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."
(Dedicated to the memory of Brian Deneke)
Each town has its cliques those who don't get along and then there's towns I know where certain kids just don't belong so know your rivals and watch your back 'cause no one's gonna be there when the enemy attacks
Chorus:
When the justice eludes you it's the fortunes of war wouldn't things be different had the tables been turned? If the people won't protect you you must fend for yourself when the justice eludes you it's the fortunes of war
You drove right over him and then you sped away how does it feel to kill and know you didn't pay? So walk away even though a life is gone someday, you'll know the price when god repays you for your wrongs.
Each town has its cliques those who don't get along and then there's towns I know where certain kids just don't belong so know your rivals and watch your back 'cause no one's gonna be there when the enemy attacks
Chorus:
When the justice eludes you it's the fortunes of war wouldn't things be different had the tables been turned? If the people won't protect you you must fend for yourself when the justice eludes you it's the fortunes of war
You drove right over him and then you sped away how does it feel to kill and know you didn't pay? So walk away even though a life is gone someday, you'll know the price when god repays you for your wrongs.
Lyrics submitted by oofus, edited by Mellow_Harsher
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Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
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."
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.
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.
Somewhere Only We Know
Keane
Keane
Per the FAQ on Keane's website, Keane's drummer Richard Hughes, stated the following:
"We've been asked whether "Somewhere Only We Know" is about a specific place, and Tim has been saying that, for him, or us as individuals, it might be about a geographical space, or a feeling; it can mean something individual to each person, and they can interpret it to a memory of theirs... It's perhaps more of a theme rather than a specific message... Feelings that may be universal, without necessarily being totally specific to us, or a place, or a time..."
With the nostalgic sentiment and the overall tone of the song, I think Keane is attempting to express a Portuguese term known as 'saudade', which does not have a direct English translation but roughly means "that which we remember because it is gone."
This song is probably one of my least favorites on Sing Loud, Sing Proud, but it isn't a bad song...I think it is fairly obvious what it is about...maybe the corruption and the apathy that is present in society...something like that.
Ok you definately got that wrong Madcappunk. This song (as it says under the title) is about a friend of the band who was killed. The first verse starts out saying how there are gangs all over the city and how they dont like each other and such but there is also the kids that dont want anything to do with the gangs and dont fit in with the rest of the "in" crowd. These are the people that everyone forgets about and they dont care if they hurt them. The last verse shows that this kid that never did anything to anyone was in the wrong place at the wrong time and was killed because of it, but the killers escaped prosecution. In the middle of the song there is a news report of a kid being killed by a gang. This is what the song is about, some kid getting killed because of gangs.
Brian Deneke was a punk kid from Texas who got in a fight with some jock football player that culminated in the jock running him over with his truck and killing him. The killer got no jailtime, just probation and a fine.
Dropkick Rover, you're wrong, though your main aspects are right. The song is dedicated to Brian Deneke, who never knew the band. The poor lad got jumped outside an IHOP with his friends. the town's entire Football team showed up and, as Punkpirate said, Brian got run down by Dustin Camp's cadillac, litterally crushing his skull open, then joking about it to Brian's girlfriend. The little bastard got no jail time, until he violated probation, and his fine was payed off by everyone else's charity, because he was an "All-American" kid from the football team. If I ever see something like that I would kill the guilty party, even if I knew I'd be condemned. I am a traditional Irishman, vengeance stands above all but three things, and jocks ain't one of 'em.