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."
Hey! What's goin' on?
Hey! What went wrong?
Hey! I don't know why?
Hey! I might as well try! Buy
Well, I looked around this crazy place and tried to make some sense of it?
Robbed a bank and stole a car and tried to put some dents in it
AND everybody is playing games
I don't know what to make of it
Don't play your stupid games you know I don't need all that fucked up shit
No one ever told me I was gonna get older
Turned 21 and I thought my life was over
Took a long time to get where I am now
And I'm not gonna sit around wondering how, no!
Well I listen to your fuckin' shit I can't make any sense of it
'Cause what goes in does not come out, you've gotta put two cents in it
You're just a blob of fuckin' jell you're brain is floating in space
And if your brain was worth a quarter I'd get twenty-six cents back in change!
No one told me that the grass would be greener
I've done a lot of things since the last time that I seen her
No one ever told me it would be this way
That's why you can't make any sense out of anything I say!
My world is crumbling and I don't know what to do
It's falling down around me 'cause I'm thinking of you
If we take a look at our world today
Are our morals on decline or have we all gone insane?
Hey! What's goin' on?
Hey! What went wrong?
Hey! I don't know why?
Hey! I might as well try!
Hey! What went wrong?
Hey! I don't know why?
Hey! I might as well try! Buy
Well, I looked around this crazy place and tried to make some sense of it?
Robbed a bank and stole a car and tried to put some dents in it
AND everybody is playing games
I don't know what to make of it
Don't play your stupid games you know I don't need all that fucked up shit
No one ever told me I was gonna get older
Turned 21 and I thought my life was over
Took a long time to get where I am now
And I'm not gonna sit around wondering how, no!
Well I listen to your fuckin' shit I can't make any sense of it
'Cause what goes in does not come out, you've gotta put two cents in it
You're just a blob of fuckin' jell you're brain is floating in space
And if your brain was worth a quarter I'd get twenty-six cents back in change!
No one told me that the grass would be greener
I've done a lot of things since the last time that I seen her
No one ever told me it would be this way
That's why you can't make any sense out of anything I say!
My world is crumbling and I don't know what to do
It's falling down around me 'cause I'm thinking of you
If we take a look at our world today
Are our morals on decline or have we all gone insane?
Hey! What's goin' on?
Hey! What went wrong?
Hey! I don't know why?
Hey! I might as well try!
Lyrics submitted by antiheropunk
Hey Lyrics as written by Daniel Jay Lukacinsky
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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More Featured Meanings
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
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.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
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.
wahoooo! this song has so much skankability to it! i'm indeed enjoying it.
i love this song!! SUICID MACHINES RULE! their ska is soo awesome
haha i love this song, first time i ever heard it was when Hoax 3 came out, does anyone else remember it???
this song is so rad. i love the line "if your brain was worth a quarter i'd get 26 cents back in change"
wonderful song!!thumbs up!!!!
EXCELLENT! Yah I heard the Suicide Machines live in i thikn it was '96. They truely kick it up hardcore. Thay have this certain energy and it's awesome.
Such a great song. Love the obnoxious trombone throughout. Just listening its hard to hear a lot of the words, but the lyrics are great, too, about getting older and not question things. Such a kickass feel-good song.
I heard rumors that Streetlight Manifesto covered this at a stop on the Ska Is Dead Tour of 2005... I would have loved to have heard that!
australian band area 7 also play this song in 1998
who came first though? area 7 or suicide machines?
@ska ska ska ska this album is 1996<br />
This song fuckin' rulz'!! this is by far my fav S&M (suicide machines) song, its so foocking good, it has the most awesome ska beat, you just got to luv this song, it even gets me into a "good mood" everytime i her it, even if im deppressed and i hear this song it really cheers me up, it was awesome to see'em perform this song live..... wow.... s&m rulz'!! ^.^!!
Streetlight Manifesto occasionally covers this song live. Its as good, if not better than the original. I'd highly suggest looking it up on youtube.