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."
And this is how it starts
Take your shoes off in the back of my van
You share my shirt, looks so good
When it's just hangin' off your back
And she said, "Use your hands and my spare time
We've got one thing in common, it's this tongue of mine"
She said, oh
She's got a boyfriend anyway
And there's only minutes before I drop you off
All we seem to do it talk about sex
She's got a boyfriend anyway
She's got a boyfriend anyway
I love your friend when I saw his film
He's got a funny face, but I like that 'cause he still looks cool
She's got a boyfriend anyway
She's got a boyfriend anyway
Now we're on the bed in my room
And I'm about to fill his shoes
But you say, "No"
You say, "No"
Does he take care of you
Or could I easily fill his shoes?
But you say, "No"
You say, "No"
Now we're just outside of town
As you're making your way down
She's got a boyfriend anyway
She's got a boyfriend anyway
And I'm not trying to stop you, love
If we're gonna do anything, we might as well just fuck
She's got a boyfriend anyway
She's got a boyfriend anyway
Got your tongue pierced anyway
You in your high tops any day
You in your skinny jeans anyway
You and your fit friends anyway
I'd take them all out any day
They all got backcombs anyway
They all got boyfriends anyway
Take your shoes off in the back of my van
You share my shirt, looks so good
When it's just hangin' off your back
And she said, "Use your hands and my spare time
We've got one thing in common, it's this tongue of mine"
She said, oh
She's got a boyfriend anyway
And there's only minutes before I drop you off
All we seem to do it talk about sex
She's got a boyfriend anyway
She's got a boyfriend anyway
I love your friend when I saw his film
He's got a funny face, but I like that 'cause he still looks cool
She's got a boyfriend anyway
She's got a boyfriend anyway
Now we're on the bed in my room
And I'm about to fill his shoes
But you say, "No"
You say, "No"
Does he take care of you
Or could I easily fill his shoes?
But you say, "No"
You say, "No"
Now we're just outside of town
As you're making your way down
She's got a boyfriend anyway
She's got a boyfriend anyway
And I'm not trying to stop you, love
If we're gonna do anything, we might as well just fuck
She's got a boyfriend anyway
She's got a boyfriend anyway
Got your tongue pierced anyway
You in your high tops any day
You in your skinny jeans anyway
You and your fit friends anyway
I'd take them all out any day
They all got backcombs anyway
They all got boyfriends anyway
Lyrics submitted by piecexo, edited by sc458, lanfear2667, marchs, delia10105
Sex Lyrics as written by Matthew Timothy Healy George Bedford Daniel
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Downtown Music Publishing
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I have a slightly different interpretation that I haven't really seen discussed on here. The song is about sex, yes, but its about doing everything except fucking. Here, I'll explain my thoughts.
So the first stanza is talking about making out in the back of this guy's van. It says she wants him to use his hands and his tongue being shared which is, to me, probably indicative of french kissing or oral sex.
He's dropping her off afterward and all they talk about is sex and, like most everyone else, I have no clue about the friend in the film. Maybe it just them talking about a movie they saw that night, IDK.
The next part is them in the guy's room and he's "about to fill his shoes" which I take as a euphemism for having sex, the full on intercourse, and she says no. They've done this other stuff, but she says now, she's got a boyfriend. I think that "filling his shoes" works as a metaphor for having sex with her and also filling his shoes as a boyfriend. As others have said he does want to be more than just her make out buddy and sex, to her, signifies a step beyond just casual making out our mouth stuff.
Then on to another time (I'm guessing) and she's making her way down, to blow him, and he's thinking, well shit if we're going to do all this, we might as well just fuck, but she considers the full on fucking as crossing the line between what she's willing to do as long as she has a boyfriend, and also there is this level of commitment that goes along with it for her that she's not willing to give him. Which is why he mentions her pierced tongue in the very next line as she's using it on him.
After that he's saying he would date her or her friends and be their boyfriend, but they've already got boyfriends and they're basically indecisive girls.
I can't really put my finger on why this song is so good, but there's this sense of real youthful sexual frustration mixed with loneliness and the longing for something greater than what someone is willing to give. There's a lot of sadness and unrequited desire going on which is easily identifiable with anyone who's ever had a crush or been in a friend zone. It's quite nice to me because I feel like what could be a relatively shallow song has an underlying depth of feeling.