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."
Mary steers clear of the men from space
Back alley kid with an American face
She wants the wine
He brings a case
To carry them on through
You know what I know about the bedroom boys
Undercover Russians in a pink Rolls-Royce
They bang the drum
She sets the beat
They carry Miss America out into the street
She sings "Snowman! Scarecrow! John Doe! Buffalo!"
I wish you wouldn't go
I got the arms to reach you
I am the scarecrow
I guess you ought to know
I got the hands to teach you
I am the scarecrow
Snowman sideshow
I fell out of love in the snowbound days
Riding the subway in a Valium haze
I need the whites
She gets the blues
It carries us on through
All these American boys at the Park 'n' Shop
Selling their memories for a dollar a pop
Ivan the ancient spaceman race fan
Corners the market on American tastes
And says "Spaceman! Scarecrow! Peepshow! Freakshow!"
I wish you wouldn't go
But I got the arms to reach you
I am a scarecrow
I guess you ought to know
That I got the hands to teach you
I am the scarecrow
Punk rock video
All the sudden light inside you dies
Maybe you're going on alone
Maybe you're going all alone
She dreams of sunlight
Sings of smaller things
White sugar bowls and wedding rings
You're going on from me alone
You're going on
You're on your own
She was married alive in a Moscow surgery
Hoping to die in a cold war nursery
All of the kids back home believe in much more than we do
It's a memory play where the memory fades
Into pictures you took
Into records we played
Spy vs Spy
Scarecrow and I
Out across the darkness where the bomberjets fly
Singing "Spaceman! Smokeshow! Scarecrow! Geronimo!"
I wish you wouldn't go
I got the arms to reach you
I am a scarecrow
I guess you ought to know
I got the hands to teach you
I am the scarecrow
Snowman Freakshow
I wish you wouldn't go but I got the arms to reach you
I am the scarecrow
I guess you ought to know
That I got the hands to teach you
I am the scarecrow
Listen on the midnight radio
Back alley kid with an American face
She wants the wine
He brings a case
To carry them on through
You know what I know about the bedroom boys
Undercover Russians in a pink Rolls-Royce
They bang the drum
She sets the beat
They carry Miss America out into the street
She sings "Snowman! Scarecrow! John Doe! Buffalo!"
I wish you wouldn't go
I got the arms to reach you
I am the scarecrow
I guess you ought to know
I got the hands to teach you
I am the scarecrow
Snowman sideshow
I fell out of love in the snowbound days
Riding the subway in a Valium haze
I need the whites
She gets the blues
It carries us on through
All these American boys at the Park 'n' Shop
Selling their memories for a dollar a pop
Ivan the ancient spaceman race fan
Corners the market on American tastes
And says "Spaceman! Scarecrow! Peepshow! Freakshow!"
I wish you wouldn't go
But I got the arms to reach you
I am a scarecrow
I guess you ought to know
That I got the hands to teach you
I am the scarecrow
Punk rock video
All the sudden light inside you dies
Maybe you're going on alone
Maybe you're going all alone
She dreams of sunlight
Sings of smaller things
White sugar bowls and wedding rings
You're going on from me alone
You're going on
You're on your own
She was married alive in a Moscow surgery
Hoping to die in a cold war nursery
All of the kids back home believe in much more than we do
It's a memory play where the memory fades
Into pictures you took
Into records we played
Spy vs Spy
Scarecrow and I
Out across the darkness where the bomberjets fly
Singing "Spaceman! Smokeshow! Scarecrow! Geronimo!"
I wish you wouldn't go
I got the arms to reach you
I am a scarecrow
I guess you ought to know
I got the hands to teach you
I am the scarecrow
Snowman Freakshow
I wish you wouldn't go but I got the arms to reach you
I am the scarecrow
I guess you ought to know
That I got the hands to teach you
I am the scarecrow
Listen on the midnight radio
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More Featured Meanings
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
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.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
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.
What does this song mean? Need an interpretation soon. Thanks
@jasonwilliam1900 .... As with every work of art ... the meaning is entirely up to you. I am a Huge fan of music that is lyrically meaningful and poetic. Counting Crows offers that in there music ... along with other artist like Sting. As an artist myself ... I can share my personal thought on this song. I am Scarecrow ... I have arms that can reach you ... What is a scarecrows one and only job? To frighten off birds that come and eat the crops ... I have arms that can reach you ... "give you what you need" ... so you don't have to come take the crops. Reach you ... comfort you ... feed you ... it can go on and on from there. -Richie's Insight to the meaning of this song in SHORT-
@jasonwilliam1900 .... As with every work of art ... the meaning is entirely up to you. I am a Huge fan of music that is lyrically meaningful and poetic. Counting Crows offers that in there music ... along with other artist like Sting. As an artist myself ... I can share my personal thought on this song. I am Scarecrow ... I have arms that can reach you ... What is a scarecrows one and only job? To frighten off birds that come and eat the crops ... I have arms that can reach you ... "give you what you need" ... so you don't have to come take the crops. Reach you ... comfort you ... feed you ... it can go on and on from there. -Richie's Insight to the meaning of this song in SHORT-