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."
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
I was left to my own devices
Many days fell away with nothing to show
And the walls kept tumbling down
In the city that we love
Grey clouds roll over the hills
Bringing darkness from above
But if you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like
Nothing changed at all?
And if you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like
You've been here before?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?
We were caught up and lost in all of our vices
In your pose as the dust settles around us
And the walls kept tumbling down
In the city that we love
Grey clouds roll over the hills
Bringing darkness from above
But if you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like
Nothing changed at all?
And if you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like
You've been here before?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?
Eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Oh, where do we begin?
The rubble or our sins?
Oh-oh, where do we begin?
The rubble or our sins?
And the walls kept tumbling down (oh, where do we begin?)
In the city that we love (the rubble or our sins?)
Grey clouds roll over the hills (oh, where do we begin?)
Bringing darkness from above (the rubble or our sins?)
But if you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like
Nothing changed at all?
And if you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like
You've been here before?
Oh, how am I gonna be an optimist about this?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?
If you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like nothing changed at all?
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
I was left to my own devices
Many days fell away with nothing to show
And the walls kept tumbling down
In the city that we love
Grey clouds roll over the hills
Bringing darkness from above
But if you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like
Nothing changed at all?
And if you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like
You've been here before?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?
We were caught up and lost in all of our vices
In your pose as the dust settles around us
And the walls kept tumbling down
In the city that we love
Grey clouds roll over the hills
Bringing darkness from above
But if you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like
Nothing changed at all?
And if you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like
You've been here before?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?
Eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Oh, where do we begin?
The rubble or our sins?
Oh-oh, where do we begin?
The rubble or our sins?
And the walls kept tumbling down (oh, where do we begin?)
In the city that we love (the rubble or our sins?)
Grey clouds roll over the hills (oh, where do we begin?)
Bringing darkness from above (the rubble or our sins?)
But if you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like
Nothing changed at all?
And if you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like
You've been here before?
Oh, how am I gonna be an optimist about this?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?
If you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like nothing changed at all?
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Lyrics submitted by psychedelicglee, edited by noelsguitar, henrymo, thatismahogony, Ashleeeee, amrj, tuckerka, marlize105, Jbail2322
Pompeii Lyrics as written by Daniel Campbell Smith
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I'm in agreement with llscience. Pompeii is used as a metaphor to describe somebody standing still, looking out as their life falls apart and swallows them whole. It seems to me that the narrator is somebody who has big dreams but becomes content working a regular job and living a regular life. One day they stop and look out at their life realizing that it's not what they had always dreamed about. They've been stuck in this monotonous, never-changing life that doesn't live up to what they'd hoped. And now in this realization, they start to lose that optimism that kept them going before of being something more. Quite genius really.
My interpretation is similar, but what I took from it was someone who couldn't get out of this downward spiral that they were in. The song mentions sins and vices a lot. And the song is telling the listener that you see your world collapsing around you, but if you close your eyes, this has been happening your whole life. Remember skipping your first class? Remember skipping class almost every other day? Remember failing the class? Remember saying you wouldn't skip anymore classes? Remember still skipping classes every year after? I think it's this endless cycle of "sins and vices". It could be about relapsing into drugs again, or going back to drinking. We were left in charge of ourselves, and we have no progress,"nothing to show". We might suddenly see ourselves stuck, petrified in lava, our life taking a turn for the worse, but if we closed our eyed, we'd realize that we were always stuck, we were watching this enfold the entire time and did nothing about it. <br /> <br /> So what are we going to to about this? Do we pick ourselves up, and continue the cycle (the rubble), or are we going to change the real problem? (our sins).<br /> <br /> It kind of matches with Pompeii because they could've avoided the disaster, but they ignored the earthquakes and paid the price.
Oh yeah, the "rubble" is continuing the cycle, because they cleared it after the earthquakes, but then stayed for the eruption.
EdwardC, <br /> I completely agree with your explanation of a meaning to this song. But this song leaves me feeling like something has been unanswered. I was hoping to find the answer on songmeanings.com but it has yet to be discovered.<br /> You explain the never-changing life and the results from its realization but what then? what then?<br /> <br /> (I created an account just to reply to this song meaning and your post)
I agree with this interpretation and I agree that it is very bright, genius in fact!
The irony that this is often played on radio when I'm at (my unfulfilling) work :/
Most people know how Pompeii was destroyed by clouds of toxic gas and hot volcanic ash in 79AD, but not as many know it was severely damaged by an earthquake in 62AD caused by the same local volcanic activity. If the people of Pompeii had taken the warning in 62AD and moved away, they would have been saved from the devastation of 79AD. But they didn’t, they rebuilt on the rubble of the same situation. Similarly, in our lives, we often don’t take the warnings of potential devastation from our ‘vices’ (our personality characteristics equivalent to the underlying volcanic activity of Pompeii) and build on the same rubble (staying in the same life situation) while continuing our potentially destructive behaviour (our ‘sins’). The way to save ourselves is to take the warnings and move away, sometimes in a metaphorical sense of changing our personality and way of life, and sometimes also in a physical sense of moving way from people who lead us astray and encourage our self-destructive behaviour.
I can say with relative certainty that this song is NOT about a relationship, a specific person/story, or and definitely not just telling the story of Pompeii. The song is dense with truths about humanity and our tendency to inadvertently cause our own downfalls.
Here's my interpretation: Both on a large scale (wars, poverty, etc.) and a small scale (hopelessness, poor relationships, etc.), our world falls apart due to our own faults ("vices" in the song — selfishness, greed, general wrongdoings). We look around and recognize that our society and our own personal lives are flawed.
Over and over in anyone's life, there are problems and difficulties. Yet, when we "close our eyes" (stop thinking about the problems themselves), we realize that despite our recognition of these flaws, we really haven't changed our attitudes at all to help make things better ("nothing's changed at all"). For that reason, we keep making the same mistakes over and over again — we've "been here before," and we're making the same mistakes again, one reason why the metaphor of Pompeii and it's destruction is brilliant for this song. We want to change everything that's going wrong, when maybe we should be looking to change ourselves and our own shortcomings.
One of the most powerful lines of the song conveys this message — "Where do we begin? The rubble or our sins?" In other words, do we just clean up and hide our messes, or do we dig for the root of the problem first? It seems to suggest that the first option will lead to continued failure and an endless cycle of destruction.
There's definitely more here, but I think that's part of it. And like many songs, there are multiple valid interpretations, but I think this idea of our cyclical flaws is definitely in there. Fantastic song, even better lyrics.
Love this interpretation.<br /> <br /> I totally agree. This song poses a strong connection between an apocalyptic situation and daily life. The line "if you close your eyes does it almost feel like you've been here before" explains this. In other words, if you forget just what you're sensing and focus on what you're feeling, this isn't the first time you've felt doomed, hopeless, lost. Really, it's exactly this feeling that impacts and determines your reality, less so than the actual situation.<br /> <br /> "Where do we begin, the rubble or our sins?" echoes this idea. After a tragedy, how does one begin to recover—rebuilding the physical destruction, or making amends for the personal damage one has caused to both themselves and others. Furthermore, it shows the panic and confusion that results, but that despite this panic, using "we" suggests that the intent to rebuild and learn has brought the victims of tragedy closer.<br /> <br /> (Not saying you specifically said this, but nonetheless) I don't think it makes sense to interpret the apocalyptic/life-shattering event that seems to be the focus of the song as a punishment or retribution for "sins" or for being "caught up in lust and all of our vices" so much as it highlights how in this kind of event can cause one to alter their priorities toward more collective, humanistic goals.
Love your interpretation! However, for me, intuitively, interpreting it on the relationship-level does make more sense. I have wondered why, and I guess it is because of the opening sentence. It says "I was left to my own devices", which, for me, makes it very personal: I fucked up again. Me, not all of us. If it was meant on the level of humanity, I would expect the song to open with "We were left to our own devices". Of course, later on it becomes clear that the "I" isn't the only one to blame, when the song goes on to sing about "our vices" and "our sins". However, because of the opening sentence, it does seem to me that the "I" made a very substantial contribution to the failure. <br /> <br /> The song makes me think about trying to make a relationship work, but failing time after time, because, in line with your interpretation, we make up after each crises (the rubble), but we don't change our characters (our vices, our sins) which are causing new crises over and over again. So when we close our eyes, and stop to be distracted by the particularities of the current crisis situation, we realize that nothing changed at all in the underlying dynamics. How, in these circumstances, can we be optimistic about the future?<br /> <br />
There's obviously a volcanic eruption going on if you look at it literally, but I think the song is a little deeper than that. I agree somewhat with JWStreeter.
To me, I see someone who has been stuck in a continuous cycle, getting nowhere. As a twenty-something recent college graduate, I definitely relate. The first lines seem to really sum it up for me: "I was left to my own devices. Many days fell away with nothing to show." I imagine him working away at some dead end job with years going by. And then he stops and looks back at his life and sees that nothing has changed. Nothing is really happening and he starts to wonder when it will really begin. Even though he's always been an optimist, he's having a hard time being positive about his situation.
@llscience I think you and EdwardC have hit the nail on the head! As a twice formerly successful forty-something, having lived through the dot-bomb and the housing collapse, I can also definitely relate to the concept of being stuck on the endless wheel, running to try and get ahead but ending up in the same place. Somewhere Sisyphus is laughing.
This song, like so many good ones, has many interpretations, and I love them all. However, I haven't seen my personal favorite yet:
It's about that singular moment between something terrible happening, and having to face the consequences. We've all been there; glass breaks on the ground, someone rear ends us while we're driving, a loved one dies--and we close our eyes just for a moment, delaying the inevitable acceptance.
We know we will have to ask ourselves, how am I going to deal with this? But if I close my eyes, I can pretend it didn't happen, just for a second...
It's the moment at the top of a very unpleasant roller coaster.
Very good interpretation.
Actually after I saw the movie.. I am totally agree with you...
He is clearly saying "How am I gonna be an octopus about this?" He is conflicted. On one hand, he wants to validate himself and live his lifelong dream of being an octopus. But alas, he is just a man and can never be a part of octopusdom. It's quite sad really.
And if you close your eyes, does it almost feel like you've been squids before
lmfao :p
how am I gonna be an octopus about this?
@leesaenz Replying to a 2 month old comment... whatever. Anyways, he doesn't say "octopus", he says "how am I gonna be an optimist about this?" :P You mishear the lyrics.
@david11731 An octopus would say that. Nice try octopus.
@leesaenz now every time I hear this song I imagine bastille turning into octopuses! Thanks a lot leesaenz! :(
As with MANY great artistic interpretations of human experience, this song demonstrates our cyclic nature to persist in things that we despise despite our best efforts to avoid them. It could be interpreted as a perpetually dysfunctional relationship, the cyclic abuse of oneself in any forms of expression. That's what makes this song so perfect for an audience. We have all struggled with fighting our own selves against our better judgement. For example, a person in an abusive relationship, they build a safe city for themselves until it crumbles around them and they have to deal with the reality that this wasn't a safe place, or wasn't healthy in any way. Apply this to drug/alcohol addiction. We've lost so many days with nothing to show, and now this city (our environment, drug-fueled reality) that we love has to be reckoned with, at which time the walls come tumbling down and we have to deal with the dark clouds of withdrawal and sobriety coming rolling in over the mountains. It could be applied to a self-deprecating relationship, a situation where you are trying to constantly failing and having to restart with "optimism" about not failing this time. Very poignant, insightful, and deep for a man so young. Not to be mistaken for a back-handed compliment. I only wish I was so creative in the expression of my feelings.
I really like all these interpretations of the song! While I myself am not sure of what the true meaning is, Bastille (the band) stated in an interview with NovaFm that they wrote the song after learning of the "statues" that were created when Mount Vesuvias erupted in Pompeii. Apparently, the lyrics are meant to represent a sort of "conversation" between two of these statues, and how they must have felt in their last moments of life. Remember that the Mount Vesuvias eruption took literally all day, so to imagine how the people of Pompeii would have felt as they watched their city crumble... The band states that the chanting in the background is meant to capture this terrible magnitude, and the horror that the people of Pompeii would have felt during the eruption (rocks falling from the sky, massive black clouds, and finally the fatal ash). I actually really like the image of two "statues" having an in-depth discussion about the date of Pompeii, even though it is not as deep or poetic as some of the other interpretations on this page :)
I think it's simple, really. The city of Pompeii was partially destroyed by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD. This song could be about someone going through that event.
Through that even but in the personal way off course!..
To me, the theme of this song seems to be about emerging adulthood and the concept of a decade under the influence. When I went to Portland this summer, I met and stayed with a lot of people who had drank away their 20s, and regretted it.
It reminds me of graduating from high school, time flying by, waking up when you're 30 and realizing you've wasted your youth, doing exactly what you were doing when you were 20 and hanging out with the same, or similar people. I know a lot of people who feel like this.
"I was left to my own devices, many days fell away with nothing to show."
It's the modern version of the midlife crisis. It seems fairly straightforward to me.
The "darkness" also seems like the pressure of getting older, or having to support yourself. The orator obviously feels stuck in his situation. Things have altered, his life is falling apart due to stagnation and inaction, but it seems like it's the same.
agreed! #aliathespoon<br />