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."
Halls Of Illusions
[Violent J]
Ticket please, thanks, walk through the door
Into the Halls Of Illusions, visit yours
And see what coulda and shoulda and woulda been real
But you had to fuck up tha whole deal
"Lets take a walk down the hallway
It's a long way it, it takes all day!"
And when you get to tha end, you'll find a chair
With straps and chains, we slap you in there
Lock you down tight so you can't move a thread
And pull your eyelids up over your head
'cause you're about to witness an illusionary dream
It's just to bad it ain't what it seems
[Shaggy 2 Dope]
You walk in and see two kids on the floor
They playin Nintendo and he's got tha high score
And sittin behind them chillin in a chair
Is your wife, when ya look, oh, you ain't there
It's some other man in the hand in hand
Now she looks so happy you don't understand
See this is an illusion, it never came true
All because of you!
[Violent J]
Back to reality and what you're about
Your wife can't smile 'cause ya knocked her teeth out
And she can't see straight from gettin hit
'cause you're a fat fuckin drunk piece of shit
But it's all good here, come have a beer
I'll break the top off it and shove it in ya ear
And you're death comes wicked painful and slow
At tha hands of MILENKO!
[Chorus (2x)]
Great Milenko, wave your wand
Don't look now, your life is gone
This is all because of you
What you got yourself into
[Violent J]
Look who's next it's Mr. Clark
The dirty old man from the trailer park
You got your ticket? Thanks take your coat off
And later on, why not, I'll rip your throat off
"Lets take a walk down the hallway
It's a long way it, it takes all day"
And when you get to the end you'll find a chair
You see all the blood, yeah your boy was just here
We get all different kind of people comin through
Richies, chickens and bitches just like you
In the Halls everybody gets a turn
To sit and witness your illusion before you burn
[Shaggy 2 Dope]
What do we have here, oh yeah, no way
It looks like your kids and they okay
Your daughter's chillin up in college top grade
And your son's a fuckin doctor, phat paid
They got families and kids and it's all good
They even coach little league in the neighborhood
Is this true have ya really seen tha holy ghost?
Nah, bitch, not even close!
[Violent J]
Back to reality your son's on crack
And your daughter's got nut stains on her back
And they both fuckin smell like shit
And live in the gutter and sell crack to each other
When they were kids you'd beat em and leave em home
And even whip em with the cord on the telephone
And that reminds me man hey ya gotta call
Watch your step to Hell...it's a long fall!
[Chorus (2x)]
[Violent J]
Ah, it's time to pack up and move to the next town
But we forgot Mr. Bigot, okay, dig it
We can't show you an illusion 'cause we're all packed
But I'll still cut ya neck out, how's that?
[Chorus (4x)]
[Violent J]
Ticket please, thanks, walk through the door
Into the Halls Of Illusions, visit yours
And see what coulda and shoulda and woulda been real
But you had to fuck up tha whole deal
"Lets take a walk down the hallway
It's a long way it, it takes all day!"
And when you get to tha end, you'll find a chair
With straps and chains, we slap you in there
Lock you down tight so you can't move a thread
And pull your eyelids up over your head
'cause you're about to witness an illusionary dream
It's just to bad it ain't what it seems
[Shaggy 2 Dope]
You walk in and see two kids on the floor
They playin Nintendo and he's got tha high score
And sittin behind them chillin in a chair
Is your wife, when ya look, oh, you ain't there
It's some other man in the hand in hand
Now she looks so happy you don't understand
See this is an illusion, it never came true
All because of you!
[Violent J]
Back to reality and what you're about
Your wife can't smile 'cause ya knocked her teeth out
And she can't see straight from gettin hit
'cause you're a fat fuckin drunk piece of shit
But it's all good here, come have a beer
I'll break the top off it and shove it in ya ear
And you're death comes wicked painful and slow
At tha hands of MILENKO!
[Chorus (2x)]
Great Milenko, wave your wand
Don't look now, your life is gone
This is all because of you
What you got yourself into
[Violent J]
Look who's next it's Mr. Clark
The dirty old man from the trailer park
You got your ticket? Thanks take your coat off
And later on, why not, I'll rip your throat off
"Lets take a walk down the hallway
It's a long way it, it takes all day"
And when you get to the end you'll find a chair
You see all the blood, yeah your boy was just here
We get all different kind of people comin through
Richies, chickens and bitches just like you
In the Halls everybody gets a turn
To sit and witness your illusion before you burn
[Shaggy 2 Dope]
What do we have here, oh yeah, no way
It looks like your kids and they okay
Your daughter's chillin up in college top grade
And your son's a fuckin doctor, phat paid
They got families and kids and it's all good
They even coach little league in the neighborhood
Is this true have ya really seen tha holy ghost?
Nah, bitch, not even close!
[Violent J]
Back to reality your son's on crack
And your daughter's got nut stains on her back
And they both fuckin smell like shit
And live in the gutter and sell crack to each other
When they were kids you'd beat em and leave em home
And even whip em with the cord on the telephone
And that reminds me man hey ya gotta call
Watch your step to Hell...it's a long fall!
[Chorus (2x)]
[Violent J]
Ah, it's time to pack up and move to the next town
But we forgot Mr. Bigot, okay, dig it
We can't show you an illusion 'cause we're all packed
But I'll still cut ya neck out, how's that?
[Chorus (4x)]
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More Featured Meanings
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
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.
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
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.
I love this song its like a wicked version of christmas carol showing the lives their family coulda had without them. Then the reaper takes em all to hell and shows em exactly why they end up there. Its really a possitive song showing the consequences of evil.