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."
áîòéì öøôúé òã äáøëééÃ
à ðé áà úé à ìééê, éøåùìéÃ
åùåà ãáø ÷ãåù
à áéðå òèåó èìéú ìáðä
åëì äéìãéà à çøéå áùåøä
åùåà ãáø ÷ãåù
áçåùê ðããðå áâéà áï äéðåÃ
áé÷ùðé áøèè ò÷áåú ùì çìåÃ
åùåà ãáø ÷ãåù
áéï à åøðéà áòî÷ äîöìáä
ìùååà çéôùðå òåã áãì ùì ú÷ååä
åùåà ãáø ÷ãåù
áöì îöáåú ùì à çéà äøåâéÃ
ðåúøðå à ðçðå áðéà çåøâéÃ
ëé ùåà ãáø ÷ãåù
îòì ôñâú äø äöåôéÃ
äáèðå à ìééê ëîòè ù÷åôéÃ
ëé ùåà ãáø ÷ãåù
á÷øï øçåá à ôì áá÷òä
ùà æëøðå ëåëáé ÷æáìð÷ä
åùåà ãáø ÷ãåù
à ðé áà úé à ìééê, éøåùìéÃ
åùåà ãáø ÷ãåù
à áéðå òèåó èìéú ìáðä
åëì äéìãéà à çøéå áùåøä
åùåà ãáø ÷ãåù
áçåùê ðããðå áâéà áï äéðåÃ
áé÷ùðé áøèè ò÷áåú ùì çìåÃ
åùåà ãáø ÷ãåù
áéï à åøðéà áòî÷ äîöìáä
ìùååà çéôùðå òåã áãì ùì ú÷ååä
åùåà ãáø ÷ãåù
áöì îöáåú ùì à çéà äøåâéÃ
ðåúøðå à ðçðå áðéà çåøâéÃ
ëé ùåà ãáø ÷ãåù
îòì ôñâú äø äöåôéÃ
äáèðå à ìééê ëîòè ù÷åôéÃ
ëé ùåà ãáø ÷ãåù
á÷øï øçåá à ôì áá÷òä
ùà æëøðå ëåëáé ÷æáìð÷ä
åùåà ãáø ÷ãåù
Lyrics submitted by Novartza
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
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.
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.
Sunglasses at Night
Corey Hart
Corey Hart
In the 1980s, sunglasses were a common fashion for people who wanted to adopt a "tough guy" persona (note all the cop shows from that era -- Simon & Simon, Miami Vice, etc. -- where the lead characters wore shades). So I think this song is about a guy who wears shades as a way of hiding his insecurity after learning that his girlfriend is cheating on him. He's trying to pretend that he's a "tough guy" to hide the fact that his girlfriend's affair is disturbing him.