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."
(We don't want men, We want everything)
(We've chosen to want everything)
We don't want men, who want everything
We've stolen in this suffering
And we told them to want everything
But use caution in what you believe
And we're haunted, deny everything
Controlling in this suffering
And they're broken, and lost everything
It's so much easier to leave
Take their hope away
Take their life away
Feeling nothing left inside
When your own have died
And there's no more pride
When your soul is frozen
It's had enough
When your heart is broken
A thousand times
With every moment
Is that enough?
We are don't want men, we take everything
I'm taunted in this suffering
And our forces surround everything
Make it impossible to see
Take their hope away
Take their life away
Feeling nothing left inside
When your own have died
And there's no more pride
When your soul is frozen
It's had enough
When your heart is broken
A thousand times
With every moment
Is that enough?
Haven't we suffered enough now, haven't we suffered enough now
Haven't we suffered enough damage's then I can bear
Haven't we suffered enough now, haven't we suffered enough now
Haven't we suffered enough damage's then I can bear
Did they even tell the reason why
Countless sons and daughters sent to die
Can you even comprehend the pain
When your own have died
And there's no more pride
When your soul is frozen
It's had enough
When your heart is broken
A thousand times
With every moment
Is that enough?
When you're out of time
In this lullaby (In this lullaby)
When your soul is frozen
It's had enough (It's had enough)
When your heart is broken
A thousand times (A thousand times)
Will that be only?
Is that enough?
(We've chosen to want everything)
We don't want men, who want everything
We've stolen in this suffering
And we told them to want everything
But use caution in what you believe
And we're haunted, deny everything
Controlling in this suffering
And they're broken, and lost everything
It's so much easier to leave
Take their hope away
Take their life away
Feeling nothing left inside
When your own have died
And there's no more pride
When your soul is frozen
It's had enough
When your heart is broken
A thousand times
With every moment
Is that enough?
We are don't want men, we take everything
I'm taunted in this suffering
And our forces surround everything
Make it impossible to see
Take their hope away
Take their life away
Feeling nothing left inside
When your own have died
And there's no more pride
When your soul is frozen
It's had enough
When your heart is broken
A thousand times
With every moment
Is that enough?
Haven't we suffered enough now, haven't we suffered enough now
Haven't we suffered enough damage's then I can bear
Haven't we suffered enough now, haven't we suffered enough now
Haven't we suffered enough damage's then I can bear
Did they even tell the reason why
Countless sons and daughters sent to die
Can you even comprehend the pain
When your own have died
And there's no more pride
When your soul is frozen
It's had enough
When your heart is broken
A thousand times
With every moment
Is that enough?
When you're out of time
In this lullaby (In this lullaby)
When your soul is frozen
It's had enough (It's had enough)
When your heart is broken
A thousand times (A thousand times)
Will that be only?
Is that enough?
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More Featured Meanings
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
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.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
Oh man, this song almost made me cry.
I hear it as a political song about our government putting down society and keeping them in check. The people at the top don't care about the ridiculous number of deaths for unnecessary war.
The majority of the rich want to keep the wars coming so that the status quo is maintained, and their family tree stays wealthy at the expense of human lives.
i think he questioning God