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."
cold hands touching my face
don't hide - the snake can see you
old friends you might not remember
fading away from you
the goldheart mountaintop queen directory
the goldheart mountaintop queen directory
and we looked
and we passed
through the hallways of shatterproof glass
she runs through the night as if nobody cares
she screams and she cries and ignores all the stares
she wants me to come, but i'm never going there
the goldheart mountaintop queen directory
the goldheart mountaintop queen directory
don't hide - the snake can see you
old friends you might not remember
fading away from you
the goldheart mountaintop queen directory
the goldheart mountaintop queen directory
and we looked
and we passed
through the hallways of shatterproof glass
she runs through the night as if nobody cares
she screams and she cries and ignores all the stares
she wants me to come, but i'm never going there
the goldheart mountaintop queen directory
the goldheart mountaintop queen directory
Lyrics submitted by one hit wonder
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Mountain Song
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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.
i cant make much out of it...but i think its basically about a girl he loves possibly. wonderful song though. one of gbv's best.
Fucked if I know what it means but it's one of my favorite songs. It's alot different then Teenage FBI and the other more popular songs though.
My intuition is that he's singing about a woman he once loved who is having terrible problems with mental illness, and is perhaps confined to an institution.
("...we passed through the hallway of shatterproof glass..." i.e. they can see but they can't touch. The glass imprisons those on one side, while on the other side it protects the "normal" world from being "infected" by insanity)
He desperately wishes he could do something to help, but fears that if he gets too involved with her, his own mental state will succumb to the same downward spiral.
Bob only knows what "goldheart mountaintop queen directory" means. It could be an example of the kind of (apparently?) meaningless "word salad" spoken by people who are schizophrenic or who have brain damage.
Robert pollard once said that this was about how he took acid and looked in the mirror and his face changed into that of his sons. I don't really get how the lyrics convey this though.
I think he's said that the lyrics don't really reflect the experience, just that it inspired the song...as much sense as that means, i can't find the specific quote.
This song has a clear sexual theme. The most prominent example is the second 'verse': "she runs through the night as if nobody cares she screams and she cries and ignores all the stares she wants me to come, but i'm never going there" The literal meanings of these lines are most definitely related to public sex, or exhibitionism. It's possible Pollard is talking about erection dysfunction with the line "she wants me to come, but i'm never going there" and the line "she screams and she cries, and ignores all the stares" is pretty self explanatory here.
"the hallways of shatterproof glass" are a metaphoric reference to the vaginal passage, and "we passed through" is another reference to sex.
"cold hands touching my face don't hide - the snake can see you" This is slightly more tricky, and more perverse. Pollard said in an interview that these lines were relating to a darker side of sex; necrophilia ("cold hands touching my face") and unconsensual sex ("don't hide, the snake can see you" - snake being a common colloquial term for penis)
This leaves the most important, and most cryptic part of the song - the title. At first it may seem like a meaningless sentence, "Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory" but there's actually a story behind the name. In the same interview previously mentioned, Pollard tells of an incident back in 1973 that occurred on a mountain in the Sierra Nevada known to locals as Goldheart Mountain. Apparently the details are sketchy, but Pollard tells the interviewer that there was a building, or encampment somewhere on the mountain that housed captive immigrants or missing girls (Queens) for the purpose of sex. A sort of nonconsensual brothel - clients would enter and pick which girl they would sleep with (the Directory). The operation was discovered and shut down in '73. But it explains the title - The Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory.
-- 0037
You're all way off. Bob said himself this song is about an acid trip.
Trough lyrical medium Pollard throws splashes of imagery on a canvas of jagged disconnected thought bubbles. He is the Pablo Picasso of Rock and Roll lyrics.
@Karnenyen Pretty much (and sounds amazing doing it).
"the goldheart mountaintop queen directory"... what the FUCK does that mean
I think by the "she runs throught the night" she's been released from the institution.
The goldheart mountaintop queen directory: It is possible since they have split up or were once in love that one of them has a heart shaped locket made of gold with ones picture inside. not sure about mountaintop. 'Queen' is a synonym( I think) for pretentious manner. not sure about directory either.
for me the song is about a girl you really love, but you know you cant get her because shes a way to good for you. shes the "gold heart mountain top queen directory" .