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."
What y'all thought y'all wasn't gon' see me?
I'm the Osiris of this shit
Wu-Tang is here forever, motherfuckers
This like, this '97
Aight my niggas and my niggarettes
Let's do it like this
I'ma rub your ass in the moonshine
Let's take it back to '79
I bomb atomically, Socrates' philosophies and hypotheses
Can't define how I be droppin' these mockeries
Lyrically perform armed robbery
Flee with the lottery, possibly they spotted me
Battle-scarred Shogun, explosion when my pen hits tremendous
Ultra-violet shine blind forensics
I inspect view through the future see millennium
Killa Beez sold fifty gold, sixty platinum
Shackling the masses with drastic rap tactics
Graphic displays melt the steel like blacksmiths
Black Wu jackets, Queen Beez ease the guns in
Rumble with patrolmen, tear gas laced the function
Heads by the score take flight, incite a war
Chicks hit the floor, diehard fans demand more
Behold the bold soldier, control the globe slowly
Proceeds to blow, swingin' swords like Shinobi
Stomp grounds and pound footprints in solid rock
Wu got it locked, performin' live on your hottest block
As the world turns, I spread like germs
Bless the globe with the pestilence, the hard-headed never learn
It's my testament to those burned
Play my position in the game of life, standing firm
On foreign land, jump the gun out the frying pan
Into the fire, transform into the Ghost Rider
A six-pack and A Streetcar Named Desire
Who got my back? In the line of fire, holding back
What? My peoples if you with me, where the fuck you at?
Niggas is strapped and they tryna twist my beer cap
It's court adjourned for the bad seed from bad sperm
Herb got my wig fried like a bad perm
What the blood clot? We smoke pot, and blow spots
You wanna think twice? I think not
The Iron Lung ain't got to tell you where it's coming from
Guns of Navarone tearing up your battle zone
Rip through your slums
I twist darts from the heart, tried and true
Loot my voice on the LP
Martini on the slang rocks, certified chatterbox
Vocabulary 'Donna talking, tell your story walking
Take cover, kid, what? Run for your brother, kid
Run for your team, and your "six can't rhyme" groupies
So I can squeeze with the advantage and get wasted
My deadly notes reigns supreme
Your thought is basic compared to mine
Domino effect, arts and crafts, paragraphs contain cyanide
Take a free ride on my thought
I got the fashion catalogs for all y'all to all praise due to God
The saga continues
Wu-Tang, Wu-Tang
Olympic torch flaming, we burn so sweet
The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat
We crush slow, flaming deluxe slow for
Judgment Day cometh, conquer, it's war
Allow us to escape Hell, globe spinning bomb
Pocket full of shells out the sky Golden Arms
Tunes spit the shitty Mortal Kombat sound
The fake false step make the blood stain the ground
A jungle junkie, vigilante tantrum
A death kiss catwalk, squeeze another anthem
Hold it for ransom, tranquilized with anesthesia
My orchestra, graceful, music ballerinas
My music Sicily, rich California smell
An axe killer adventure, paint a picture well
I sing a song from Sing-Sing, sippin' on ginseng
Righteous wax chaperon, rotating ring king
March of the wooden soldiers, C-Cypher Punks couldn't hold us
A thousand men rushing in, not one nigga was sober
Perpendicular to the square, we stand bold like Flare
Escape from your dragon's lair
In particular, my beats travel like a vortex
Through your spine to the top of your cerebral cortex
Make you feel like you bust a nut from raw sex
Enter through your right ventricle clog up your bloodstream
Heart terminal like Grand Central Station
Program fat baselines on Novation
Getting drunk like I'm fucking duckin' five-year probation
War of the masses, the outcome disastrous
Many of the victim families save their ashes
A million names on walls, engraved in plaques
Those who went back received penalties for their acts
Another heart is torn as close ones mourn
Those who stray, niggas get slayed on the song
The track renders helpless and suffers from multiple stab wounds
And leaks sounds that's heard
93 million miles away from
Came one to represent the Nation
This is a gathering of the masses
That come to pay respects to the Wu-Tang Clan
As we engage in battle, the crowd now screams in rage
The high chief Jamel Irief takes the stage
Light is provided through sparks of energy
From the mind that travels in rhyme form
Giving sight to the blind
The dumb are mostly intrigued by the drum
Death only one can save self from
This relentless attack of the track spares none
Yo, yo, yo, fuck that
Look at all these crab niggas laid back
Lampin' like them gray and black Puma's on my man's rack
Codeine was forced in your drink
You had a navy green salamander fiend
Bitches overheard you scream
You two-faces, scum of the slum, I got your whole body numb
Blowing like Shalamar in '81
Sound convincing, thousand dollar cork-pop convention
Hands like Sonny Liston, get fly permission
Hold the fuck up, I'll unfasten your wig, bad luck
I humiliate, separate the English from the Dutch
It's me, Black Noble Drew Ali, came in threes
We like the Genovese, sazon season these degrees
It's Earth, 93 million miles from the first
Rough turbulence, the wave burst, split the megahertz
Ayo, that's amazing
Gun in your mouth talk, verbal foul hawk
Connect thoughts to make my man child walk
Swift notarizer, Blue-Tang, all up in the high-riser
New York Yank visor, word tranquilizer
Adjust the dosage, delegate my Clan with explosives
While, my pen blow lines ferocious
Mediterranean, see y'all, the number one draft pick
Tear down the beat, God, then delegate the God to see God
The swift chancellor, flex the white gold tarantula
Track truck diesel, play the weed God substantiala
Max mostly, undivided then slide in sickening
Guaranteed made 'em jump like Rod Strickland
I'm the Osiris of this shit
Wu-Tang is here forever, motherfuckers
This like, this '97
Aight my niggas and my niggarettes
Let's do it like this
I'ma rub your ass in the moonshine
Let's take it back to '79
I bomb atomically, Socrates' philosophies and hypotheses
Can't define how I be droppin' these mockeries
Lyrically perform armed robbery
Flee with the lottery, possibly they spotted me
Battle-scarred Shogun, explosion when my pen hits tremendous
Ultra-violet shine blind forensics
I inspect view through the future see millennium
Killa Beez sold fifty gold, sixty platinum
Shackling the masses with drastic rap tactics
Graphic displays melt the steel like blacksmiths
Black Wu jackets, Queen Beez ease the guns in
Rumble with patrolmen, tear gas laced the function
Heads by the score take flight, incite a war
Chicks hit the floor, diehard fans demand more
Behold the bold soldier, control the globe slowly
Proceeds to blow, swingin' swords like Shinobi
Stomp grounds and pound footprints in solid rock
Wu got it locked, performin' live on your hottest block
As the world turns, I spread like germs
Bless the globe with the pestilence, the hard-headed never learn
It's my testament to those burned
Play my position in the game of life, standing firm
On foreign land, jump the gun out the frying pan
Into the fire, transform into the Ghost Rider
A six-pack and A Streetcar Named Desire
Who got my back? In the line of fire, holding back
What? My peoples if you with me, where the fuck you at?
Niggas is strapped and they tryna twist my beer cap
It's court adjourned for the bad seed from bad sperm
Herb got my wig fried like a bad perm
What the blood clot? We smoke pot, and blow spots
You wanna think twice? I think not
The Iron Lung ain't got to tell you where it's coming from
Guns of Navarone tearing up your battle zone
Rip through your slums
I twist darts from the heart, tried and true
Loot my voice on the LP
Martini on the slang rocks, certified chatterbox
Vocabulary 'Donna talking, tell your story walking
Take cover, kid, what? Run for your brother, kid
Run for your team, and your "six can't rhyme" groupies
So I can squeeze with the advantage and get wasted
My deadly notes reigns supreme
Your thought is basic compared to mine
Domino effect, arts and crafts, paragraphs contain cyanide
Take a free ride on my thought
I got the fashion catalogs for all y'all to all praise due to God
The saga continues
Wu-Tang, Wu-Tang
Olympic torch flaming, we burn so sweet
The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat
We crush slow, flaming deluxe slow for
Judgment Day cometh, conquer, it's war
Allow us to escape Hell, globe spinning bomb
Pocket full of shells out the sky Golden Arms
Tunes spit the shitty Mortal Kombat sound
The fake false step make the blood stain the ground
A jungle junkie, vigilante tantrum
A death kiss catwalk, squeeze another anthem
Hold it for ransom, tranquilized with anesthesia
My orchestra, graceful, music ballerinas
My music Sicily, rich California smell
An axe killer adventure, paint a picture well
I sing a song from Sing-Sing, sippin' on ginseng
Righteous wax chaperon, rotating ring king
March of the wooden soldiers, C-Cypher Punks couldn't hold us
A thousand men rushing in, not one nigga was sober
Perpendicular to the square, we stand bold like Flare
Escape from your dragon's lair
In particular, my beats travel like a vortex
Through your spine to the top of your cerebral cortex
Make you feel like you bust a nut from raw sex
Enter through your right ventricle clog up your bloodstream
Heart terminal like Grand Central Station
Program fat baselines on Novation
Getting drunk like I'm fucking duckin' five-year probation
War of the masses, the outcome disastrous
Many of the victim families save their ashes
A million names on walls, engraved in plaques
Those who went back received penalties for their acts
Another heart is torn as close ones mourn
Those who stray, niggas get slayed on the song
The track renders helpless and suffers from multiple stab wounds
And leaks sounds that's heard
93 million miles away from
Came one to represent the Nation
This is a gathering of the masses
That come to pay respects to the Wu-Tang Clan
As we engage in battle, the crowd now screams in rage
The high chief Jamel Irief takes the stage
Light is provided through sparks of energy
From the mind that travels in rhyme form
Giving sight to the blind
The dumb are mostly intrigued by the drum
Death only one can save self from
This relentless attack of the track spares none
Yo, yo, yo, fuck that
Look at all these crab niggas laid back
Lampin' like them gray and black Puma's on my man's rack
Codeine was forced in your drink
You had a navy green salamander fiend
Bitches overheard you scream
You two-faces, scum of the slum, I got your whole body numb
Blowing like Shalamar in '81
Sound convincing, thousand dollar cork-pop convention
Hands like Sonny Liston, get fly permission
Hold the fuck up, I'll unfasten your wig, bad luck
I humiliate, separate the English from the Dutch
It's me, Black Noble Drew Ali, came in threes
We like the Genovese, sazon season these degrees
It's Earth, 93 million miles from the first
Rough turbulence, the wave burst, split the megahertz
Ayo, that's amazing
Gun in your mouth talk, verbal foul hawk
Connect thoughts to make my man child walk
Swift notarizer, Blue-Tang, all up in the high-riser
New York Yank visor, word tranquilizer
Adjust the dosage, delegate my Clan with explosives
While, my pen blow lines ferocious
Mediterranean, see y'all, the number one draft pick
Tear down the beat, God, then delegate the God to see God
The swift chancellor, flex the white gold tarantula
Track truck diesel, play the weed God substantiala
Max mostly, undivided then slide in sickening
Guaranteed made 'em jump like Rod Strickland
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More Featured Meanings
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
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.
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
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.
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental 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.
Ok like some people have said this song doesn't have one unified meaing, it's mainly stream of conciousness style rap. And many of the weird sounding lines are either 5% Nation or NY Slang. It all makes sense if you get the references. Also, almost any number you see is in reference to the Supreme Mathematics taught in 5% and random letters are from the Supreme Alphabet. Any of the names you see that aren't someone easily recognizable are probably an alias for that particular Wu-Member.
Ghostrider, Six Pack, Streetcar Named Desire, Guns of Navarrone - All movie references
Sing-Sing - name of a prison
Wooden Soldiers / C-Cipher Punks (Spells out cops in 5% speech) - Cops
Lampin - Chillin
Word is Bond. Peace.
I don't know about you(alcyt) but I think it actually is kinda racist (to all races with a white discent) to say that the white man is the devil. It is quite foolish to think like this in any sort of a way. It can easly(and i mean EASLY) offend people.
I know I sound prejuduce when I say that it is foolish to think like they do, but if you are a Christian or a person with good morals, you know its wrong & defanatly racist.
If you don't think that it is racest to think this,well my friend......you have just joined the "dumbass club".
from the 2nd disk from forever, this track (and deadly melody) stand out as the best. the form is spare - just like a roll call (with odb getting a little shortchanged) - shifting focus to the MCing. love it!
I just got the Wu-Tang Manual by RZA. It provides in depth information about what they're all about. The 5 percent Nation is true, but they dont believe the whites are devils. They believe out of the worlds population, 5 percent are enlightened, 85 percent are not, and 10 percent are but intentionally keep other people ignorant. If you really think about it, its true. Get the book if you are interested in Wu Tang at any level.
Inspectah Deck's verse is the greatest opening verse in Hip-Hop history. Also, a lot of the lyrics are wrong in all the verses, it's sad.
I Just love the line "I sing a song from Sing-Sing, sippin on ginseng Righteous wax chaperone, rotating ring king " that my home town and it just makes me open to hear it up in a song... word....Wu tang rules
i just wish ODB (may he rest in peace) had a lil more say, i think his lines are great.....not really the deepest or anything, but his style is just....well, its just dirty.
I dont listen to much rap (well actually none at all anymore) but this is still a great song. Painfully, there is no real meaning in these guys rhymes here. Its more of just themselves saying how good they are and shit. I think this was a freestyle or something cause like I said, there is nothing in those words, just pretty rhymes you can nod your head to.
WU TANG!!!!
Or if anything its about fighting. Strappin gats and poppin caps in a mo fo on their turf.... Or the above will work. Lets not ruin the song with this shitty idea. Really. What rap artist would rhyme about a gang war, ridicuolous. I cant believe I was thinking that. Not Wu tang, they are too wholesome for that.
Chill Prog Rocker. I agree i don't really know what they're talkin about a lot of the time but the rhyme scheme is sick. I heard somewhere that they rap in code and use a lot of NY slang, thats why many can't really read into it.