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."
One, two, three, four
Gonna make a record in the month of May
In the month of May, in the month of May
Gonna make a record in the month of May
When the violent wind blows the wires away
Month of May, it's a violent thing
In the city, their hearts start to sing
Well, some people sing, it sounds like they're screaming
Used to doubt it but now I believe it
Month of May, everybody's in love
And the city was sent from above
And just when I knew what I wanted to say
The violent wind blew the wires away
We were shocked in the suburbs
Now the kids are all standing with their arms folded tight
Kids are all standing with their arms folded tight
Well, some things are pure and some things are right
But the kids are still standing with their arms folded tight
I said some things are pure, and some things are right
But the kids are still standing with their arms folded tight
So young, so young
So much pain for someone so young
Well, I know it's heavy, I know it ain't light
But how you gonna lift it with your arms folded tight?
First they built the road
Then they built the town
That's why we're still driving around
And around and around and around and around
And around and around and around and around
And around and around and around and around
2009, 2010 wanna make a record how I felt then
When we stood outside in the month of May
And watched the violent wind blow the wires away
If I die in the month of May
Let the wind take my body away, yeah
Wish I may or wish I might
But meet me down there with my arms folded tight
Start again in the month of May
Start again in the month of May
Come on and blow the wires away
Come on and blow the wires away
Start again in the month of May
Start again in the month of May
Come on and blow the wires away
Come on and blow the wires away
Start again in the month of May
Start again in the month of May
Come on and blow the wires away
Come on and blow the wires
The wires away
Gonna make a record in the month of May
In the month of May, in the month of May
Gonna make a record in the month of May
When the violent wind blows the wires away
Month of May, it's a violent thing
In the city, their hearts start to sing
Well, some people sing, it sounds like they're screaming
Used to doubt it but now I believe it
Month of May, everybody's in love
And the city was sent from above
And just when I knew what I wanted to say
The violent wind blew the wires away
We were shocked in the suburbs
Now the kids are all standing with their arms folded tight
Kids are all standing with their arms folded tight
Well, some things are pure and some things are right
But the kids are still standing with their arms folded tight
I said some things are pure, and some things are right
But the kids are still standing with their arms folded tight
So young, so young
So much pain for someone so young
Well, I know it's heavy, I know it ain't light
But how you gonna lift it with your arms folded tight?
First they built the road
Then they built the town
That's why we're still driving around
And around and around and around and around
And around and around and around and around
And around and around and around and around
2009, 2010 wanna make a record how I felt then
When we stood outside in the month of May
And watched the violent wind blow the wires away
If I die in the month of May
Let the wind take my body away, yeah
Wish I may or wish I might
But meet me down there with my arms folded tight
Start again in the month of May
Start again in the month of May
Come on and blow the wires away
Come on and blow the wires away
Start again in the month of May
Start again in the month of May
Come on and blow the wires away
Come on and blow the wires away
Start again in the month of May
Start again in the month of May
Come on and blow the wires away
Come on and blow the wires
The wires away
Lyrics submitted by firstgreenroom, edited by Mellow_Harsher
Month of May Lyrics as written by Regine Chassagne Jeremy Gara
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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In my opinion the bit about kids standing with their arms folding tight is talking about the same anti hipster sentiments that are in rococo. The singer is trying to tell them about truth and beauty and things like that - 'I said some things are pure, and some things are right' but the kids refuse to relax their facade of 'coolness' and so miss out - 'But the kids are still standing with their arms folded tight'
Yea i agree good reading, i think it is a call to action to the youth who have seen the shallowness and negatives of society and decided to rebel through rejecting society and living outside of it, sort of adopting a idle role, rather than accepting society as is and attempting to actively critique and help it; sort of what Win Butler does with his music. The next song 'wasted hours' continues ideas presented in this song with only a less critical and more supportive of his idea that the younger generation must be constructive in order to help society; 'wasted hours that you make new, turn into a life that we could' presents the idea that he was constructive and found a life in society in which he succeeds and critiques the world.
Sounds like another dig at emo fans who threaten to do things, but just mope about.
*hipsters.
They said this was their "rock 'n roll" song on the album. They've also said many times that they're very inspired by Springsteen, and this song definitely has that feel to it. Musically the song is pretty basic, so the lyrics are at the forefront here.
"Month of May" conjures images of springtime and love, both of which are referred to here. However, in true Arcade Fire fashion, everything has a dark side. "The violent winds" could easily refer to Montreal during the spring. Renewal seems to be a theme here. A fresh start, a new outlook, mind-opening and beautiful, May can make us feel like anything is possible. But it can still be cold and windy and miserable and disappointing and depressing...
I love it!
generally speaking, to me, the month of may signifies unpredicatability. you never know what it's going to bring or what's going to happen. i live in the northeast usa, so in may we've already had terrible snowstorms and summer days that reach up in the 80's. you can make plans, but things may not turn out the way you intended.
Somehow I feel this is about urbanization of the suburbs.....in the first few verses he identifies the month of May with a "violent wind" which could mean the rush of buildings and people that leave the city to move to the suburbs. The people in the suburbs, represented by the kids, stand with their arms folded in judgement or displeasure as the new wave floods through their towns. He finds himself driving around and around not knowing quite where to go since nothing looks the same.
Might not be an apt interpretation, since I can't say why he would identify such things with just one month, but still...that's how I see the song.
This song is about a Suicide. In psychiatry the "Month of "May" is commonly known to have a significantly higher rate of completed suicides than any other month. The most obvious line in the song supporting this is "Month of May everybody's in love, then the city was hit from above". To me this describes a town being emotionally shook from someone jumping off a building to their death.
John Fogerty
how about the Ramones or any other 80's punk rockers.
The first time I heard this song, I immediately thought Springsteen. If this song had a shit ton of saxophone, it would be more obvious.
well as a neophyte urban planner, I love the core truth (and it is the truth!) that the reason we have such crappy living spaces, where we do not connect in meaningful ways, is that we built the roads before the towns.
I particularly love how the angry 'around and around and around' foreshadows the wistful sigh of 'waste it again and again' in the coda of the album.
I agree that the song is about the difficulty of inspiring anyone to anything, even the hipster fans who you have clearly reached, but still not budged from their 'arms folded tight' defensiveness. Clearly tied to 'Rococo' in this regard, and I love that every song on the album plugs into multiple other songs somehow.
And there's definitely an addressing of the creative process (re: "start a record" etc). It's pretty likely that there was a pretty stellar storm in Montreal in May 2009, haha! Wish a local would comment!
This song is not very 'Arcade Fire' like but I am completely in love with it. The whole album is so immediately listenable which I didn't find with Neon Bible - much more of a 'grower' which is fine too. I never thought of it as having an 80s feel but maybe in retrospect that's the case - maybe that's why I love it as I am a massive fan of 80s music.
Renewal and regeneration seem like the themes here but I am so unsure about the majority of the lyrics!
It's a outburst of frustration for the people who sit around waiting for things to happen instead of making it happen.