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."
Picture yourself
Sleeping on a plane
There's something ticking in the overhead
And inside your brains
There's bodies in the water
And bodies in your basement
If heaven's for clean people, it's vacant
And hey, are you, are you, are you, are you, you know?
Hey, are you, are you, are you being careful?
Hey, are you, are you, are you, are you lukewarm?
Hey, yeah, you are
I'm frantic
So load me up
Whatever puts me all the way out
Whatever puts me all the way out
Picture yourself swimming in an ocean
A million miles from nowhere and the nearest phone
There's bodies in the water
Floating all around you
And all of them are talking, and they're comedians
And hey, are you, are you, are you, are you, you know?
Hey, are you, are you, are you, are you special?
Hey, are you, are you, are you, are you deformed?
Hey, yeah, you are
I'm frantic
So load me up
It seems so practiced
Me fucking this up
Whatever puts me all the way out
Whatever puts me all the way out, yeah
Picture yourself at the MGM grand
Murphy's fighting Hokem
You're in the stands and
There's somebody in the water
In the middle of the ocean
A million miles from nowhere
And they're alone
I'm there alone
So, so deformed
So, so deformed
So, so deformed
I'm frantic
So load me up
This seems so practiced
Take me and take me, and take me
All the way out
Whatever puts me all the way out
Whatever puts me all the way out
Whatever puts me all the way out
Sleeping on a plane
There's something ticking in the overhead
And inside your brains
There's bodies in the water
And bodies in your basement
If heaven's for clean people, it's vacant
And hey, are you, are you, are you, are you, you know?
Hey, are you, are you, are you being careful?
Hey, are you, are you, are you, are you lukewarm?
Hey, yeah, you are
I'm frantic
So load me up
Whatever puts me all the way out
Whatever puts me all the way out
Picture yourself swimming in an ocean
A million miles from nowhere and the nearest phone
There's bodies in the water
Floating all around you
And all of them are talking, and they're comedians
And hey, are you, are you, are you, are you, you know?
Hey, are you, are you, are you, are you special?
Hey, are you, are you, are you, are you deformed?
Hey, yeah, you are
I'm frantic
So load me up
It seems so practiced
Me fucking this up
Whatever puts me all the way out
Whatever puts me all the way out, yeah
Picture yourself at the MGM grand
Murphy's fighting Hokem
You're in the stands and
There's somebody in the water
In the middle of the ocean
A million miles from nowhere
And they're alone
I'm there alone
So, so deformed
So, so deformed
So, so deformed
I'm frantic
So load me up
This seems so practiced
Take me and take me, and take me
All the way out
Whatever puts me all the way out
Whatever puts me all the way out
Whatever puts me all the way out
Lyrics submitted by Little Butcher Boy, edited by FirstNorman
Load Me Up Lyrics as written by Ian Browne Dave Genn
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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a little note. i just caught this yesterday. in the third verse matt actually sings "murphy's fighting occam", a reference to murphy's law (if anything can go wrong it will) and occam's razor (if all else is equal the simpler of two explanations for something will be the truer). i'm not sure if this has any deep significance, but it's a funny thought, at least. i mean, well, i'd go watch them fight.