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."
[There is a man in this world who has never smiled. You may know his tragedy, the later years by heart.
In the beginning there was a mother, father and a child. A troubled little silent boy whose life they were to destroy.
Known to us from this day on like his father, Caleb]
His mother came up with such a clever way to save the day with a little white lie.
He thinks he missed the point back then, but now he's grown to understand it, in a way.
"Father said "I'm sorry" only once, as I remember"
"The words were not meant to hurt, only destroy you, my stupid son..."
One person can make a difference, sometimes...
Just turn his head when the kid is still and has a weak neck.
Smiled at his funeral, "happy you're dead."
All his solutions, it seemed, were only problems in disguise
Glueing on his drinkin´ face, got ready to erase another day...
Mother was yet confident, although they had it tight, taught her son
At the end of every tunnel’s a little light.
It wasn't a lie, it was her hope, that everything would be fine one day
"He can fulfill his every dream, I’m happy as long as he’s not."
"I hate it and fear can't face it,
the child is not right, he's my greatest shame"
Go out, create thunder, and stand right under
That old apple tree
Where dead snakes let him feed on those
Lost hopes, all those kind words could hurt him even more, now
Somehow, lost one more way back home
Out on the lake, he rows towards a monster he should’ve been running away from, years ago.
The past had made him blind to the way he’d turned the pain into a way of life.
Followed his father, tucked him in, Caleb knows the trade.
He’s the portrait of a man his mother drew to hate forever.
She was a beast, a deadly saint, wrong in many ways
Wanted to keep up the charade, until the end waltzing together
Over the hills, under the sea,
Fighting the will, whole Universe
Why does a man driving a hearse
Live in fear, Gift and a Curse
Taking ´em out, taking ´em all,
Shooting the wall, over and out
When nothing moves, all’s well,
A decision he can find a way to live with
...and dried up flowers are so beautiful.
And it applies to all things living, and dead.
For that I serve my time... in my suite in Hell.
"Now I ring the bell to tell the world,
I'm ready when they bring out the soon to be dead against the wall ..."
oo-oo-ooo
This necessary evil has no heart
ooo-oo-ooo
Flowers and people he will now enlace
A price he must pay serving a cold
...whatevergod.
In the beginning there was a mother, father and a child. A troubled little silent boy whose life they were to destroy.
Known to us from this day on like his father, Caleb]
His mother came up with such a clever way to save the day with a little white lie.
He thinks he missed the point back then, but now he's grown to understand it, in a way.
"Father said "I'm sorry" only once, as I remember"
"The words were not meant to hurt, only destroy you, my stupid son..."
One person can make a difference, sometimes...
Just turn his head when the kid is still and has a weak neck.
Smiled at his funeral, "happy you're dead."
All his solutions, it seemed, were only problems in disguise
Glueing on his drinkin´ face, got ready to erase another day...
Mother was yet confident, although they had it tight, taught her son
At the end of every tunnel’s a little light.
It wasn't a lie, it was her hope, that everything would be fine one day
"He can fulfill his every dream, I’m happy as long as he’s not."
"I hate it and fear can't face it,
the child is not right, he's my greatest shame"
Go out, create thunder, and stand right under
That old apple tree
Where dead snakes let him feed on those
Lost hopes, all those kind words could hurt him even more, now
Somehow, lost one more way back home
Out on the lake, he rows towards a monster he should’ve been running away from, years ago.
The past had made him blind to the way he’d turned the pain into a way of life.
Followed his father, tucked him in, Caleb knows the trade.
He’s the portrait of a man his mother drew to hate forever.
She was a beast, a deadly saint, wrong in many ways
Wanted to keep up the charade, until the end waltzing together
Over the hills, under the sea,
Fighting the will, whole Universe
Why does a man driving a hearse
Live in fear, Gift and a Curse
Taking ´em out, taking ´em all,
Shooting the wall, over and out
When nothing moves, all’s well,
A decision he can find a way to live with
...and dried up flowers are so beautiful.
And it applies to all things living, and dead.
For that I serve my time... in my suite in Hell.
"Now I ring the bell to tell the world,
I'm ready when they bring out the soon to be dead against the wall ..."
oo-oo-ooo
This necessary evil has no heart
ooo-oo-ooo
Flowers and people he will now enlace
A price he must pay serving a cold
...whatevergod.
Lyrics submitted by seiyas_
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
I'm fairly certain I've got 90% of it figured out...
SECTION 1 (begining - "happy you're dead") A couple had a baby. The baby had some head-issues. The dad hated and wanted to kill the kid for being weird.
The mom comforted him with kind words and lies. Both parent had detrimental effects on his psyche in the long run.
SECTION 2 ("drinkin' face" lines) The dad drank to ignore his problems with the kid. The drinking more than likely led to domestic problems. These furthered issues between the parents, and hurting the kid's mind.
SECTION 3a ("Mother was yet confident..") The child and mother grew tight as the dad grew bitter. She promised that even though its bad now, things will be good one day.
SECTION 3b ("He can fulfill..") At the same time, she hindered his developement as a person, keeping him dependent on her, implying she's a bit whacky too.
SECTION 4 ("I hate it..") From the view of the dad; he's so ashamed of his messed up kid. I'm truly still lost on the apple tree lines..
SECTION 5 ("Lost hopes..") The kid is SO messed up from the relationship with his parents, that nothing can really do him good, only hurt him worse.. "lost one more way back home" = one step further away from a normal life
SECTION 6 ("out on the lake..") Idk why he was rowing, or where he was.. Anyhoo, he's heading back towards his mother (the monster) His past has been so bad, he's losing his sense of right and wrong
SECTION 7 ("follows his father..") His mother has convinced him to kill his father (he's a young man at this point) He follows him to bed and tucks him in.. and almost follows through, BUT due to hints in Don't Say A Word, I believe he chickened out, and his mom had to finish the deed.. She acted like everything was beautiful now, and they'd live happily ever after but.. he got drafted
SECTION 8 ("Over the hills..") He had to go all over the place in the war, doing awful things.. Things that made him desensitized to killing, and showed him beauty in death. Now he's found a mindset (his alter ego) to help him do away with his mother.
SECTION 9 ("Flowers and people..") He accepts that the world is cruel, and he's never going to be happy..
I've got a few minor issues unresolved with the song.. but i think I'm mostly right.
The apple tree line likely has something to do with the saying "The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree"<br /> <br /> By the previous interpretation it would mean the son is crazy like his mother.
I'm actually starting to divide the points of view in this song by musical sections.. -<br /> <br /> -The main themes are Caleb reflecting on the past<br /> -The sections generally following them ("mother was yet confident," and "followed his father..") are mother-orriented<br /> -The weird middle section from "I hate it" through "lost one more way back home" are the dad<br /> -And I stick by my idea of the last part being Caleb in the military for whatever reason and becoming slightly morbid. <br /> <br /> I also have come to believe "Known to us from this day on by his father, Caleb" means he was named after his father, adding more torment to all 3 of them.. His father gets more shame from it, his mother's subconsious seething hate grows, and he is constantly reminded of his past.
you say that he got drafted and he went to war right??? so then that could tie this song to replica...because he talks about trying to figure out wat the war was about or something like that...but still he talks about being in war???<br /> im not sure but it could be, right??<br /> <br /> and the part were he says "go out and make thunder" means make urself known in the world...and this could be used as a metaphor which means that before the thunder comes the lightning so he can stand under the tree and get hit by the lightning...but as a metaphore it means be known and dont care about the consequences...(getting hit by lightning)
The old apple tree part seems to me like an illusion to eden.<br /> <br /> it could be dealing with temptation
I think the Section 4 apple three thing might be about getting struck by lightning? Metaphorically, I mean. That he creates his own thunder which strikes him as he goes under the tree (because trees are more likely to be struck by lightning). I hope you understand me, maybe someone could come up with a better explanation from what I said :)
@Jpak88 the law is a building from a story of Kafka no one can enter, to hate a negative fate, is to self-preserve, a tool of survival, fear is judged by the system as a form of hate in wich one hides itself from something one considers "bad", the child was not teached to understand, so it's preconditioned parents couldn't teach it the right stuff, "go out create thunder" refers to resolving the chemical barriers of the mind the right way by study & reaching tetra-waves, stand under the tree of wisdom, "the snakes" teach him tetra-mindset, while using his inner mind system to their own purpose... the good the bad & the ugly etc etc