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."
Always said I was an honest man
from breaker boy to a miners right hand
had some dreams like any man who breathes
my light of day was the evening breeze
Daddy fled the country that he called home
raped by a queen with a government loan
found work in Pennsylvania in the anthracite fields
seems my daddy got a raw raw deal
There was a cave in heard that whistle blow
neighbors rush to tell her what she already knows
they dumped his body on the front porch steps
pinned a company note to his bloody chest
It said you ain’t no miner you’re just a spouse
and you’ve been living in a company house
you got a few days to gather your things
another family ready to move right in
Now I’m working down in number nine
there’s whispering in the dark about walking the line
my baby’s at home waiting up for me
this ain’t where she wants me to be
Well Lord you’ve just got to understand
you face down the devil by being a man
a bullet in the head and there’s no surprise
you plug a scoundrel right between the eyes
Maybe heaven ain’t the place for me
around here hell seems like the place to be
Maybe heaven ain’t the place for me
around here hell seems like the place to be
from breaker boy to a miners right hand
had some dreams like any man who breathes
my light of day was the evening breeze
Daddy fled the country that he called home
raped by a queen with a government loan
found work in Pennsylvania in the anthracite fields
seems my daddy got a raw raw deal
There was a cave in heard that whistle blow
neighbors rush to tell her what she already knows
they dumped his body on the front porch steps
pinned a company note to his bloody chest
It said you ain’t no miner you’re just a spouse
and you’ve been living in a company house
you got a few days to gather your things
another family ready to move right in
Now I’m working down in number nine
there’s whispering in the dark about walking the line
my baby’s at home waiting up for me
this ain’t where she wants me to be
Well Lord you’ve just got to understand
you face down the devil by being a man
a bullet in the head and there’s no surprise
you plug a scoundrel right between the eyes
Maybe heaven ain’t the place for me
around here hell seems like the place to be
Maybe heaven ain’t the place for me
around here hell seems like the place to be
Lyrics submitted by azkm
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