolescent', but is now going through menopause 'That Bloody Mary's lacking a Tabasco'. She is remembering her days as a younger, more sexually attractive girl. 'You used to get it in your fishnets/ Now you only get it in your night dress' i.e she used to have sex when she went out in her fishnets, now only has sex in her nightdress (with herself...) she is remembering all her one night stands and how boys used to fall at her feet 'Remember when he used to be a rascal?' She wishes she was still like that, and was a bit naughty 'Likes her gentlemen to not be gentle/ Was it a mega-dobber or a betting pencil?' Shes recently had sex with a man, maybe a male prostitute (slag is the english version for slut, usually used for girls but can be for boys too) Oh, that boy's a slag, the best you ever had (its the best she's had in ages, with the male prositute) The best you ever had is just a memory (she remembers being younger, the best of her life is gone) that's what i've always thought!