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."
I was on my way to the center of the sun
When I lost my wings and I fell into a crowd
And they carried me to a hole in the ground
And they buried me, where no one could see
And no one would be around
I
I am a virus
I
I live in silence
I was on my way to a city in the clouds
When I lost my mind and I had to settle down
Then I had a dream of an island in the sea where the lepers die
Where no one survives and no one can hear the cries
I
I am a virus
I live in silence
Just like heathens thinking
On our feet we'll believe in God
With one step, two steps, three steps toward the graveyard
On the high road to remembering
It seems that we forgot
I am a virus
I
I live in silence
When I lost my wings and I fell into a crowd
And they carried me to a hole in the ground
And they buried me, where no one could see
And no one would be around
I
I am a virus
I
I live in silence
I was on my way to a city in the clouds
When I lost my mind and I had to settle down
Then I had a dream of an island in the sea where the lepers die
Where no one survives and no one can hear the cries
I
I am a virus
I live in silence
Just like heathens thinking
On our feet we'll believe in God
With one step, two steps, three steps toward the graveyard
On the high road to remembering
It seems that we forgot
I am a virus
I
I live in silence
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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.
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.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
(I corrected some lyrics.)
I think the entire album's lyrics have a spiritual focus, this song is no different.
I was on my way to the center of the sun when i lost my wings and i fell into the crowd and they carried me to a hole in the ground and they buried me where no one can see and no one would be around
It's clearly related to the Icarus story, and the buried part seems to be about dying and being buried in a casket. Maybe he tried to do too much, go too far, and died for his trouble?
I was on my way to a city in the clouds when i lost my mind and i had to settle down then i had a dream of an island in the sea where the lepers die where no one survives where no one can hear the cries
If you just saw, "city in the clouds," you'd think of heaven. So let's go from there: he was on his way to heaven, but he lost his mind (his faith?) and had to settle down (into the secular world). Then he dreams of a place where the lepers die. What do lepers remind you of? For most Christians it's the mny times in the bible Jesus heals leprosy. So then a place "where the lepers die" would be where Jesus wasn't there to help him. So to counter the previous verse about heaven, maybe this one is about hell?
just like heathens thinking on our feet believe in god we're one step two step three steps toward the graveyards on the high road to remembering it seems that we forgot
The first part of this is about how people who aren't Christian can "become" believers when they are threatened with death (the "graveyard"). The last two lines don't seem connected with that - something about how we've all lost our connection to true religion as we try to seek it.
Overall Chris Cornell's lyrics kick immense ass.