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."
Father I killed my monkey
I let it out
To taste the sweet of spring
Wonder if I will wander out
Test my tether to
See if I'm still free
From you
Steady as it comes
Right down
To you
I've said it all
So maybe we're a bliss
Of another kind
Lately, I'm in to circuitry
What it means to be
Made of you but not enough of you
And I wonder if
You can bilocate is that what I taste
Your supernova juice
You know it's true I'm part of you
Steady as it comes
Right down to you
I've said it all
So maybe you're a four horse engine
With a power drive
A hot kachina who wants into mine
Take it with your terracide
We're a bliss
Of another kind
I let it out
To taste the sweet of spring
Wonder if I will wander out
Test my tether to
See if I'm still free
From you
Steady as it comes
Right down
To you
I've said it all
So maybe we're a bliss
Of another kind
Lately, I'm in to circuitry
What it means to be
Made of you but not enough of you
And I wonder if
You can bilocate is that what I taste
Your supernova juice
You know it's true I'm part of you
Steady as it comes
Right down to you
I've said it all
So maybe you're a four horse engine
With a power drive
A hot kachina who wants into mine
Take it with your terracide
We're a bliss
Of another kind
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Mountain Song
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I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
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Ed Sheeran
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The song like most of Tori's songs has dual meanings...to me it is about Tori's relationship to two men who have been constant in her life:Trent Reznor and God. The first line names both men "father I killed my monkey"...it is no big secret that Tori and Trent have written encrypted lyrics to each other from the beginning of Tori's career. Little things are traded and used by both artist to indicate that that song is the one intended to relay a message to them. In "professional widow" tori chants "star fucker, just like my daddy"...Trents next cd contained the song "Starfucker". In "Caught a Light SNeeze" Tori says "made my own pretty hate machine" Pretty Hate Machine happened to be the title of Trents CD. I could go on and on...in this song Tori is using Trents version of himself in the video of "Closer" a crucified monkey. She is saying how they were always meant to be in each others lives but instead of lovers they are a bliss of another kind...soul mates. As far a God goes she is talking about how her father was a minister and how she felt guilty for a while by not following the Holy path "made of you but not enough for you" she is referencing the Bible "God made man in his image" this like with Trent, is a Bliss of another kind. She still feels a bond with God but maybe not the one he had in mind for her..."four horse engine" I think refers to the horsemen of the apocalypse and how the imminent fear of an end to both her friendship and the end of the world acts as an engine or catalyst for her to write this song and make her love for them clear.
Fantastic!!! You are a genius)
That is probably the best breakdown of a Tori song I have ever read. Absolutely spot on - the enduring appeal of Tori is the allusions sustained across her career. It's very difficult to lay these down in an easily readable way, so hats off to you!<br />
@Benzodiazepine Dave with their nine inch nails and little fascist panties tucked inside the heart of every nice girl