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 want him, you need him,
It's so hard to please him,
You just don't dare,
And inside you're burning, with some secret yearnings,
you must not care,
Still won't you help me,
I'm flawed, desperate, angry with God,
cause he just won't care,
oh, excuse me, you're morning,
how callous and boring,
I brush your hair,
see your face, empty smile
I touch that face,
all the while
you know it wont stop, so you make an excuse to confuse the issue,
what make you think that i'll care about you?
when you lay on the ground till he tells you he's through,
he'll do what he'll do, and he'll do it to you,
and all the while,
he's been using you,
yes all the while,
he's abusing you,
so it finally dawned on me, yesterday morning,
i just can't stare,
and swallow the words, that your hero's perverted on what we share,
i'll kill him, I'll beat him. The cycle's repeating.
I hold thin arrogance
still wont you hold him and trust him,
you love him, so much, and he still wont care,
to see your face, with an empty smile,
cause i touched my place on you, and all the while...
she says it's so good, when it's so good,
this is so good, when it's no good,
this is so good, everybody so good,
everybody so good, when you're no good,
all the while, he's been using you,
yes all the while, he's abusing you,
with your naked excuse you confuse your misuse,
what makes you think that I should care what he'll do,
you lay on the ground till he tells you he's through,
and he makes up your mind that that's what you should do
cause all the while you, you've been using you,
yes all the while, you've been abusing you,
he hurts you, miss treats you, your own mind misleads you,
you just won't care,
when holes in your face cant be covered with makeup you'll still stay there.
It's so hard to please him,
You just don't dare,
And inside you're burning, with some secret yearnings,
you must not care,
Still won't you help me,
I'm flawed, desperate, angry with God,
cause he just won't care,
oh, excuse me, you're morning,
how callous and boring,
I brush your hair,
see your face, empty smile
I touch that face,
all the while
you know it wont stop, so you make an excuse to confuse the issue,
what make you think that i'll care about you?
when you lay on the ground till he tells you he's through,
he'll do what he'll do, and he'll do it to you,
and all the while,
he's been using you,
yes all the while,
he's abusing you,
so it finally dawned on me, yesterday morning,
i just can't stare,
and swallow the words, that your hero's perverted on what we share,
i'll kill him, I'll beat him. The cycle's repeating.
I hold thin arrogance
still wont you hold him and trust him,
you love him, so much, and he still wont care,
to see your face, with an empty smile,
cause i touched my place on you, and all the while...
she says it's so good, when it's so good,
this is so good, when it's no good,
this is so good, everybody so good,
everybody so good, when you're no good,
all the while, he's been using you,
yes all the while, he's abusing you,
with your naked excuse you confuse your misuse,
what makes you think that I should care what he'll do,
you lay on the ground till he tells you he's through,
and he makes up your mind that that's what you should do
cause all the while you, you've been using you,
yes all the while, you've been abusing you,
he hurts you, miss treats you, your own mind misleads you,
you just won't care,
when holes in your face cant be covered with makeup you'll still stay there.
Lyrics submitted by Hcmtnbiker
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i think your on the right track, i believe the this song is also about a child who is brought up in a household where the father abuses the mother. I see it as the child is going through all this pain because of this and he walks in on his mother crying because she can't take it anymore. he realizes that she has been hit in the face (this is the part where he talks about "oh, excuse me, you're morning, how callous and boring, I brush your hair, see your face, empty smile I touch that face, all the while") The child then begins to hate his dad for what he has done to his mother,but at the same time he's also mad at his mother for not standing up for herself and leaving. He's stuck in the middle and about to lash out at someone