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."
you say you miss those days,
but we did it right.
quit the habit. started smoking again.
i was crying, you were laughing.
hit in the face, blood on the snow
we were never happier.
but we did it right.
quit the habit. started smoking again.
i was crying, you were laughing.
hit in the face, blood on the snow
we were never happier.
Lyrics submitted by d_lacy
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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,
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
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.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
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 an amazing song. Probably my second favorite Orchid song, my favorite being "...And the Cat Turned to Smoke." As to what the lyrics mean, here's my interpretation; First of all, there are two things I might mention that you can't really tell from these lyrics. The first is that after he screams "We were never happier" he says, in a lower voice "We were never happy." The second thing is that the last line of the song, the last thing he screams before it ends is "Started smoking again" and the entire album ends on that note, which I would take to mean that line is the most important. I would take that, in context with the rest of the song lyrics to mean this is about the end of a relationship that was both good and bad; maybe the entire thing was miserable and he just fooled himself into believing it wasn't, or maybe there were just mixed feelings about it. The last line "Started smoking again" makes me think, even if the relationship wasn't a happy one, he's worse off now that those days are gone, as it's usually a sign that people are stressed or undergoing personal grief when they start smoking again after having previously quit. So, overall, it seems to be about a very emotional relationship, either in a good or bad way or both, that was ended, and even if it was best that it happened, there's still feelings of remorse and sadness about it ending. Again, this is just my personal interpretation of the lyrics, I may be way off, but that's what this song says to me when I listen to it.
For me, it's about a boy who have just burned the school down at snowy night, then his girlfriend appears behind him and hits him in the face really hard with a bat or something. When she hit him in the face, she broke his jaw which two or a broken teeth with some blood on it fall together on the snow. She stands beside, looks at his face and says: "Oh, i really missed thos days, and you're right." she chuckles, tear is dropping down on his bruised face. She pours a bottle of alchohol on him and sets him on fire.
Then she drives throughout the woods, she started smoking, which means she's gonna kill herself. (the title says it all.) This is VERY important song for me to understand and make my own imagination.
this song is absolutely amazing. going from soft instrumental begining to chaos. quite possibly my favorite orchid song.
beautiful
ughh, i have difficulty interpreting this song. of course, not all of orchid's lyrics make much sense, but this one definitely means something. what? someone help me. change is good.
fucking amazing song. probably one of my favorite songs ever and definitely the best Orchid song.
I don't know how they made this song so perfect in every aspect, but they did. My favorite Orchid song.
I must agree with the others, this is my favorite Orchid song.
I must agree with the others, this is my favorite Orchid song.
this is one the most complex and chaotic songs ive ever heard. purely amazing.