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."
A brilliance under mane
Cloudy lens and subtle strain
A fury sears the vein in time
And momentum is decline
You see the man is sick
With power's arsenic
History will predict
What politic contradicts
Change
Change in sight
Change
The lay is right
Time
Time ignite
Like a freak, in a beast, in the least
Hand, hang, hang
In a spiraling humanity
There's a cycle we can see
In a throng's monstrosity odds are
There'll always be a mule
You never can predict the mind of a lunatic
A mind so badly sick
With strange arithmetic
Cloudy lens and subtle strain
A fury sears the vein in time
And momentum is decline
You see the man is sick
With power's arsenic
History will predict
What politic contradicts
Change
Change in sight
Change
The lay is right
Time
Time ignite
Like a freak, in a beast, in the least
Hand, hang, hang
In a spiraling humanity
There's a cycle we can see
In a throng's monstrosity odds are
There'll always be a mule
You never can predict the mind of a lunatic
A mind so badly sick
With strange arithmetic
Lyrics submitted by joelm
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Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
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.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
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.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
This is my favorite NR song, though it’s a dark bit of wisdom that always makes me think of mass-shooters, spree killers, and psychopaths. Which I guess is the point. A mule is a sterile hybrid of a horse and donkey- Man playing God with basic science to his own end, and damn any bad outcome. The first verse is interesting- four lines describing a human/mule metaphor, the next four bringing the metaphor into a sociopolitical context. But it’s the third verse (or second verse following the bridge/chorus) that really drives the point home: ‘In a spiraling humanity’ (Population growing exponentially) ‘There’s a cycle we can see’ (Prediction of a killer) ‘In a throng’s monstrosity’ (Too many people, crowded) ‘Odds are there’ll always be a mule’ (A large cross-section of humans increasing the risk of at least one with psychopathy) ‘You never can predict / The mind of a lunatic / A mind so badly sick / With strange arithmetic’ The guitar solo part is cool, and really ties the whole thing together. Fairly simple and repetitive (but catchy), it’s a good illustration of the song’s intent rather than an obvious crazy-out-of-control guitar. The madness has a method, the runaway train is still on the tracks. But oh man, look out. Then slam- back into the bridge-verse, the second verse, and concluding with the bridge-verse. You almost expect a mic-drop. I was listening to this song when I saw the news about the Vegas Shooter. A weird moment of coincidence. Sickening... but I thought, Yup, there you go. Raygun said all this years ago.