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."
Deliver me
From the darkest abyss
From the depths of eternal rest
Grasping at the threads of sanity
Only to watch them slip through my hands
I see the light
I see the end
I see a frail hope
Crushed by the weight of the world
I see the light
I see the end
I see a frail hope
Crushed by the weight of the world
Crushed by the weight of the world
My will is broken
My will is broken
Sinking, always sinking
The sands of time, forever slipping
Clawing at the emptiness
But a ghost I reach towards the end
Lost in darkness, lost in time
Losing a grip on my fucking mind
Ignorance is an easy friend
But in the end it takes everything
Fear, it finds me and it binds me
Illuminate the planes of consciousness
Fear, it finds me and it binds me
But I'm lost
Guilt draws me down like a stone
It chokes my throat and gnaws my bones
Regret breeds a heavy heart
Reality, torn in two
Torn in two
Torn in two
Canonised
Canonised
A life that fades
A life that fades before
Before my eyes
Canonised
A life that fades before
Before my eyes
Ever faithful friend
Sorrow, sets its teeth
Canonised
A life that fades before
Before my eyes
Ever faithful friend
Sorrow, sets its teeth
Eaten alive
But I will survive
I survive
Fury, deliver me
How can you defeat what you can't kill?
(Deliver me)
I see the feat that twists inside
(Deliver me)
I watch the shadows fill with doubt
(Deliver me)
Fury, deliver me
From the darkest abyss
From the depths of eternal rest
Grasping at the threads of sanity
Only to watch them slip through my hands
I see the light
I see the end
I see a frail hope
Crushed by the weight of the world
I see the light
I see the end
I see a frail hope
Crushed by the weight of the world
Crushed by the weight of the world
My will is broken
My will is broken
Sinking, always sinking
The sands of time, forever slipping
Clawing at the emptiness
But a ghost I reach towards the end
Lost in darkness, lost in time
Losing a grip on my fucking mind
Ignorance is an easy friend
But in the end it takes everything
Fear, it finds me and it binds me
Illuminate the planes of consciousness
Fear, it finds me and it binds me
But I'm lost
Guilt draws me down like a stone
It chokes my throat and gnaws my bones
Regret breeds a heavy heart
Reality, torn in two
Torn in two
Torn in two
Canonised
Canonised
A life that fades
A life that fades before
Before my eyes
Canonised
A life that fades before
Before my eyes
Ever faithful friend
Sorrow, sets its teeth
Canonised
A life that fades before
Before my eyes
Ever faithful friend
Sorrow, sets its teeth
Eaten alive
But I will survive
I survive
Fury, deliver me
How can you defeat what you can't kill?
(Deliver me)
I see the feat that twists inside
(Deliver me)
I watch the shadows fill with doubt
(Deliver me)
Fury, deliver me
Lyrics submitted by alien13, edited by sokorny, BlueDiamondx3
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Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
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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.
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The main words in these lyrics are "Fury, Deliver me." He is ready to make his return, fueled by anger. He is now transformed.