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."
Happy little day, Jimmy went away
Met his little Jenny on a public holiday
A happy pair they made, so decorously laid
'Neath the gay illuminations all along the promenade
'It's so good to know there's still a little magic in the air
I'll weave my spell"
'Jenny will you stay - tarry with me pray
Nothing 'ere need come between us tell me love, what do you say'
'Oh no I must away to my Mum in disarray
If my mother should discover how I spent my holiday
It would be of small avail to talk of magic in the air
I'll weave my spell'
CHORUS
O Rock of Ages, do not crumble, love is breathing still
O Lady Moon, shine down a little people magic if you will
Jenny pines away, writes a letter everyday
'We must ever be together, nothing can my love erase'
'Oh no I'm compromised, I must apologise
If my lady should discover how I spent my holidays . . .'
Met his little Jenny on a public holiday
A happy pair they made, so decorously laid
'Neath the gay illuminations all along the promenade
'It's so good to know there's still a little magic in the air
I'll weave my spell"
'Jenny will you stay - tarry with me pray
Nothing 'ere need come between us tell me love, what do you say'
'Oh no I must away to my Mum in disarray
If my mother should discover how I spent my holiday
It would be of small avail to talk of magic in the air
I'll weave my spell'
CHORUS
O Rock of Ages, do not crumble, love is breathing still
O Lady Moon, shine down a little people magic if you will
Jenny pines away, writes a letter everyday
'We must ever be together, nothing can my love erase'
'Oh no I'm compromised, I must apologise
If my lady should discover how I spent my holidays . . .'
Lyrics submitted by f_mercury
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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.

Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.

Another Love
Tom Odell
Tom Odell
I think the meaning is pretty clear. This person got really burned in a previous relationship, and because of this is unable to love and show care in his present one, even though he so badly wants to. It's lovely song, and very sad. You can really feel how defeated and frustrated he is with himself.

Sunglasses at Night
Corey Hart
Corey Hart
In the 1980s, sunglasses were a common fashion for people who wanted to adopt a "tough guy" persona (note all the cop shows from that era -- Simon & Simon, Miami Vice, etc. -- where the lead characters wore shades). So I think this song is about a guy who wears shades as a way of hiding his insecurity after learning that his girlfriend is cheating on him. He's trying to pretend that he's a "tough guy" to hide the fact that his girlfriend's affair is disturbing him.
It's not a random title... Brighton is a resort city in the UK, and the story is about going to Brighton, meeting a girl, and having a wife/GF back home.
Quick note: the solo existed long before this particular song did. They had experimented with putting it in other songs, but released it on an album for the first time in this song. They had already used it live a few times.
Song isn't about much just a tale of two people.....but damn it sure does show off Brian May's skill
After hearing that riff I can die happy. It was soo good. Almost too good.
Does it have anything to do with Graham Greene's novel "Brighton Rock"?
@name_here Yes! You are right! I guess you are the only one that said the true meaning of this song!
Oh aye! the greatest riff ever written by bri, with the posible exception of bijou
brian may's finest hour (though not as long as an hour)
But his guitar solo was built around this song, and that generally felt like it went on for an hour... :)
Bit of a random title though.
Oh, and if you like it on Sheer Heart Attack, listen to it on Queen Live Killers, it is so much better.
@Isuper So I went off to hear this on Groove and Brighton Rock is the ONE song that's not available for streaming. Bugger!!!!