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."
I saw the world through the lens of a pinhole camera
I saw nothing, I was blind
In between a black hole and a super nova is where you’ll find me
Imploding and expanding simultaneously
No longer blind
I’d been running away for so long
When I finally caught myself there wasn’t much left
The script’s last page is blank
And the medicine is gone
A sick monster, a twister of dark matter
On a heavier trip than you can comprehend
A tornado trying to mend the life it shattered
Waiting for nothing to begin
A flat line, my insides are turning out
King me is killing me
King me is killing me
I keep walking past the places I was born in
Now their faces are blank, shiny, and dead
I don’t recognize a thing, I can’t recall them
A closed book that I can never read again
A flat line, my insides are turning out
The lights fade, this final war starts now
King me is killing me
King me is killing me
King me is killing me
King me is killing me
Killing me
All of that is ending now for I have arisen
Survived myself somehow, dead and imprisoned
I’m fighting to live if I am to see the day
I swear I’ll never sleep again
I am no man’s slave
I wanted the fog to lift but I was living in a cloud
Nostalgia is grinding the life from today
The present always dies in future memories
And King me is killing me
Cut wide open and bleeding to death for all to see
King me is killing me
King me is killing me
King me is killing me
King me is killing me
He’s killing me
He won’t kill me
I won’t let him kill me
He won’t kill me
I saw nothing, I was blind
In between a black hole and a super nova is where you’ll find me
Imploding and expanding simultaneously
No longer blind
I’d been running away for so long
When I finally caught myself there wasn’t much left
The script’s last page is blank
And the medicine is gone
A sick monster, a twister of dark matter
On a heavier trip than you can comprehend
A tornado trying to mend the life it shattered
Waiting for nothing to begin
A flat line, my insides are turning out
King me is killing me
King me is killing me
I keep walking past the places I was born in
Now their faces are blank, shiny, and dead
I don’t recognize a thing, I can’t recall them
A closed book that I can never read again
A flat line, my insides are turning out
The lights fade, this final war starts now
King me is killing me
King me is killing me
King me is killing me
King me is killing me
Killing me
All of that is ending now for I have arisen
Survived myself somehow, dead and imprisoned
I’m fighting to live if I am to see the day
I swear I’ll never sleep again
I am no man’s slave
I wanted the fog to lift but I was living in a cloud
Nostalgia is grinding the life from today
The present always dies in future memories
And King me is killing me
Cut wide open and bleeding to death for all to see
King me is killing me
King me is killing me
King me is killing me
King me is killing me
He’s killing me
He won’t kill me
I won’t let him kill me
He won’t kill me
Lyrics submitted by sepultura1987
King Me Lyrics as written by David Randall Blythe Chris Adler
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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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.
Great version of a great song,
Magical
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How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Amazing
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Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
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Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
I feel like this song is about struggles with addiction. The way the instruments begins is so desperate. Randy says he sees "the world through a pinhole camera". Which is too say he's pinned out on dope or opiates.
He'd been running away from the truth of it for so long that he forgot who he was. He's trying to fix things with his life whilest being high but it just doesn't work.
He dreams for days of yesteryear but no matter what, the ultimate persona of him "king me" (the addiction) is killing him.
He wants the "fog to lift" and he "survived himself somehow dead and imprisoned". He wants to get out of the struggles of addiction but he's a space to it. HIs noatalgia glorifies the good times of it all but ultimately he's killing himself.
As it it ends he questions his addiction and his connection to it.