Warren wanted a Beach Boys thing for this one, and Carl Wilson and Billy Hinsche came in, with Carl arranging the vocal parts. The other harmony vocalists (credited as the "Gentlemen Boys") were Jackson Browne, J.D. Souther, Zevon's longtime backers Waddy Wachtel and Jorge Calderon, and Linda Rondstadt/Stone Poneys guitarist Kenny Edwards.
Maybe you don't understand it, what keeps them awake at night
What goes through their little minds when you turn off the light?
Always having to say sorry tears are stained on the pillow
Like the light of the moon they can't be one
Can't exist without the son
Let's think clearly for a while
Can he shine without a smile?
Why am I alone with no one to be found?
Looks like they know what's best for me
Why doesn't anybody like me, I don't understand?
Guess I'll have to crawl inside and I don't know why
I'm sitting by myself, when the problem isn't mine
Been around the block a few times, been beat up by all his friends
Learing life is like a maze that never seems to end
Like an open book, blank pages left for only him to write
Life is short this chapter takes so long
Can't tell the right from the wrong
It's so hard for you to place
An expression on his face
Why am I alone with no one to be found?
Looks like they know what's best for me
Why doesn't anybody like me, I don't understand?
Guess I'll have to crawl inside and I don't know why
I'm sitting by myself, when the problem isn't mine
Why doesn't anybody like me, I don't understand
Why my friends and family left me
At six years old he won't be taught a meaning to this mess
He'll just have to take a guess, and make his own plan
And we'll never see the child that was forced to be a man
What goes through their little minds when you turn off the light?
Always having to say sorry tears are stained on the pillow
Like the light of the moon they can't be one
Can't exist without the son
Let's think clearly for a while
Can he shine without a smile?
Why am I alone with no one to be found?
Looks like they know what's best for me
Why doesn't anybody like me, I don't understand?
Guess I'll have to crawl inside and I don't know why
I'm sitting by myself, when the problem isn't mine
Been around the block a few times, been beat up by all his friends
Learing life is like a maze that never seems to end
Like an open book, blank pages left for only him to write
Life is short this chapter takes so long
Can't tell the right from the wrong
It's so hard for you to place
An expression on his face
Why am I alone with no one to be found?
Looks like they know what's best for me
Why doesn't anybody like me, I don't understand?
Guess I'll have to crawl inside and I don't know why
I'm sitting by myself, when the problem isn't mine
Why doesn't anybody like me, I don't understand
Why my friends and family left me
At six years old he won't be taught a meaning to this mess
He'll just have to take a guess, and make his own plan
And we'll never see the child that was forced to be a man
Lyrics submitted by oofus
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Like a lot of the other comments are saying, I think this mainly about voyeurism. If the song was about his girlfriend, then why would he use the word spy. If you are a spy it means you shouldn't be caught, that is kind of the whole point, and if you are a voyeur, the whole point of the pleasure you get from it, is the fact that the other people don't know you are watching them. See a bit of a connection there?
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"'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."
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I agree completely with ONaCarousel. I own More Betterness! and I think the entire record is written from the perspective of a child. I think Tony Sly had a shitload of problems growing up, still dealing with them to this day, writing some of the best hard-nosed power pop-punk I've ever heard. It's very poppy but with big balls. Tony Sly is no slouch.