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."
Follow the light that glows
Through your bedroom window.
Tonight, tonight, the fading twilight.
There's a hollow deep in the woods
Where you know you're crazy
To go, to go, not even meant to know
There are...
Pictures in the dark, I see all around.
Voices calling underground
And I'm watching the stars since the
World was found.
One, two, three.
Pictures in the dark, I see
Morpheus comes to me.
Pictures in the dark, I see.
Aurora sets you free.
And in the deepest dark
You come to a maze in.
The night, the night, the fading twilight.
And you shiver the glistening path
Where you know you're crazy
To go, to go, not even meant to know.
There are...
Pictures in the dark, I see all around.
Voices calling underground
And I'm watching the stars since the
World was found.
One, two, three.
Lost in my dreams.
This night will never end.
You can only fly in your dreams.
Midnight will be your friend.
Drift away on starlight beams.
Clocks are ticking the night away.
You can only fly until dawn ascends.
Pictures in the dark, I see all around.
Voices calling underground
And I'm watching the stars since the
World was found.
Pictures in the dark I see,
Aurora sets you free
Holding a fantasy that changes you a way through the door,
The door (and) through the day is born
As the sunlight shines through the window,
will you remember the night,
The night, that crazy starlight
There are...
Pictures in the dark,
see all around
Pictures in the dark, I see all around.
Voices calling underground
And I'm watching the stars since the
World was found.
The moon shines starlight beams
And you'll be flying in your dreams.
Pictures in the dark, I see all around.
Voices calling underground
And I'm watching the stars since the
World was found.
Through your bedroom window.
Tonight, tonight, the fading twilight.
There's a hollow deep in the woods
Where you know you're crazy
To go, to go, not even meant to know
There are...
Pictures in the dark, I see all around.
Voices calling underground
And I'm watching the stars since the
World was found.
One, two, three.
Pictures in the dark, I see
Morpheus comes to me.
Pictures in the dark, I see.
Aurora sets you free.
And in the deepest dark
You come to a maze in.
The night, the night, the fading twilight.
And you shiver the glistening path
Where you know you're crazy
To go, to go, not even meant to know.
There are...
Pictures in the dark, I see all around.
Voices calling underground
And I'm watching the stars since the
World was found.
One, two, three.
Lost in my dreams.
This night will never end.
You can only fly in your dreams.
Midnight will be your friend.
Drift away on starlight beams.
Clocks are ticking the night away.
You can only fly until dawn ascends.
Pictures in the dark, I see all around.
Voices calling underground
And I'm watching the stars since the
World was found.
Pictures in the dark I see,
Aurora sets you free
Holding a fantasy that changes you a way through the door,
The door (and) through the day is born
As the sunlight shines through the window,
will you remember the night,
The night, that crazy starlight
There are...
Pictures in the dark,
see all around
Pictures in the dark, I see all around.
Voices calling underground
And I'm watching the stars since the
World was found.
The moon shines starlight beams
And you'll be flying in your dreams.
Pictures in the dark, I see all around.
Voices calling underground
And I'm watching the stars since the
World was found.
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