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."
Now I see the trouble, it's coming up ahead
Black dogs running through the fields, they're dripping red
The world is quiet, and there's nothing left unsaid
Million image, million captured, million dead
And all the birds fall out of the sky in two by two's
And my teeth fall out my head into the snow
I am you now and you are me instead
Then I see there is blood on your wedding dress
And all of the old walk down and I'm feeling unsure
When I'm sleeping in my own place, but I'm not home
It is perfect, it's beautiful and still
And it is silent, it is white and it is good
And all by the fooling 'round with daisy chains on our heads
It is coming now, my friend, and it's the end
Black dogs running through the fields, they're dripping red
The world is quiet, and there's nothing left unsaid
Million image, million captured, million dead
And all the birds fall out of the sky in two by two's
And my teeth fall out my head into the snow
I am you now and you are me instead
Then I see there is blood on your wedding dress
And all of the old walk down and I'm feeling unsure
When I'm sleeping in my own place, but I'm not home
It is perfect, it's beautiful and still
And it is silent, it is white and it is good
And all by the fooling 'round with daisy chains on our heads
It is coming now, my friend, and it's the end
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Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
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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.
Page
Ed Sheeran
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There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
This song describes knowing that the end, or some type of catastrophe is coming- he sees it before it arrives, and although he does, he still isn't necessarily ready for the type of horrific experience he has to go through. It's a post apocalyptic myriad of images, and it certainly means the end of a relationship, specifically a break up, (in my opinion
The separation of two people is sometimes like the "end of the world", so to speak, but he does endure it, and as he goes through it. His outlook changes. He was the one dumped, but now he is her, and she is where he is. She wants to get back together, but he sees nothing but destruction. He even mentions that when he is home (assuming the home they share) it is not his home anymore and he has evolved.
Then he comes upon a post apocalyptic world, where everything is clear and beautiful and his life has basically restarted. Life has started again. It's horrible to endure, but there is a new beginning after, and that's why he believes it is white and "it is good." (sidenote: this phrase is used in Genesis, in the Bible, when God creates a new world; "it is good")
So, he completes the song by going back to his first vision- the apocalyptic hell is about to begin, the end is coming, but it is alright. He refers to her as his "friend", which is synonymous of his new beginning without her as a wife/girlfriend, but still as an important part of his life. (sidenote: in the Middle Ages, daisy chains were thought to ward off death) The end is unavoidable, but not final.