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."
He walked down a busy street
Staring solely at his feet
Clutching pictures of past lovers at his side
Stood at the table where she sat
And removed his hat
In respect of her presence
Presents her with the pictures and says
"These are just ghosts that broke my heart before I met you.
These are just ghosts that broke my heart before I met you"
Opened up his little heart
Unlocked the lock that kept it dark
And read a written warning
Saying I'm still mourning
Over ghosts
Over ghosts
Over ghosts
Over ghosts that broke my heart before I met you
Lover, please do not
Fall to your knees
It's not
Like I believe in
Everlasting love
He went crazy at nineteen
Said he'd lost all his self esteem
And couldn't understand why he was cry, cry, crying, crying.
He would stare at empty chairs
Think of the ghosts that once sat there
The ghosts who broke his heart.
All the ghosts that broke my heart
The ghosts that broke his heart
All the ghosts that broke my heart
The ghosts, the ghosts, the ghosts, the ghosts,
The ghosts, the ghosts
The ghosts that broke my heart before I met you
Lover, please do not
Fall to your knees
It's not
Like I believe in
Everlasting love
He says "I'm so lost,
Not at all well"
Do as though there is nothing left to be
Turned out I'd been following him and he'd been following me
Do as though after it was over
We were just two lovers crying on each others shoulders
And I said
Lover, please do not
Fall to your knees
It's not
Like I believe in
Everlasting love
Lover, please do not
Fall to your knees
It's not
Like I believe in
Everlasting love
Staring solely at his feet
Clutching pictures of past lovers at his side
Stood at the table where she sat
And removed his hat
In respect of her presence
Presents her with the pictures and says
"These are just ghosts that broke my heart before I met you.
These are just ghosts that broke my heart before I met you"
Opened up his little heart
Unlocked the lock that kept it dark
And read a written warning
Saying I'm still mourning
Over ghosts
Over ghosts
Over ghosts
Over ghosts that broke my heart before I met you
Lover, please do not
Fall to your knees
It's not
Like I believe in
Everlasting love
He went crazy at nineteen
Said he'd lost all his self esteem
And couldn't understand why he was cry, cry, crying, crying.
He would stare at empty chairs
Think of the ghosts that once sat there
The ghosts who broke his heart.
All the ghosts that broke my heart
The ghosts that broke his heart
All the ghosts that broke my heart
The ghosts, the ghosts, the ghosts, the ghosts,
The ghosts, the ghosts
The ghosts that broke my heart before I met you
Lover, please do not
Fall to your knees
It's not
Like I believe in
Everlasting love
He says "I'm so lost,
Not at all well"
Do as though there is nothing left to be
Turned out I'd been following him and he'd been following me
Do as though after it was over
We were just two lovers crying on each others shoulders
And I said
Lover, please do not
Fall to your knees
It's not
Like I believe in
Everlasting love
Lover, please do not
Fall to your knees
It's not
Like I believe in
Everlasting love
Lyrics submitted by whatnikkidid
Ghosts Lyrics as written by Gabrielle Aplin
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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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,
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
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.
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.
i love this song, been listening to it on repeat since i heard it the other day.