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."
headlights and red eyes
a warm beer between your thighs
mess of pills hollywood hills
red lights, read me my rights
goin in a circle gettin tighter every turn
think youre getting better but youre never quite sure
say its all ahead of you
how far can you see
youre living on your knees
driver please find your feet
the lights green but you spaced the keys
youre goin fast but it wont last
youre all speed and no gas
goin in a circle never getting to the point
burning up the atmosphere my rocketship boy
you say theres a finish line
youre already beat
youre livin on your knees
my only son
you look so sad
but youre so young
you get so high
you're all alone rocketboy
come home
notebook, some notes you took
a big head, with a crooked hook
your best friend is you again
you cant win, but you wont give in
goin in a circle gettin lower every time
say it isnt hurting but i never see you smile
asking for the doctor and calling you a priest
youre livin on your knees rocketboy
you burn so bright
and i believe
you light so beautifully
when you get high
you're all alone rocketboy
come home
dad its me again, i hate to call
could you come down, theres been an accident
with you involved
yes sir, no sir
they say im worse
got home, cried alone
a video was surely shown
no one knows i came this close
to being me, but i lost us both
goin in a circle and its keepin you around
you've been here forever but youve never been found
you didn't want a witness and i didn't want to see
you're livin on your knees rocketboy
my only son you look so sad
but youre so young
you get so high
you're all alone rocketboy
come home
a warm beer between your thighs
mess of pills hollywood hills
red lights, read me my rights
goin in a circle gettin tighter every turn
think youre getting better but youre never quite sure
say its all ahead of you
how far can you see
youre living on your knees
driver please find your feet
the lights green but you spaced the keys
youre goin fast but it wont last
youre all speed and no gas
goin in a circle never getting to the point
burning up the atmosphere my rocketship boy
you say theres a finish line
youre already beat
youre livin on your knees
my only son
you look so sad
but youre so young
you get so high
you're all alone rocketboy
come home
notebook, some notes you took
a big head, with a crooked hook
your best friend is you again
you cant win, but you wont give in
goin in a circle gettin lower every time
say it isnt hurting but i never see you smile
asking for the doctor and calling you a priest
youre livin on your knees rocketboy
you burn so bright
and i believe
you light so beautifully
when you get high
you're all alone rocketboy
come home
dad its me again, i hate to call
could you come down, theres been an accident
with you involved
yes sir, no sir
they say im worse
got home, cried alone
a video was surely shown
no one knows i came this close
to being me, but i lost us both
goin in a circle and its keepin you around
you've been here forever but youve never been found
you didn't want a witness and i didn't want to see
you're livin on your knees rocketboy
my only son you look so sad
but youre so young
you get so high
you're all alone rocketboy
come home
Lyrics submitted by superdavey
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Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
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."
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.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
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.
Okay, to sound completely songmeanings.net cliche, WHY DOESN'T THIS SONG HAVE MORE COMMENTS? I expected there to be at least 100, this song is amazing.
When it starts, I think the kid is just talking about himself, and he knows he's going down the wrong path. He's done some bad things, and made mistakes, and even when he thinks he's doing something better, he isn't. I think it's saying that he thinks it doesn't matter at that moment because he has his whole life ahead of him, but then the narrator is saying that he can't see that far into the future, because he's living on his knees (which I think means he's only living life half, not to the fullest).
Then , I think his dad is the narrator taking to him. He's telling him the happiness he thinks he has isn't really pure, and he's saying to just quit the foolishness and come back home, but the "rocket boy" doesn't want to hear it, and leaves instead of going home, and even though he knows he can't win, he's not going to give in to his father. Even though he resists him, his dad is still there for him and I think essentially he's saying "you're better than this, I know it."
Annnnnnnnnd so, it's Rocket Boy again talking to his dad. I think it's really just like him realizing that he's wrong and he needs to fix everything, saying there was an accident. Perhaps an overdose? Or purely just the whole mess was an accident. So Rocket Boy decides to finally go home, realizing what a situation he was in. My favorite line is "I came this close to being me, but I lost us both" but I don't know what that means as far as the story goes. I guess it's maybe like he thought his life was who he was meant to be, so he chose all the wrong things and instead of thriving, he lost who he really was and he lost who cared for him most.
Last verse, it's his dad talking to him again. Basically I believe he's saying that he's always been his son, but he's never been truly happy with himself as a person, and his dad realizes that he's sad. He's telling him that he's better than this, and he has his whole life to be what's "right."
This is really long, but basically I think it's about a kid who fucked up and his dad welcomed him back home with open arms.
Of course there are always deeper meanings and personal stories behind all of Blake Schwarzenback's songs, but this is how I see it.<br /> <br /> "headlights and red eyes<br /> a warm beer between your thighs<br /> mess of pills hollywood hills<br /> red lights, read me my rights"<br /> <br /> He's been drinking, doing drugs, and gets arrested while driving.<br /> <br /> "goin in a circle gettin tighter every turn<br /> think youre getting better but youre never quite sure<br /> say its all ahead of you<br /> how far can you see<br /> youre living on your knees"<br /> <br /> He keeps doing the same things. He's in denial that those things aren't helping him.<br /> <br /> "driver please find your feet<br /> the lights green but you spaced the keys<br /> youre goin fast but it wont last<br /> youre all speed and no gas"<br /> <br /> He has potential to do something with his life, but he's failing to do so. He's high on drugs all the time (possibly speed), and he knows his life is stalling because of it.<br /> <br /> "goin in a circle never getting to the point<br /> burning up the atmosphere my rocketship boy<br /> you say theres a finish line<br /> youre already beat<br /> youre livin on your knees<br /> my only son<br /> you look so sad<br /> but youre so young<br /> you get so high<br /> you're all alone rocketboy<br /> come home"<br /> <br /> The way he's living is destroying his life. Maybe he keeps saying to himself or others that he's going to quit, but he's already screwed up. He's on his knees (debilitated from drugs), so he can't see his future. He's still young in life, and he's very sad. He's a rocketboy cos he's "high" in space, where nobody else is. He's all alone.<br /> <br /> "notebook, some notes you took<br /> a big head, with a crooked hook<br /> your best friend is you again<br /> you cant win, but you wont give in"<br /> <br /> It's hard to tell what the first two lines are about, but I think maybe he found some old notes of his that he either wrote before the drugs started destroying him, or maybe notes he wrote to himself about how he has to quit. Maybe he's analyzing what he looks like in a mirror. He feels like he doesn't have any friends anymore, probably because he alienated himself, and he's the only one that can help himself. He thinks he can't make things better, but he's too stubborn to quit trying.<br /> <br /> "goin in a circle gettin lower every time<br /> say it isnt hurting but i never see you smile<br /> asking for the doctor and calling you a priest<br /> youre livin on your knees rocketboy<br /> you burn so bright<br /> and i believe<br /> you light so beautifully<br /> when you get high<br /> you're all alone rocketboy<br /> come home"<br /> <br /> His addiction keeps on making his life worse and worse. He keeps saying to himself that he's fine and not in pain, but he is. He's in such a bad way that he could die. He still has so much potential, and he burns bright in life. He could do so much with his life if he wanted to. He's unique and special.<br /> <br /> "dad its me again, i hate to call<br /> could you come down, theres been an accident<br /> with you involved<br /> yes sir, no sir<br /> they say im worse"<br /> <br /> This could be read in numerous ways (just like all of Blake's music, you'd need to hear the meaning straight from him, which in a way, would remove some of the magicalness of his songs.) He's gotten in some kind of accident and calls his father. I'm thinking that it's possible his Dad is actually dead, maybe from a car accident or drugs himself, and he's asking him to come down from Heaven. But that could just be my overactive imagination, heh. I think the questions his Dad is asking him are, "Are you on something? Are you safe and okay?" to which he replies, "Yes sir, no sir, they say I'm worse."<br /> <br /> "got home, cried alone<br /> a video was surely shown<br /> no one knows i came this close<br /> to being me, but i lost us both"<br /> <br /> When he got home, he cried. Maybe he was watching a home movie of when he was younger, or a video of him was shown to someone else? Or maybe a video was shown at somebody's funeral. I'm not sure. He had been really close to finding his way in life, but he lost the person he was then, and he's lost now.<br /> <br /> "goin in a circle and its keepin you around<br /> you've been here forever but youve never been found<br /> you didn't want a witness and i didn't want to see<br /> you're livin on your knees rocketboy<br /> my only son you look so sad<br /> but youre so young<br /> you get so high<br /> you're all alone rocketboy<br /> come home"<br /> <br /> I think he's either talking about drugs or himself. He didn't want to see what he was doing to himself. He wanted to be in denial of his addiction. <br /> <br /> No matter what way you see it, it's a very emotional song. I'll always love JTB, Jawbreaker, and anything else Mr. Schwarzenbach creates. And even though we've never met dear reader, I love you too, for we share the same taste in amazing, thought provoking, heart touching music.<br /> <br /> You're all alone rocketboy. Come home. <br />