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."
I bombed Korea every night.
My engine sang into the salty sky.
I didn't know if I would live or die.
I bombed Korea every night.
I bombed Korea every night.
I bombed Korea every night.
Red flowers bursting down below us.
Those people didn't even know us.
We didn't know if we would live or die.
We didn't know if it was wrong or right.
I bombed Korea every night.
And so I sit here at this bar.
I'm not a hero.
I'm not a movie star.
I've got my beer.
I've got my stories to tell,
But they won't tell you what it's like in hell.
Red flowers bursting down below us.
Those people didn't even know us.
We didn't know if we would live or die.
We didn't know if it was wrong or right.
We didn't know if we would live or die.
I bombed Korea every night.
My engine sang into the salty sky.
I didn't know if I would live or die.
I bombed Korea every night.
I bombed Korea every night.
I bombed Korea every night.
Red flowers bursting down below us.
Those people didn't even know us.
We didn't know if we would live or die.
We didn't know if it was wrong or right.
I bombed Korea every night.
And so I sit here at this bar.
I'm not a hero.
I'm not a movie star.
I've got my beer.
I've got my stories to tell,
But they won't tell you what it's like in hell.
Red flowers bursting down below us.
Those people didn't even know us.
We didn't know if we would live or die.
We didn't know if it was wrong or right.
We didn't know if we would live or die.
I bombed Korea every night.
Lyrics submitted by Ice
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Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
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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.
American Town
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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.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
Trouble Breathing
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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.
It's also about the emotional aspect, both before and after the war. This vet did some of the most heinous things in the name of duty. But it's not like he was infantry- this vet was in the air force- "red flowers bursting down below us". Bombing people he'd never seen and who had never seen him. It was terrible because of what it actually was, but the voice of the song can live with that. Villages blown up and whatnot, just red flowers. The vet doesn't live with the regret, he's sitting in a bar with stories to tell. Not a hero, not a movie star. Just a guy. And fundamentally, all of us can relate to that perspective- things happen around us, even terrible things, but we turn away from it just because it would change the person we are.
@outbackwaiter its been a while since you wrote this but its still significantly relavent.
Obviously, since nobody in Cake is even old enough to be in the Korean war, it's a metaphor for something else he use to do on a regular basis and now regrets and feels guilty about. It doesn't actually mean he's a war veteran.
You guys are all on the right track. The song is actually about a guy John McCrea met in a bar. He was talking about the Korean which he fought it. From the sounds of the song he was probably drunk. But it makes sense, if you think of yourself sitting in a bar, and a drunk Korean War vet singing about his experience."And so I sit here at this bar, i'm not a hero i'm not a movie star"
@sungod916 I'm curious what this person was referencing 13 years ago, to tell others that they were "on the right track."
I agree with J.J., except that I don't think he gets more recognition than he wants; he probably doesn't get enough, shown by the way he tells his story.
And another note that reinforces my opinion- there is no description of the ground, the country, the other soldiers, or anything. It's all from the perspective of the plane, forcing us to look from only one direction, and the isolation that allows the vet to think of what he's done in such limited and ultimately guiltless terms.
Is anyone else strongly reminded of Joseph Heller's Catch-22? The pilots bomb villages and are forced to ignore the morality of the war to a certain extent. It's not that they don't care -- well maybe it is -- but they don't have a choice. "We didn't know if it was wrong or right / I bombed Korea every night."
I think it is definitely an interpretive song about being in the shoes of the war veteran who let the war define his life. He never got past the war. It's that guy that's by himself in the bar who, if he catches someone's ear that will listen, will try to tell his story. I don't see any protest about war in the song, just the sad truth of the veterans who are now loners who frequent the bar and maybe don't have any real close family or friends. (I refuse to use the "a" word, haha, since I frequent the bars and will listen to what these people have to say... I know it makes them feel better...) If you've ever been to the local bar, you've met the guy they sing about... it is a prefectly vivid depiction of those veterans! Best of all, there is a genuine neutral stance taken in this song. It is more reflective than anything. Rock on Cake!
war vet or song about regretful hollow lust? Probably a woman in my op. Cake uses metaphors to say almost everything. . Most of this album seems to be concerned with relationships-the machismo, so it wouldn't surprise me that it's about a woman. The juxtaposition is classic cake. Have loved and will always love their mojo.I just like the attitude their songs illicit The guitars in this album are a throwback and makes this album my favorite. This album should start with Jolene and then all the rest should be a response. I feel like the album is about saying f the b that I gave all to and was a crash test- the fem fatal, and the rest is about...
This is a song about a guy who fought in the Korean War, and is somewhat "shell-shocked" about the ordeal.
He seems to regret bombing the civilians, but he admits that at the time, he wasn't thinking about whether it was "wrong or right", probably because he was quite young.
Now, as a veteran, he gets more recognition than he wants. He is not proud of his days in the war.
I agree, also the line "I bombed Korea every night" seems to say that he dreams about it a lot
Other people look at me funny when I say this is one of my favorite CAKE songs. It is quite simple, but catchy and quirky. I think it's not quite an anti-war song, but it's obvious that the man the song is about has some serious regrets about what he did in the war.