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."
Milgram's 37
We do what we're told
We do what we're told
We do what we're told
Told to do
We do what we're told
We do what we're told
We do what we're told
Told to do
One doubt
One voice
One war
One truth
One dream
We do what we're told
We do what we're told
We do what we're told
Told to do
We do what we're told
We do what we're told
We do what we're told
Told to do
One doubt
One voice
One war
One truth
One dream
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Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
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.
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.
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.
This song is about the dangerous tendency to disregard your own ethical values, just to be obedient.
"Milgram's 37" refers to the experiment, in a series of experiments of psychologist Stanley Milgram, with the worst results. In this case 37 of 40 participants went to the full extent of the experiment, and delivered (without knowing fake) electric shocks to another Test-Subject (who was indeed an actor, btw.) without stopping when the Subject begged for mercy.
This was a sing-along-song in many concerts (see the irony?).
Yes, it was an experiment provoked by the American additude that Americans wouldn't blindly submit to the will of their government if it was wrong, like the Germans had done in World War II.
Interestingly enough, this all came together for me in sociology class...we were talking about Milgram, and I was like "Woah! I get it know...Gabriel is a genius."
"Ordinary people, simply doing their jobs, and without any particular hostility on their part, can become agents in a terrible destructive process. Moreover, even when the destructive effects of their work become patently clear, and they are asked to carry out actions incompatible with fundamental standards of morality, relatively few people have the resources needed to resist authority."
--en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment
My only comment is in regards to having people follow idiotic orders from clueless leaders (ie, Dubya Bush!) Pretty scary when you stop to think about it!!!
I recently saw a BBC documentary where one of the 37 was tracked down and asked about the experiment. He bravely admitted his moral compass went out the window during the experiment (although he did protest and enquire after the "subject"). Worth a watch if you can find it, I can only find the original experiments on Youtube (he's the guy at 6:52 on the second link, that goes on to the third link). Here's the links: youtube.com/watch youtube.com/watch youtube.com/watch
When I was a kid I thought Milgrams 37 was a beer brand. Now I have no idea where that came from! Kids think the darndest things!