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."
Phife:
The mad man Malik makes MCs run for Milk of Magnesia
Maybe that'll ease ya
Master of this microphone mackin, master as in great
I'll have your brain goin in circles as my style tends to ovulate
I'm makin moves, never movies, that's why y'all MCs lose me
Retrace, won't, so your stubborn like groupies
Kid, you know my flava, tear this whole jam apart
Fuck around and have your heart, like Jordan had Starks
While you playin hokey pokey, there's no time to be dokey
Cuz I come out to play every night like Charles Oakley
Dissin around with wack rhymin
You lose your grip from chalk climbin
Let me take this time to say R.I.P. to Phyllis Hyman
Who never got the props that she damn well deserved
But see me, you don't wanna see me, cuz all MCs are gettin served
The nerve, for you to even step to the Phifer
I'll bumrush your set and crush your whole cypher
Reserve, a spot for me in hip hop's hall of fame
Cuz rappin ain't no game, big up your head and maintain
Yeah, Queens forever in this piece crushin any beef
Ain't nuthin sweet, the bakery's across the fuckin street
Phife Dawg, swingin it back and forth just like Aaliyah
Makin moves on your heart like that trick Tamia
No doubt about it, I love hip hop to death
But yo Tip, bring in the chorus cuz I'm losin my breath
Consequence:
A, yo, you know the deal when the diggy Dawg is on the scene
We got the fiend bumpin straight from the borough Queens
You know the deal when the diggy Dawg is on the scene
We got the fiend bumpin straight from the borough Queens
You know the deal when the diggy Dawg is on the scene
You know the deal, ha, you know the deal
Phife:
Big up pop Duke, that's where I caught my athleticism
My mama, no doubt, that's where I got my lyricism
My nana, that's where I got my spiritualism
As for Tip and Shah, they made me stop from smokin izm
Now, when I'm with some cheese, I be lettin off gism
Writin rhymes since Daddy Kane and Biz Mark was on Prism
I gotta brave heart like the one named Shirley Chisholm
As for my late twin, boy, I wish I was with him
Got the Lightro in the back talkin bout (come on, get him)
And when it comes to rhymes, no doubt, I flip em
Sucka MC in my path, hey main, I say we ship him
Money please, your rhymes are wack, say word, this geek is trippin
Just because my name is Phife, my man, I'm never slippin
I got the type of flave to have your ass straight bitchin
For those who act cute, see I got them on mute
Have you walkin through your projects in your birthday suit
Cuz your style is off loot, so I played him like a flute
If youse a sucka MC, then it's you I rebuke
My style is, everday all day, similar to water
Crushin MCs as if my name was Sargent Slaughter
Keep shit hotter...than a sauna
Or better yet, the hormones on your Christian daughter
Hey, I tried to warn her
My sounds the type to kill, like the grill on Lauryn Hill
So all ya sucka MCs, y'all best go chill
Bout to go to Union Square so I can see my care bear
Singin good stuff in my ear, runnin fingers through my hair
Represent the Zulu Nation with illy rap creations
Just keep shit hotter than Death Row-Bad Boy confrontations
Chillin with Fudge Love because he represents the Haitians
Ya naw'mean
Word up
I just wanna big up everybody for supportin A Tribe Called Quest
Through the years
This be the fourth LP, you know what I'm sayin?
Tip, Shaheed and Phife, Beats, Rhymes and Life
Featuring my man, you know what I'm sayin, Consequence
192 is the area where we represent, for the ladies and gents, ha ha
You know what I'm sayin? Big up Shaheed Muhammad, that's my man
Christine, you know what I'm sayin, word life (fading out)
The Abstract Poetic, rockin this track
Bouncin it all over the place, in your face
You know what I'm sayin? My man Lightro...
The mad man Malik makes MCs run for Milk of Magnesia
Maybe that'll ease ya
Master of this microphone mackin, master as in great
I'll have your brain goin in circles as my style tends to ovulate
I'm makin moves, never movies, that's why y'all MCs lose me
Retrace, won't, so your stubborn like groupies
Kid, you know my flava, tear this whole jam apart
Fuck around and have your heart, like Jordan had Starks
While you playin hokey pokey, there's no time to be dokey
Cuz I come out to play every night like Charles Oakley
Dissin around with wack rhymin
You lose your grip from chalk climbin
Let me take this time to say R.I.P. to Phyllis Hyman
Who never got the props that she damn well deserved
But see me, you don't wanna see me, cuz all MCs are gettin served
The nerve, for you to even step to the Phifer
I'll bumrush your set and crush your whole cypher
Reserve, a spot for me in hip hop's hall of fame
Cuz rappin ain't no game, big up your head and maintain
Yeah, Queens forever in this piece crushin any beef
Ain't nuthin sweet, the bakery's across the fuckin street
Phife Dawg, swingin it back and forth just like Aaliyah
Makin moves on your heart like that trick Tamia
No doubt about it, I love hip hop to death
But yo Tip, bring in the chorus cuz I'm losin my breath
Consequence:
A, yo, you know the deal when the diggy Dawg is on the scene
We got the fiend bumpin straight from the borough Queens
You know the deal when the diggy Dawg is on the scene
We got the fiend bumpin straight from the borough Queens
You know the deal when the diggy Dawg is on the scene
You know the deal, ha, you know the deal
Phife:
Big up pop Duke, that's where I caught my athleticism
My mama, no doubt, that's where I got my lyricism
My nana, that's where I got my spiritualism
As for Tip and Shah, they made me stop from smokin izm
Now, when I'm with some cheese, I be lettin off gism
Writin rhymes since Daddy Kane and Biz Mark was on Prism
I gotta brave heart like the one named Shirley Chisholm
As for my late twin, boy, I wish I was with him
Got the Lightro in the back talkin bout (come on, get him)
And when it comes to rhymes, no doubt, I flip em
Sucka MC in my path, hey main, I say we ship him
Money please, your rhymes are wack, say word, this geek is trippin
Just because my name is Phife, my man, I'm never slippin
I got the type of flave to have your ass straight bitchin
For those who act cute, see I got them on mute
Have you walkin through your projects in your birthday suit
Cuz your style is off loot, so I played him like a flute
If youse a sucka MC, then it's you I rebuke
My style is, everday all day, similar to water
Crushin MCs as if my name was Sargent Slaughter
Keep shit hotter...than a sauna
Or better yet, the hormones on your Christian daughter
Hey, I tried to warn her
My sounds the type to kill, like the grill on Lauryn Hill
So all ya sucka MCs, y'all best go chill
Bout to go to Union Square so I can see my care bear
Singin good stuff in my ear, runnin fingers through my hair
Represent the Zulu Nation with illy rap creations
Just keep shit hotter than Death Row-Bad Boy confrontations
Chillin with Fudge Love because he represents the Haitians
Ya naw'mean
Word up
I just wanna big up everybody for supportin A Tribe Called Quest
Through the years
This be the fourth LP, you know what I'm sayin?
Tip, Shaheed and Phife, Beats, Rhymes and Life
Featuring my man, you know what I'm sayin, Consequence
192 is the area where we represent, for the ladies and gents, ha ha
You know what I'm sayin? Big up Shaheed Muhammad, that's my man
Christine, you know what I'm sayin, word life (fading out)
The Abstract Poetic, rockin this track
Bouncin it all over the place, in your face
You know what I'm sayin? My man Lightro...
Lyrics submitted by Ice
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More Featured Meanings
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
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.
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
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.
Zombie
Cranberries, The
Cranberries, The
"Zombie" is about the ethno-political conflict in Ireland. This is obvious if you know anything of the singer (Dolores O'Riordan)'s Irish heritage and understood the "1916" Easter Rising reference.
"Another head hangs lowly
Child is slowly taken
And the violence caused such silence
Who are we mistaken
-
Another mother's breaking
Heart is taking over"
Laments the Warrington bomb attacks in which two children were fatally injured on March 23rd, 1993. Twelve year old Tim Parry was taken off life support with permission from his mother after five days in the hospital, virtually braindead.
"But you see it's not me
It's not my family"
References how people who are not directly involved with the violence feel about it. They are "zombies" without sympathy who refuse to take action while others suffer.