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."
At the least, come join me
Within the belly of a big blue beast
Set a sail, catch a breeze, and come on
Don't forget to fill your suitcase
Now watch it sink
Cause where we're going we don't need a thing
Not a map, or receipt
Cause where we been is who we used to be
We started wrappin our regrets in cloth
Are you defined by all the things you want?
Or did you get caught up in the things that we are not?
You were born to believe you can't get lost
So when you'd run you'd always run too far
Now there's nothing you haven't seen
But where we're headed we have never been
Past the pavement that we used to walk
Past the people that we used to know
Come on, go
Past the people that have broke our hearts
We started laughing at them from afar
But now we climbed too high without a rope
So don't let go
No we are not swans
Nor are we as ugly as we think we are
We don't take to compliments but please don't stop
Cmon, cmon
We are not swans
We fit into each other
We are Russian dolls
Where somewhere in the center sits a beating heart
cmon, cmon
We are not swans
Now do you feel we've come too far?
Or do you fear we reached the top?
Or do you feel like letting go?
Cmon hold on
We are not swans
Nor are we as ugly as we think we are
We are falling fast but we aren't falling far
So cmon, cmon
We are not swans
Our fathers gave us features that we didn't want
Our mothers claim those features made them fall in love
But cmon, oh cmon
We are swans
We are flying higher than our counterparts
We have got each other I'd say that's enough
So cmon
Cmon
Cmon
Within the belly of a big blue beast
Set a sail, catch a breeze, and come on
Don't forget to fill your suitcase
Now watch it sink
Cause where we're going we don't need a thing
Not a map, or receipt
Cause where we been is who we used to be
We started wrappin our regrets in cloth
Are you defined by all the things you want?
Or did you get caught up in the things that we are not?
You were born to believe you can't get lost
So when you'd run you'd always run too far
Now there's nothing you haven't seen
But where we're headed we have never been
Past the pavement that we used to walk
Past the people that we used to know
Come on, go
Past the people that have broke our hearts
We started laughing at them from afar
But now we climbed too high without a rope
So don't let go
No we are not swans
Nor are we as ugly as we think we are
We don't take to compliments but please don't stop
Cmon, cmon
We are not swans
We fit into each other
We are Russian dolls
Where somewhere in the center sits a beating heart
cmon, cmon
We are not swans
Now do you feel we've come too far?
Or do you fear we reached the top?
Or do you feel like letting go?
Cmon hold on
We are not swans
Nor are we as ugly as we think we are
We are falling fast but we aren't falling far
So cmon, cmon
We are not swans
Our fathers gave us features that we didn't want
Our mothers claim those features made them fall in love
But cmon, oh cmon
We are swans
We are flying higher than our counterparts
We have got each other I'd say that's enough
So cmon
Cmon
Cmon
Lyrics submitted by Jesssucka
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Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
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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,
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We fit into each other We are Russian dolls Where somewhere in the center sits a beating heart.
I love that. This is such a good song. I got in trouble the other day for drawing my interpretation of this in my assignment notebook during class. Oops.