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."
Are you fucking crazy america?
Are you fucking crazy bill clinton?
Are you fucking crazy george w. bush?
If you are sane I must be crazy
If you are clear I must be hazy
If you're alive I must be dead
Pollution bullet in the head
It makes me sick the things that this
Corporation has done it makes me red
The things I know the government
Could have done but didn't do
[Chorus]
What will you say?
When they say: "Dad, what's a tree?"
When they say: "Dad, what's wrong with me?"
When they say: "Dad, why can't I breathe?"
When they say: "Dad, why did you do this to me?"
So fucking simple it's all we have
Money won't matter when we're all dead
Being a species is all that we got
Asking to live ain't a fuck of a lot
god must not live here 'cause you don't care
What happens to this earth and the people there
So fucking selfish sell things that don't belong to you
You sold my life, your children's too
[Chorus]
Are you fucking crazy bill clinton?
Are you fucking crazy george w. bush?
If you are sane I must be crazy
If you are clear I must be hazy
If you're alive I must be dead
Pollution bullet in the head
It makes me sick the things that this
Corporation has done it makes me red
The things I know the government
Could have done but didn't do
[Chorus]
What will you say?
When they say: "Dad, what's a tree?"
When they say: "Dad, what's wrong with me?"
When they say: "Dad, why can't I breathe?"
When they say: "Dad, why did you do this to me?"
So fucking simple it's all we have
Money won't matter when we're all dead
Being a species is all that we got
Asking to live ain't a fuck of a lot
god must not live here 'cause you don't care
What happens to this earth and the people there
So fucking selfish sell things that don't belong to you
You sold my life, your children's too
[Chorus]
Lyrics submitted by Phyxius
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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,

Trouble Breathing
Alkaline Trio
Alkaline Trio
While the obvious connections with suicide or alcoholism could be drawn easily, more subtly this song could be about someone who views the world through a negative lens constantly and how as much as the writer tries to show the beauty in the world, this person refuses to see it. It's one or another between the rope and the bottle. There is no good option for this person. They can't see it. Skiba sings it in a kind of exasperated way like He's tired of hearing this negative view constantly and just allowing that person to continue feeling the way they feel knowing he can't do anything about it. You can hear it when he says maybe you're a vampire.

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.

System
Mel And Kim
Mel And Kim
Just listening for the 784,654th time....and it's just perfect in every way. Just incredible. The only reason it was remade was to scoop up a boatload of money from a more modern and accepting audience. But it is a completely different song than the other one that sounds slapped together in a few takes without a thought for the meaning.
This song captivates me still, after 50+ years. Takes me to the deep South and the poverty of some who lived thru truly hard times. And the powerful spirit of a poor young girl being abandoned to her future with only a red dress and her wits to keep her alive.
She not only stayed alive, she turned her hard beginnings around, became self sufficient, successful and someone with respect for herself. She didn't let the naysayers and judgers stop her. She's the one sitting in the drivers seat at the end.
So, not a song about a poor girl, but a song of hope and how you can rise up no matter how far down you started.
There is a huge difference between a singer who simply belts out a song that is on a page in front of them, and someone who can convey an entire experience with their voice. Telling not just a story with words, but taking you inside it and making you feel like you are there, with their interpretation.