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."
An hour ago
I felt so low
I almost drowned
Driving around this messed up town
It's pretty, it's only
I felt so lonely
And I knew all night
I'd never find a face can understand how much I miss you now
And so I arrive
At the conclusion
Love isn't made
Love doesn't sell or pay
But we buy and sell our love away
Escaped to the water
I stare up at the stars
And moon and sky
I was lying on my back with my fingers in the sand
Alone in Miami
It sounds so funny
And yet here I am
It's funny how life is seldom what you plan
And so I arrive
At the conclusion
Love isn't made
Love doesn't sell or pay
But we buy and sell our love away
Don't let the panic bring you down
Don't let the panic bring you down
(Don't let it bring you down)
Don't let the panic bring you down
Love isn't made
(Don't let the panic bring you down)
How could we have let this go?
(Don't let the panic bring you down)
How could we have almost lost it all?
(Don't let the panic bring you down)
Don't let the panic bring you down
(Don't let the panic bring you down)
How had we forgotten
Love isn't made
I felt so low
I almost drowned
Driving around this messed up town
It's pretty, it's only
I felt so lonely
And I knew all night
I'd never find a face can understand how much I miss you now
And so I arrive
At the conclusion
Love isn't made
Love doesn't sell or pay
But we buy and sell our love away
Escaped to the water
I stare up at the stars
And moon and sky
I was lying on my back with my fingers in the sand
Alone in Miami
It sounds so funny
And yet here I am
It's funny how life is seldom what you plan
And so I arrive
At the conclusion
Love isn't made
Love doesn't sell or pay
But we buy and sell our love away
Don't let the panic bring you down
Don't let the panic bring you down
(Don't let it bring you down)
Don't let the panic bring you down
Love isn't made
(Don't let the panic bring you down)
How could we have let this go?
(Don't let the panic bring you down)
How could we have almost lost it all?
(Don't let the panic bring you down)
Don't let the panic bring you down
(Don't let the panic bring you down)
How had we forgotten
Love isn't made
Lyrics submitted by Loona3
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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,
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental 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.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
He's alone, without is wife/love, thinking about how he either lost her or almost lost her. And he realizes people don't "make love" to one another, but it's a transaction. It's a give and take. We have a finite amount of love to give, and if we give it all to someone who isn't for us, we won't have any left. It makes him panic to think about how close he was to loosing the one he had given all his love to.
Beautiful song. He sees how the world is fallible, "messed up town." Comes to the conclusion, through epiphany and/or revelation that his once preconceived notion of love and..later on his life was skewed. His new "reality" changed with the pining of his emotional connection...his women.
Beautiful song for the ones miss..and maybe will never see again.
Pronounced heartfelt longing.
This might be a stretch, but I feel it's more up Jon Foreman's alley: "It's funny how life is sold on what you plan" instead of "...seldom what you plan. I just don't hear the 'e' of 'seldom' in there. This is my guess, and if correct, I would interpret it as... When we're making a big life-directing decision, we 'buy' a choice based on our own plans, which don't usually pan out. The confidence we have in our pictures and plans of future life does become funny after we see how differently life has come to be in reality. Funny... we think we're the molders of our own lives. And if it is 'seldom,' well, it was a fun thought.