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."
Kiss me on the forehead, angel, before I go to sleep.
I can't remember if it's Thursday or December.
I've been keeping track of days by counting hangovers and bottles on my floor.
My mangled memory is making me mistake misfortune for forgiveness.
I don't think I'll make it out alive.
So promise me that you'll survive to bury me.
Just empty all the alcohol and chronicle the chemicals, but don't forget the cigarettes.
Remember every ember.
Alright, I admit that past few months were broken and abused.
Now I'm used to the bleeding and unspoken words that kept me so confused.
Maybe we can get past these addictions,
But the bodies piling up are a whole other story unless your stomach's strong enough.
Hell, maybe we can just pretend that this recovery,
Won't depend on moderation and in the end the same routine won't leave me dead.
Just empty all the alcohol...or baby, we're dead.
Tomorrow we'll wake up in time to stop this double suicide through kisses laced with cyanide
And one last look through blood shot eyes.
I guess this is what they call killing yourself in small doses.
I can't remember if it's Thursday or December.
I've been keeping track of days by counting hangovers and bottles on my floor.
My mangled memory is making me mistake misfortune for forgiveness.
I don't think I'll make it out alive.
So promise me that you'll survive to bury me.
Just empty all the alcohol and chronicle the chemicals, but don't forget the cigarettes.
Remember every ember.
Alright, I admit that past few months were broken and abused.
Now I'm used to the bleeding and unspoken words that kept me so confused.
Maybe we can get past these addictions,
But the bodies piling up are a whole other story unless your stomach's strong enough.
Hell, maybe we can just pretend that this recovery,
Won't depend on moderation and in the end the same routine won't leave me dead.
Just empty all the alcohol...or baby, we're dead.
Tomorrow we'll wake up in time to stop this double suicide through kisses laced with cyanide
And one last look through blood shot eyes.
I guess this is what they call killing yourself in small doses.
Lyrics submitted by BoysWithAsterisks
The Fine Art of Making It Out Alive Lyrics as written by Janice Lenora Robinson Giovanni Visnadi
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Royalty Network, Hipgnosis Songs Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Mountain Song
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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.
No Surprises
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How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
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Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
First off, awesome lyrics. This is obvously about someone suffering from addictions so bad they cant remeber jack shit. I think its also talking to someone about helping them recover, getting rid of "every ember" ..."or baby were dead". the song is pretty self explainatory, best lines are "Maybe we can get past these addictions, but the bodies piling up are a whole other story unless your stomach's strong enough." ps. i saw bno live, i need to see them again
This song applies SO much to people like me. Not that I'm and alcaholic or anything -takes sip of beer- No seriously now, it's really scary that lyrics like this actually apply to real life situations. It is what so many people are thinking, but are too shot to say anything about it. Powerful words.
I guess this is what they call killing yourself in small doses ...thats a great line. so ya basically the song is about addictions and such..and you realize your just slowly killing yourself and ruining your life.
I think the line about "killing yourself in small doses" is taken from High Fidelity. John Cusack says almost the exact same thing in reference to his habit of dwelling on his past relationships...like it's his addiction.
yes, i also thought that setitoff. because of that, i think the references to drug/alcohol addiction in this song are just metaphors for past relationships that failed. chilling song. especially because of the last line. i for one can't believe an amazing band like BNO came out of toronto.
"killing yourself in small doses" is a commonly used phrase BNO even said "what they call..." I agree with vulgar; I doubt this is really about drug abuse. Why would you make something so literal? I think it's about selfishness "survive to bury me" - they say that twice in the actual song. If it was about love they would be saying "I will survive to vury you"
man this track is so good. how good are the lyrics? fuckn hell