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."
Well, the time has come for the final story of the evening. Let's listen in as inventor Thomas Livingston prepares to set sail for adventure in a brand new flying machine!
It was spring of 1890
Thomas Livingston had built a new machine
And he planned to see the world
Flying everywhere to places yet unseen
When the day to set sail finally arrived
He hugged his son and he kissed his wife
And set off on the journey through the sky
And the first few months went just as planned
They were leaving Rome for Amsterdam
When a pirate vessel caught them by surprise
Well, panic broke out
On that ship
Cannons fired and bullets ripped
Though Thomas stood firm
In the fight,
He feared he'd have to write:
"Dear Michelle, I won't be coming home
I'm drifting out across the clouds
Into the great unknown
"There's no way I'll ever make it back
It's vast out here, and I have veered
So very far off track
"Please look after Jim
And take good care of him
Oh, Michelle, I know you will raise him well
"I wish I could return
But now you'll have to learn
To carry on when your family man is gone"
As the pirates waged their war
Thomas tried to fight and counter their attacks
But the fiends had them outnumbered
And a gunman shot his first mate in the back
Well they picked off his men, one by one
There was nothing they could do, and there was nowhere to run
And it wouldn't be long 'til the scoundrels shot them all
Then with one final blast that shook the ship
Thomas Livingston's vessel took a critical hit
And down his mighty craft began to fall
And Thomas then thought of his miss
He couldn't let her know he went down like this
He wrote a letter to Michelle,
As down his airship fell:
"Dear Michelle, I won't be coming home
I'm drifting out across the clouds
Into the great unknown
"There's no way I'll ever make it back
It's vast out here, and I have veered
So very far off track
"Please look after Jim
And take good care of him
Oh Michelle, I know you will raise him well
"I wish I could return
But now you'll have to learn
To carry on when your family man is gone
"Please look after Jim
And take good care of him
Oh Michelle, I know you will raise him well
"I wish I could return
But now you'll have to learn
To carry on when your family man is gone"
It was spring of 1890
Thomas Livingston had built a new machine
And he planned to see the world
Flying everywhere to places yet unseen
When the day to set sail finally arrived
He hugged his son and he kissed his wife
And set off on the journey through the sky
And the first few months went just as planned
They were leaving Rome for Amsterdam
When a pirate vessel caught them by surprise
Well, panic broke out
On that ship
Cannons fired and bullets ripped
Though Thomas stood firm
In the fight,
He feared he'd have to write:
"Dear Michelle, I won't be coming home
I'm drifting out across the clouds
Into the great unknown
"There's no way I'll ever make it back
It's vast out here, and I have veered
So very far off track
"Please look after Jim
And take good care of him
Oh, Michelle, I know you will raise him well
"I wish I could return
But now you'll have to learn
To carry on when your family man is gone"
As the pirates waged their war
Thomas tried to fight and counter their attacks
But the fiends had them outnumbered
And a gunman shot his first mate in the back
Well they picked off his men, one by one
There was nothing they could do, and there was nowhere to run
And it wouldn't be long 'til the scoundrels shot them all
Then with one final blast that shook the ship
Thomas Livingston's vessel took a critical hit
And down his mighty craft began to fall
And Thomas then thought of his miss
He couldn't let her know he went down like this
He wrote a letter to Michelle,
As down his airship fell:
"Dear Michelle, I won't be coming home
I'm drifting out across the clouds
Into the great unknown
"There's no way I'll ever make it back
It's vast out here, and I have veered
So very far off track
"Please look after Jim
And take good care of him
Oh Michelle, I know you will raise him well
"I wish I could return
But now you'll have to learn
To carry on when your family man is gone
"Please look after Jim
And take good care of him
Oh Michelle, I know you will raise him well
"I wish I could return
But now you'll have to learn
To carry on when your family man is gone"
Lyrics submitted by Onimarus
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Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
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No Surprises
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Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
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