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."
Lately I've looked at the moon
through the dim window-glass of this old cellar room
& winter has come since we last talked
Fog's rolling in on the river walk
& the noise from the motorway stays the night through
when the working day's over there's not a lot that I can do
So I write you these poems & make silly rhymes
& watch the clouds go drifting by
& when twilight comes I sometimes go for a walk
the wind is in the branches & the frost is in the bark
of the Winter Street trees as they reach for a pale sky
you can almost hear them sigh
& I bet you've been wondering just what I've become
Now you know I'm still right here where the story once began
& writing you name on this steamy window glass
as the moon above the cellar is rising at last
through the dim window-glass of this old cellar room
& winter has come since we last talked
Fog's rolling in on the river walk
& the noise from the motorway stays the night through
when the working day's over there's not a lot that I can do
So I write you these poems & make silly rhymes
& watch the clouds go drifting by
& when twilight comes I sometimes go for a walk
the wind is in the branches & the frost is in the bark
of the Winter Street trees as they reach for a pale sky
you can almost hear them sigh
& I bet you've been wondering just what I've become
Now you know I'm still right here where the story once began
& writing you name on this steamy window glass
as the moon above the cellar is rising at last
Lyrics submitted by middledistancerunner
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