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."
Blood on your head in catastrophes, icicles
No one's fed in cycled and by cycle dead
Asked to shine the flag
Love is just a distant and
Blue scents like apples bites
And flows thru our hands
Said hi to a man who shot his sister
Pant thru the station
And jumped in front of a train
Said I'm a bit confused to meet you
Life's what scissors do to a day
So their smile paves the way
Sand drifts with waves
And clouds my head
Cuz I'm a fortune feller's bad
And I'm the tunes played by the goons
Who ride to fare his wounds fare his wounds
And stole the road the other way
And sold tomorrow to yesterday
And I know the feeling of pushing you
Out of a building
Tiny people pulsating hits the sky
You still the ground, got up and wipe your face
You expected to fly
Wind up your misfortunes, sling 'em to a major d
Who wears dead butterflies on his face
And is hoping to grow wings?
He really wants to tell you hey
And give your tears to today
Grind yourself souvenirs into your stolen years
Under your pocket your hand's getting numb
Been a hurting glance stripe
Do the avenues that seem to meet defeat you?
Did you ever tried to hug the sky behind your head?
I walked forever sightseeing a screen
Shuffled a mean
Green ping dive
Headfirst into a hole in the water
Drives side to side like a floating machine
Dove dancing to a fable told in a sea of disintegration
Crawl to a celebration of dirt and leav that taste of wine
Sucked from a hair that digs into the darkness
Full of the fair that my head rides
I slide your kind thru a ladder
Hanging on a star
Stray close so far
Away from the climb
A taped like section
Of introspection
To rewind would be
To recline
Hit the pounds underlying
And gently ride on the sign
Tell your problems to zero
He's got nothing to hide
No one's fed in cycled and by cycle dead
Asked to shine the flag
Love is just a distant and
Blue scents like apples bites
And flows thru our hands
Said hi to a man who shot his sister
Pant thru the station
And jumped in front of a train
Said I'm a bit confused to meet you
Life's what scissors do to a day
So their smile paves the way
Sand drifts with waves
And clouds my head
Cuz I'm a fortune feller's bad
And I'm the tunes played by the goons
Who ride to fare his wounds fare his wounds
And stole the road the other way
And sold tomorrow to yesterday
And I know the feeling of pushing you
Out of a building
Tiny people pulsating hits the sky
You still the ground, got up and wipe your face
You expected to fly
Wind up your misfortunes, sling 'em to a major d
Who wears dead butterflies on his face
And is hoping to grow wings?
He really wants to tell you hey
And give your tears to today
Grind yourself souvenirs into your stolen years
Under your pocket your hand's getting numb
Been a hurting glance stripe
Do the avenues that seem to meet defeat you?
Did you ever tried to hug the sky behind your head?
I walked forever sightseeing a screen
Shuffled a mean
Green ping dive
Headfirst into a hole in the water
Drives side to side like a floating machine
Dove dancing to a fable told in a sea of disintegration
Crawl to a celebration of dirt and leav that taste of wine
Sucked from a hair that digs into the darkness
Full of the fair that my head rides
I slide your kind thru a ladder
Hanging on a star
Stray close so far
Away from the climb
A taped like section
Of introspection
To rewind would be
To recline
Hit the pounds underlying
And gently ride on the sign
Tell your problems to zero
He's got nothing to hide
Lyrics submitted by UseYourIllusion
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Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
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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.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
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How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
i think its to do with an after life or something and how people killed themselves. i dont know it might also be about what the spirits are telling him to do or just the drugs taking place in his body.
Again, wrong lyrics... Why do people keep guessing the lyrics and not just listen to the songs, the words are right there...
The lyrics are actually very close, the main thing i saw was the "major d" it should be maitre' d i think
most beautiful poem I've ever heard, starting from, do the avenues that seem to meet defeat you?- ending at, a tape like section of introspection, to rewind would be to recline.
After finishing recording usually just a t-shirt, john felt this was lyrically his ultimate song, and I think it was too. It's definitely the most emotional to me and you can't help but be baffled by the lyrics, and it's like that for a reason. He felt that in his aim to make a record with the lyrical importance of artists like Van Gogh, this song nailed it. He played it in his interview in 94 to show what the record and what music was all about to him at that point. It's the hardest song on the record to listen to, and that's an attribute of the artistic importance he wrote it for.