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."
Free as a driving wheel
Circling around your iron will
See only what you feel
Keeps you turning when you're standing still
You tried to run from trouble when it comes
You followed the drum keeping time with everyone
High as the light of day
You're falling down across your lost highway
Pain - does it hurt this way?
To come so far to find they've closed the gates?
You've lost your tongue when you fall from the pendulum
Your heart is a drum keeping time with everyone
Everyone, if they drown from the undertow
Need to find someone to show me how to play it slow
And just let it go
Your eyes get stung by the rays of the sinking sun
You follow the drum keeping time with everyone
Going beat beat beat, it's beating me down
Beat beat beat beat, it's beating me down
Day after day, it's turning around
'Til all my days are drowning out
Circling around your iron will
See only what you feel
Keeps you turning when you're standing still
You tried to run from trouble when it comes
You followed the drum keeping time with everyone
High as the light of day
You're falling down across your lost highway
Pain - does it hurt this way?
To come so far to find they've closed the gates?
You've lost your tongue when you fall from the pendulum
Your heart is a drum keeping time with everyone
Everyone, if they drown from the undertow
Need to find someone to show me how to play it slow
And just let it go
Your eyes get stung by the rays of the sinking sun
You follow the drum keeping time with everyone
Going beat beat beat, it's beating me down
Beat beat beat beat, it's beating me down
Day after day, it's turning around
'Til all my days are drowning out
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings, edited by HabibtheGreat
Heart Is a Drum Lyrics as written by Beck Hansen
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
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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.
Punchline
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Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
I think he is using this wonderful song to get over someone. They are obviously not together anymore and that he is communicating to her through this song for himself so that his heart can move on.
The opening lines of the 1st verse I found hard to understand because all I could see is contradiction between the 1st and 2nd line therefore is this Beck's view of the relationship? I sense anger and frustration on his behalf towards her for her lack of with the lyrics 'see what you only feel' and 'you've lost your tongue when you fall from the pendulum'. He wants to deal with the pain in his heart when he realizes that her heart was not in the relationship - 'Pain - does it hurt this way? To come so far to find they've closed the gates.'
The lyrics 'Everyone, if they drown...just let it go' is Beck singing to us giving advice but in that "unloading" he understands himself and what he needs in a woman.The title of the song line 'Heart is a drum keeping the beat with everyone' I cannot help but feel that this is a snide remark on his behalf at her for been typical of following to how society plays the game.
Last lines of this song is brilliant both lyrically and musically. The last lines is the motif of the song musically - the 'beat beat beat' is his anguish after the dust has settled that all he is left with is her in his mind in his every moment of the day. Musically speaking the lyrics 'beat, beat, beat' is his anguish of constant thinking of her which Beck has illustrated in 2 ways musically - the recurring bass guitar riff progression of over and over and over and over ... that is double-voiced in the piano to echo the sentiment and the harmonic guitar chord played in arpeggio to emphasize the theme of over and over and over and over.... like a water tap dripping or the clock ticking. This musicality of the bass guitar, piano and guitar represents his constant thinking. The voice harmonies are her and how the thought of her haunts him over and over and over.....
Beck must have truly loved this girl to have composed such a beautiful song to deal with his heart - he still does and maybe through this song he will find peace!
@Lols51 <br /> My apologies - just watched the video and death seems to be a theme in the video - the grim reaper, a Kurt Cobain-look-a-like, 2 astronauts, female dressed in white and a girl.<br /> <br /> Maybe its not about his love life but maybe death... suicide even!
Have no idea what this song means but, damn!!! what a gorgeous song!!!
I think this song is about time, that is, the heart is a drum, and that rhythmn drives you through the stages of existance. In other words, The writer is in the present as an observer of the past, present and future in the same moment in time. He sees what he was in the sense of his experiences in the context of who or what were involved in those events. They are the past but they are also the present in memory, and with that in mind he can see where he is at now, encompassing this he can also see future possibilities. The writer is definately at the crossroads witnessing the heart that drums its tempo through the existance of life/death/life cycle.
This is my interpretation.
First of all the title. Heart Is A Drum. The word drum I think is a good clue to what this song is about. Think of the old saying "March to the beat of your own drum."
As we know, Beck is all about being the kind of artist who marches to the beat of his own drum. He has an incredible artistic mind and he's carved out a niche for himself by being himself and being unique amongst the sea of copycats in the music industry. He has literally marched to the beat of his own drum since he arrived on the music scene.
Free as a traveling wheel Circling around your iron will
Does Beck mean that he's free in his creativity? Could he mean be referring to the iron will that it takes to be a unique artist in todays world? To be an artist like Beck, most certainly means that he needs to have an iron will because going against the grain is one of the hardest things that people ever had to do.
See only what you feel Keeps you turning when you're standing still You try to run from trouble when it comes You follow the drum keeping time with everyone
High as the light of day Falling down across your lost highway Why does it hurt this way? To come so far to find they've closed the gates? You've lost your tongue when you fall from the pendulum Your heart is a drum keeping time with everyone
In the first two lines of this verse, could he referring to someone like Hank Williams? A struggling, iron-willed ,creative artist on a lost highway? Someone who is hurting really badly so they might be high on something?
In reference to his own music career, and the music career of others, he may have been thinking that he had come so far only to find that the music industry collapsed? I read an interview with him where he discusses a new David Bowie album which upon release seemed to go unnoticed whereas in decades before it was a major event. A lot of major creative artists lost their sources of income and in some cases no longer receive the amount of publicity in their careers that at one time they used to receive. So for an artist like Bowie, to have come so far only to find that they have closed the gates is sort of fitting. It's also fitting for Beck since at one point he didn't even have a label anymore. He had come so far and had attained major success only to find the gates seemingly closed on his own career as well. Perhaps he felt that he had lost his tongue (desire to write) and his voice (an artist with something to say) when sales went down due to the advent of downloading for free music that was occurring. After his contract with Interscope expired, he was without a label for a number of years. In my opinion, it was completely ridiculous for an artist of such creative magnitude to be without a recording contract (if that's actually true).
Everyone, hear the drum from the undertow Need to find someone to show me how to play it slow And just let it go
In this part, could he be referring to his style of music as the undertow?
Undertow definition: In physical oceanography, undertow is the steady current – below the splash zone – which is moving offshore for waves approaching a shore. Wikipedia
If this is a metaphor for his style of music, then he's talking about his music as being the kind that moves away from the norms or moves away from what's popular or mainstream. His music style could be considered a strong current below the surface of a body of water (what's popular in music today) moving in a direction different from that of the surface current.
Need to find someone to show me how to play it slow
Could he be referring to his creative work ethic? He works so hard at his art that he wishes someone would come along to show him how to play it slow and to let go of his desire to make an impact in the music world. Or he thinks he works too hard and wishes he knew how to slow it down.
Your eyes get stung by the rays of the sinking sun You follow the drum keeping time with everyone Going beat beat beat, it's beating me down Beat beat beat beat, it's beating me down Day after day, it's turning around 'Til all my days are drowning out
Does the first line mean that he wakes up just as the sun is about to set and upon waking the light of the sun stings his eyes? He spends the days sleeping and the nights awake working.
He's getting tired and weary. Day after day he keeps hoping things will turn around but it's wearing on him and he's getting run down.
Those are just a couple of things I thought of when thinking/analyzing this song.