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."
Hello, old lady
I know your face well
I know it well
She says
I'll be sitting in your mirror
Now is the place where the crossroads meet
Will you look into the future?
Never, never say goodbye
To my part of your life
No, no, no, no, no
Oh, oh, oh
Let me live
She said
C'mon and let me live, girl
She said
C'mon and let me live, girl
(C'mon and let me live)
This moment in time
(She said)
It doesn't belong to you
(She said)
It belongs to me
And to your little boy and to your little girl
And the one hand clapping
Where on your palm is my little line
When you're written in mine
As an old memory?
Never, never say goodbye
To my part of your life
Oh no, no, no, no, no
Never, never, never
Never, never let me go
She said
C'mon and let me live, girl
(C'mon and let me live)
She said
C'mon and let me live, girl
(C'mon and let me live)
I put this moment here
I put this moment here
I put this moment
Over here
Over here
Can't you see where memories are kept bright?
Tripping on the water like a laughing girl
Time in her eyes is spawning past life
One with the ocean and the woman unfurled
Holding all the love that waits for you here
Catch us now for I am your future
A kiss on the wind and we'll make the land
Come over here to where When lingers
Waiting in this empty world
Waiting for Then, when the lifespray cools
For Now does ride in on the curl of the wave
And you will dance with me in the sunlit pools
We are of the going water and the gone
We are of water in the holy land of water
And all that's to come runs in
With the thrust on the strand
I know your face well
I know it well
She says
I'll be sitting in your mirror
Now is the place where the crossroads meet
Will you look into the future?
Never, never say goodbye
To my part of your life
No, no, no, no, no
Oh, oh, oh
Let me live
She said
C'mon and let me live, girl
She said
C'mon and let me live, girl
(C'mon and let me live)
This moment in time
(She said)
It doesn't belong to you
(She said)
It belongs to me
And to your little boy and to your little girl
And the one hand clapping
Where on your palm is my little line
When you're written in mine
As an old memory?
Never, never say goodbye
To my part of your life
Oh no, no, no, no, no
Never, never, never
Never, never let me go
She said
C'mon and let me live, girl
(C'mon and let me live)
She said
C'mon and let me live, girl
(C'mon and let me live)
I put this moment here
I put this moment here
I put this moment
Over here
Over here
Can't you see where memories are kept bright?
Tripping on the water like a laughing girl
Time in her eyes is spawning past life
One with the ocean and the woman unfurled
Holding all the love that waits for you here
Catch us now for I am your future
A kiss on the wind and we'll make the land
Come over here to where When lingers
Waiting in this empty world
Waiting for Then, when the lifespray cools
For Now does ride in on the curl of the wave
And you will dance with me in the sunlit pools
We are of the going water and the gone
We are of water in the holy land of water
And all that's to come runs in
With the thrust on the strand
Lyrics submitted by weezerific:cutlery, edited by Mellow_Harsher
Jig of Life Lyrics as written by Kate Bush
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
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Mountain Song
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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.
So, did she make the land? Or did she drown?
"This moment in time," (She said.) It doesn't belong to you," (She said.)
“She said”: Listen to the track. These two repeats are sung by another voice. They suggest a sense of the past, even sadness, like the Old Woman tried but didn’t make it?
Haunting… Changing the tone of the song to one of anger?