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."
Gently my mind escapes into the relaxing world of pleasure
A pleasure that'll take my mind off the reality of my life
My past life
Life as I know it know
And whatever may come, it slowly disappears
To somewhere in the back of my mind
It will remain there until I wish to retrieve it
Yes I will stay here for a while for I need the break
A break from the pressures of life
And everything that lay in the palm of life's hands, life's hands
This mode is incredible
It's out of this world
Too bad I must always leave it
But that's life
That's life (yeah)
That's life (yeah)
That's life (yeah)
Yes, yes, yes, yes, oh yes
A pleasure that'll take my mind off the reality of my life
My past life
Life as I know it know
And whatever may come, it slowly disappears
To somewhere in the back of my mind
It will remain there until I wish to retrieve it
Yes I will stay here for a while for I need the break
A break from the pressures of life
And everything that lay in the palm of life's hands, life's hands
This mode is incredible
It's out of this world
Too bad I must always leave it
But that's life
That's life (yeah)
That's life (yeah)
That's life (yeah)
Yes, yes, yes, yes, oh yes
Lyrics submitted by Pharmaecopia
Gently Lyrics as written by Christopher Fehn Michael Shawn Crahan
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
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Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
i personally like this version better, dunno why
probally cuz its corey singing and not anders. corey has a better voice.
this song was actually written by anders. it is about escaping to the "umbra" a special place when u remeber the past and everything is perfect
Gently, my mind escapes to a relaxing world of pleasure. ;)
I think this song was totally great. They were able to start off slow and relaxing and end up releasing anger and screaming, beautiful.
Masturbation? Interesting. I like this version better, although i also prefer Corey's voice over Anders. Great song. When Anders wrote it he wrote about an escape to the spirit world, or the Umbra. Although Corey could have a different meaning behind it, which is probably why he decided to remake it.
I love this song, I like how it starts so slow and the pace increases, but the sound is so dark... it's wicked!
It's pretty much certain at this point that Gently was originally written about a place in the role-playing game Werewolf: the Apocalypse, but what I really like about the song is how it's not so much about that specific place, but rather about the state of escape that a person can achieve...
It could be anything. Drugs... masturbation... the Umbra... or the role-playing game itself. But it's an escape from the shitty world we live in... which also ties into Iowa's (the entire album) theme of hating society and wanting to be separate from it.
What I find interesting is that while the lyrics are rather laid-back, the song actually gets louder, more intense, and more violent as it goes along. This leads me to believe that to Slipknot, the "world of pleasure" in the song has come to refer to playing their music, where they can ignore the rest of the world and just let it all go.
i think its basicly about anything that gets you're mind off all the crap thats going on in you're life... like my guitar... when im playing my guitar ... my mind is not thinking about my shitty marks in school .... then after im done playing im like "Oh Shit exams are coming!!!"
I agree, it is probably about anything that you love the most.
sorry i like this better than the mfkr one too