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."
The fisherman are pitching pennies in the sand beside the sea
And the sunrise hits their oilskin boots, their painted boats and me
And they seem to know the ocean like a man knows a woman
She makes him wait around for half the morning for the tide to turn
[Chorus]
Pull on the ropes, seine haul fisherman
Never catches more than he knows he can sell in a day
Pull in the nets, seine haul fisherman
Day's for work, night's the time to go dancing
They're drinking beer and laughing and squinting at the sun
Waiting for the gulls to tell them when the fish will come
Their faces brown and weathered from all the nets they've run
They've learned to wait, they always know that the tide will turn
[Chorus]
Now way out on the ocean the big ships hunt for whales
And the Japanese have caught so many now they hunt for snails
But my fisherman's not greedy he seems content to live
With the sun and the sand and a net full of fishes when the tide turns
[Chorus]
Oh, yes pull on the ropes, seine haul fisherman
Never catches more than he knows he can sell in a day
Oh, and pull in the nets, seine haul fisherman
Day's for work, night's the time to go dancing
And the sunrise hits their oilskin boots, their painted boats and me
And they seem to know the ocean like a man knows a woman
She makes him wait around for half the morning for the tide to turn
[Chorus]
Pull on the ropes, seine haul fisherman
Never catches more than he knows he can sell in a day
Pull in the nets, seine haul fisherman
Day's for work, night's the time to go dancing
They're drinking beer and laughing and squinting at the sun
Waiting for the gulls to tell them when the fish will come
Their faces brown and weathered from all the nets they've run
They've learned to wait, they always know that the tide will turn
[Chorus]
Now way out on the ocean the big ships hunt for whales
And the Japanese have caught so many now they hunt for snails
But my fisherman's not greedy he seems content to live
With the sun and the sand and a net full of fishes when the tide turns
[Chorus]
Oh, yes pull on the ropes, seine haul fisherman
Never catches more than he knows he can sell in a day
Oh, and pull in the nets, seine haul fisherman
Day's for work, night's the time to go dancing
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
Fisherman's Song Lyrics as written by Carly Simon
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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