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."
Turn the page and it´s
The scoop of the century
Don't want to be L seven I had enough of this
This is brainwash and this is a clue
To the stars who fooled you
Tell me why you can´t explain
You´re only looking for vinyl yeah
Didn´t they fool you they want to be you
Gimme world war three we can live again
You didn´t fool me but I fooled you
You want to be me yeah You want to be me
You want to be someone yeah ruin someone
Yeah, Didn´t I fool you I ruined you yeah
Didn´t I fool you I sussed you out
I got you in the camera and
I got you in my camera
A secund of your life ruined for life
You want to ruin me in your magazine
You want to cover us in the margarine
And now is the time to realize
To have real eyes
Down down down down
And I´ll take you down on the underground
Down in the dark and down in the crypt
Down in the dark where the typewriter fit
Down with your pen and pad ready to kill
To make me ill
Down want to be someone you want to be someone
Ruin someone
Make it as someone you want to be me ruin me
A typewriter god a black and white king
PVC blackboard books black and white
I want to be me
The scoop of the century
Don't want to be L seven I had enough of this
This is brainwash and this is a clue
To the stars who fooled you
Tell me why you can´t explain
You´re only looking for vinyl yeah
Didn´t they fool you they want to be you
Gimme world war three we can live again
You didn´t fool me but I fooled you
You want to be me yeah You want to be me
You want to be someone yeah ruin someone
Yeah, Didn´t I fool you I ruined you yeah
Didn´t I fool you I sussed you out
I got you in the camera and
I got you in my camera
A secund of your life ruined for life
You want to ruin me in your magazine
You want to cover us in the margarine
And now is the time to realize
To have real eyes
Down down down down
And I´ll take you down on the underground
Down in the dark and down in the crypt
Down in the dark where the typewriter fit
Down with your pen and pad ready to kill
To make me ill
Down want to be someone you want to be someone
Ruin someone
Make it as someone you want to be me ruin me
A typewriter god a black and white king
PVC blackboard books black and white
I want to be me
Lyrics submitted by spunkykitten
I Wanna Be Me [Live] Lyrics as written by Paul Cook Glen Matlock
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
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,
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.
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.
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.
i think this song is supposed to portray how they think the media is such scum, and they are fed up with hearing all of the made-up storys about them in magazines
this song is completly amazing. i love it. ya well it has to do with the media and its tabloid bs. pretty self-explanitory.
"Down with your pen and pad ready to kill To make me ill" It's probably about journalists and the other media trying to make the Sex Pistols look bad in the eye of the public. Your ideas sound right too.
I think there are definite references to 'The Who' in this song.
This is brainwash and this is a clue To the stars who fooled you Tell me why you can't explain
The bit about covered in Margarine reminds me of 'The Who Sell-Out' as well. Although I suppose other bands have appeared on album covers covered in gunk
Love that intro and love that middle silence! This song is obviously against the media. In “the Filth and the Fury”, Jones said half of the media stuff were lies, but some of it was true. Yes, they got into fights and spat at people, but no, they were very honest about music rather than purposefully be in it for vulgarity of it.
This song is about how much they detest the journalists that pretend to be interested when they eventually just mis-interpret everything they bloody type
lol..."you wanna cover us in margarine"
@ritzymind_wasted <br /> well, it does ryhme with magazine, after all
This was one of the first songs penned WELL before their media 'notoriety'. As well, the lyric is "down in the dark where the typewriter FLICK" (not FIT). It's another INTELLIGENT song by Rotten supposedly about NME's Nick Kent (who wore PVC)