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."
Who said this won't be perfect after all we know what is right
And the sounds of bodies clashing is enough to make them cry.
You know this cannot be perfect even when it is feeling right.
And the sound of bodies crashing echo through the night.
Dreams are gone.
Nightmares are here to stay.
Not doing when you know is the greatest crime.
Wake up spilling hatred for each other everywhere.
How cheap is your love.
Lying to keep a peace.
And oh how we ended up in this place.
In this place we are trapped by greed.
Silence.
Something is not right in this house.
This room I lay my head is haunted by mistakes.
Crimes of passion?
Or was it the way they were raised?
Darkness fills this as does the empty bottles.
I wait for the day you come home.
When this house is no longer standing
And the sounds of bodies clashing is enough to make them cry.
You know this cannot be perfect even when it is feeling right.
And the sound of bodies crashing echo through the night.
Dreams are gone.
Nightmares are here to stay.
Not doing when you know is the greatest crime.
Wake up spilling hatred for each other everywhere.
How cheap is your love.
Lying to keep a peace.
And oh how we ended up in this place.
In this place we are trapped by greed.
Silence.
Something is not right in this house.
This room I lay my head is haunted by mistakes.
Crimes of passion?
Or was it the way they were raised?
Darkness fills this as does the empty bottles.
I wait for the day you come home.
When this house is no longer standing
Lyrics submitted by KillerL1ama
It's Myself Vs. Being A Man Lyrics as written by
Lyrics © Capitol CMG Publishing
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You're all wrong. This song isn't about religion. It's about having a kid with a woman you don't love and the consequences of doing so.
"Who said this won't be perfect After all we know what's right."
This trying to do the right thing and give the child a family.
"And the sounds of bodies clashing Enough to make them cry."
The parents in a loveless marriage fighting, upsetting the children.
"You know this can't be perfect Even when it's feeling right."
Doing the right thing doesn't always work like it should.
"And the sounds of bodies crashing Echo through the night."
Fighting through the night or losing sleep / situation plaguing dreams
"Not doing when you know is the greatest crime. Wake up spilling hatred for each other everywhere. How cheap is your love. Lying to keep a peace."
Doing the right thing because you think you have to. Wake up and to someone to hate and fight with them constantly. The rest of this verse is obvious enough.
The rest of the song deals with drinking to escape and the kids not turning out right because of the enviornment they grew up in, etc.
I think you've got it exactly right.
I think that this is basically a message to Christians...I'll start with verse one.
"Dreams are gone. Nightmares are here to stay." This obviously is just stating that something is in a bad state, perhaps the world or your life. "Not doing when you know is the greatest crime." This is really the line that makes me think these lyrics mean what I said. Not telling people about Jesus when you know he is the savior of everyone who believes in him is the greatest crime. "Wake up spilling hatred for each other everywhere." Just saying that humans are so prone to hatred against each other. "How cheap is your love? Lying to keep a peace." You say you love people, but you commit a lie of ommision by not telling them about Jesus. You do this because you think they'd think that you are wierd, or won't believe you, but since you're letting them go to hell, your love is cheap.
Alright, now for the pre-chorus.
"And oh how we’ve ended up in this place." You're in this place mentioned at the beginning of verse one, where "dreams are gone" and "nightmares are here to stay". "This place we’re trapped by greed." You not telling others about Jesus is greedy, and you "end up in this place" trapped by that greed.
The whole chorus is passionate and sad, but even more so when you have a grasp of the lyrics:
"Who said this won’t be perfect After all we know what’s right." Since you know what's right, and you know what you SHOULD do, this should be perfect. Unfortunately it's not perfect, because you don't act on what you know, and because of that people go to hell, "And the sounds of bodies clashing" are "enough to make them cry."
"You know this won’t be perfect Even when it’s feeling right." Deep down you know that it's not perfect, know that you're doing something wrong. "And the sounds of bodies crashing Echo through the night."
OK...verse 2:
"Silence. Something’s not right in this house." The house is symbolic of the Earth. "This room I lay my head is haunted by mistakes." The room is symbolic of where you live, the area, where you go on a day-to-day basis. "Crimes of passion? Or was it the way they were raised?" Is it their fault that they're sinners, or was it the way that they were raised?
Then the pre-chorus/chorus again. And now for the very short verse 3:
"Darkness fills this as does the empty bottles." In remorse for you've done, you try to drown the pain with alcohol. "I wait for the day you come home. When this house is no longer standing." You wait for the return of Jesus and the rapture, when this world will no longer stand. Well, it will, but it won't be nearly the same after we come back from the seven years.
I think that this is the same idea of "A Boy Brushed Red ... Living In Black And White" of underOATH.
Hmm, I'm not sure I see a way this can be interpreted as regretting having sex with someone...
does anyone have an interpretation of the video?
Frontman Ryland Raus [says]: “This video has a pretty dark feel to it. Scattered throughout are grungy and semi creepy shots showcasing vintage items. There is a fair amount of acting in it as well as some fierce live shots. This song brings to light the dark side of spoiled and selfish relationships…also venting the deep regret that comes along with them. The small child in the video represents the innocence that we all once had. As he encounters different situations he learns that life isn’t what he thought it was and eventually ends up hiding from his troubles in a large box…the box basically representing running from your fears or who your supposed to be.”
This is an incredible song. The video is amazing too. There's a bed that seems to be swallowing people. Incredible.
"Who said this won’t be perfect After all we know what’s right. And the sounds of bodies clashing Enough to make them cry. You know this can’t be perfect Even when it’s feeling right. And the sounds of bodies crashing Echo through the night."
To me is sounds like someone who once had a good life had several horribile things happen to them, and now needs to leave the place where it all happened, but can't.
"Silence. Something’s not right in this house. This room I lay my head is haunted by mistakes. Crimes of passion? Or was it the way they were raised?"
The essence of what went wrong still lingers in the place, possibly causing said person to take the blame for everything that happened. 'Crimes of passion' sounds like rape.
Anyway, this is such a great song.<3
this is probably my favorite on the new album..
amazing song, i don't even really care what it's about, i just enjoy listening to it.
It's about sex, and regretting it. Perhaps a one night stand, the "Darkness fills this as does the empty bottles." line suggests that.
Basically sex is often used as an act to gratify the senses, something that one should have control over, something that the mind (the Devil) pushes people towards. To me this song is just about the feelings, and the duality, faced in that.
And they may regret it even more because they've been drinking too much (empty bottles)
i think this song is about hatred towards evil people who hate what is good and when you make them cry and hurt them you are also making Jesus cry and you are like the people who tortured Jesus which is not how it should be
this song is about a family and the dad drinks and gets drunk "Darkness fills this as does the empty bottles. I wait for the day you come home." the mom and the kid/s wonder when their dad with become himself again
when he drinks he beats his wife and the kid hears it during the night "And the sounds of bodies clashing enough to make them cry. You know this won�t be perfect Even when it�s feeling right. And the sounds of bodies crashing Echo through the night."
so the song i simply about a father beating his wife and the kid i shearing it through the night.
you guys look to hard for the meaning when its right in front of you look at the video.