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."
expensive vitamin pills and
wheat germ on your windowsill
your schedule's hectic and you got no time to kill
youre earning money and spending it the right way
youre just in such a rush you dont know if its night or
day
5:30 get up and you run, run, run
then you work eight hours slaving under the gun
your little worlds based on lies lies lies
always rushing but youre never ever satisfied...
healthy body sick mind
youre working overtime
healthy body sick mind
too hectic too hectic
healthy body sick mind
its just a matter of time
sick body sick mind
the money you spend on running shoes could feed me
for a week
your plans are laid well you cant even sleep
pursuit of happiness got your life locked under material law
you got everything to lose so youre paranoid about some
fatal flaw
wheat germ on your windowsill
your schedule's hectic and you got no time to kill
youre earning money and spending it the right way
youre just in such a rush you dont know if its night or
day
5:30 get up and you run, run, run
then you work eight hours slaving under the gun
your little worlds based on lies lies lies
always rushing but youre never ever satisfied...
healthy body sick mind
youre working overtime
healthy body sick mind
too hectic too hectic
healthy body sick mind
its just a matter of time
sick body sick mind
the money you spend on running shoes could feed me
for a week
your plans are laid well you cant even sleep
pursuit of happiness got your life locked under material law
you got everything to lose so youre paranoid about some
fatal flaw
Lyrics submitted by emoJustin
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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.
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.
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.
YEAH!
Life is supposed to be about having fun.......man theres no point in living if your not happy with your life and theres no way that you can be happy shitting out your 45 hours a week living for that one day a week you get to yourself......and we are ALL guilty of giving into this corporate bullshit.......
I agree with Shankin'InThePit. Life is about having fun, not possessions. All these workaholics who live to make money and have the latest and greatest things never have time to enjoy their lives. They think money makes them happy but they know they are truly miserable. I love the line "the money you spend on running shoes could feed me for a week". Shows how shallow, materialistic, and fake those people are.
You're both close, but not quite there.
The song isn't about materialism. It's just about overworking yourself for money. The person is only spending their time working and staying 'healthy,' which is where the expensive vitamin pills, wheat germ, and running shoes come in. The song points out that this is just an illusion. Though you may seem to be doing well to others, having a decent-paying job and your (physical) health, you're neglecting your self. Thus, you've become mentally ill, not on the same level as someone in an insane asylum. Nonetheless, with little time to yourself, you've basically become a robot.
i agree. this is such an amazing song and i love all of operation ivy's lyrics....they really are so powerful. they do such a great job covering social issues that are still so relevant.
whats the "fatal flaw"
madhouse, i think the "fatal flaw" means anything that could potentially destroy this person's way of life. They have everything to lose so the are paranoid about anything going wrong.
well im sure everyone has their own point to make but i take this song as a reminder to never get caught up in the bullshit thats offered in the world. stick with what you need and have fun