This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
America is a '57 Chevy
that veers to the left
and lurches to the right
America is a pawn shop window
with decals of Old Glory
made by children in China
America is a dog playing poker
saying, "War is a last resort,"
and wagging his tail
America is a compassionate conservative
and a gay Republican
and a vegetarian vampire
America is that Norman Rockwell
of the family on Thanksgiving
hung on the wall of an Indian casino
America is a big group therapy session
with one guy in the corner
who will not shut up
God bless the firefighter
God bless the video clerk
And God bless America...
It just might work
Just might work
America is a Japanese fiddler
in Branson Missouri
doing Louie Armstrong
America is a scholarly discussion
of the socioeconomic implications
of Janet Jackson's boob
God bless the superhero
God bless the no-account jerk
And God bless America...
[spoken]
What if a guy came up to you and said, "I'm gonna bring forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."
You'd probably say, "Right on! Good luck with that!"
And what if he said, "I'm gonna form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity."
You'd probably say, "Wow! Knock yourself out!"
And what if he said, "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."
You'd probably say, "I got a meeting."
America is a conspiracy of genius
In sweat-stained waistcoats
And powered wigs
America is a homeless Jesus
being held at gun point
by King James
America is an apple pie
with a few bad apples
right toward the top
America is a dream of freedom
Dreamed by everyone
All over the world
God bless the normal people
And the ones with every known quirk
And God bless America...
It just might work
America, it just might work
Keep working...
And, it just might work
that veers to the left
and lurches to the right
America is a pawn shop window
with decals of Old Glory
made by children in China
America is a dog playing poker
saying, "War is a last resort,"
and wagging his tail
America is a compassionate conservative
and a gay Republican
and a vegetarian vampire
America is that Norman Rockwell
of the family on Thanksgiving
hung on the wall of an Indian casino
America is a big group therapy session
with one guy in the corner
who will not shut up
God bless the firefighter
God bless the video clerk
And God bless America...
It just might work
Just might work
America is a Japanese fiddler
in Branson Missouri
doing Louie Armstrong
America is a scholarly discussion
of the socioeconomic implications
of Janet Jackson's boob
God bless the superhero
God bless the no-account jerk
And God bless America...
[spoken]
What if a guy came up to you and said, "I'm gonna bring forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."
You'd probably say, "Right on! Good luck with that!"
And what if he said, "I'm gonna form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity."
You'd probably say, "Wow! Knock yourself out!"
And what if he said, "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."
You'd probably say, "I got a meeting."
America is a conspiracy of genius
In sweat-stained waistcoats
And powered wigs
America is a homeless Jesus
being held at gun point
by King James
America is an apple pie
with a few bad apples
right toward the top
America is a dream of freedom
Dreamed by everyone
All over the world
God bless the normal people
And the ones with every known quirk
And God bless America...
It just might work
America, it just might work
Keep working...
And, it just might work
Lyrics submitted by BanachTarski
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Jane's Addiction
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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."
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