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 could follow logic
Or contest it all
The work solution makes the common house a home
The element of progress
That you mention is gone
It de-evolved to something you were headed toward
As I lay to die the things I think
Did I waste my time, I think I did - I worked for life
All we want are just pretty little homes
Our work makes pretty little homes
Like a cast shadow
Like a father's dream
Have a cut-out son
What's a worse disease
To get that pretty little home
As I lay to die the things I think
I don't want to regret what I did - and work for life
All we want are just pretty little homes
Our work makes pretty little homes
Agenda suicide, the drones work hard before they die
And give up on pretty little homes
(Like a cast shadow)
Our work makes pretty little homes
Our work makes pretty little homes
Agenda suicide, the drones work hard before they die
And give up on pretty little homes
Or contest it all
The work solution makes the common house a home
The element of progress
That you mention is gone
It de-evolved to something you were headed toward
As I lay to die the things I think
Did I waste my time, I think I did - I worked for life
All we want are just pretty little homes
Our work makes pretty little homes
Like a cast shadow
Like a father's dream
Have a cut-out son
What's a worse disease
To get that pretty little home
As I lay to die the things I think
I don't want to regret what I did - and work for life
All we want are just pretty little homes
Our work makes pretty little homes
Agenda suicide, the drones work hard before they die
And give up on pretty little homes
(Like a cast shadow)
Our work makes pretty little homes
Our work makes pretty little homes
Agenda suicide, the drones work hard before they die
And give up on pretty little homes
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More Featured Meanings
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
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 makes me wanna kill myself
There's nothing more depressing than our own dreary reality. This song is tricky in typical Faint fashion. Upbeat, fun, song...depressing lryics...quit your job, and have none of the possessions that you need, or work your whole life for them. sigh I agree with adema69
In a nutshell:
Birth. School. Work. Death.
It's about how everyone's working their entire life's to get all the stuff everyone wants, like it completes us or something (i.e., car, house, wife, kids, etc.). Materialism. It's like we're robots (keyword "droid"). I fucking love them. :D
@DrDuBois "droid"?
Basically, live in an awesome house you don't even get to be in because you have to work that much to live in it. Give up this dreary lifestyle and you have nothing. Yay. Good stuff
@XrookieoftheyearX Or just yanno be born with a trust fund so you can buy a house and still enjoy it.
I love the imagery and allusion to "homes." I wonder if perhaps the meaning of the word extends not to just a lavish (and ultimately obscure) lifestyle, but to the idea behind family and to the ideal "American" family, in the "Partridge family"/"Leave it to Beaver" sense; I am turned on to the idea from the line "makes the common house a home."
To be honest with you... I dismissed the Faint from the point where i came across the artical in a local Florida zine (Counter Theory), until the point where I actually downloaded a song (about a year and some pperiod of time). Boy can I tell you how amazed I was, and how ashamed I felt that I had been holding back on something so supreme as this. Not even the music, but the fucking literature inside of the song; although the music embraces it with the typical Faint upbeat, depressed synthesizer effects. This is a great song. What a great perspective on "life" in this song. The whole "perfect" picture that a general person depicts for himself : Get married, have kids, retire... die. "Work for life"... Great song.
this song is great "if techno had balls it would be the faint"
Man, How I can Listen to this song Over and Over...
Fuckin great, awesome synthesizer cuts that tear my asshole apart with each pounding vibration. I love when they break it down after talking about pretty little homes. Not one of my favorite lyrical cuts from The Faint, but an instrumental treat indeed. I get a major boner just thinking about those keys, tear that ass up.