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 one knows what it's like
To be the bad man
To be the sad man
Behind blue eyes
And no one knows what it's like
To be hated
To be fated to telling only lies
But my dreams they aren't as empty
As my conscience seems to be
I have hours, only lonely
My love is vengeance
That's never free
No one knows what it's like
To feel these feelings
Like I do
And I blame you (you, you, you)
No one bites back as hard
On their anger
None of my pain and woe
Can show through
But my dreams they aren't as empty
As my conscience seems to be
I have hours, only lonely
My love is vengeance
That's never free
(Discover)
(L.I.M.P.)
(Say it)
(Discover)
(L.I.M.P.)
(Say it)
(Discover)
(L.I.M.P.)
(Say it)
(Discover)
(L.I.M.P.)
(Say it)
(Discover)
No one knows what it's like
To be mistreated, to be defeated
Behind blue eyes
And no one knows how to say
That they're sorry and don't worry
I'm not telling lies
But my dreams, they aren't as empty
As my conscience seems to be
I have hours, only lonely
My love is vengeance
That's never free
No one knows what it's like
To be the bad man
To be the sad man
Behind blue eyes
To be the bad man
To be the sad man
Behind blue eyes
And no one knows what it's like
To be hated
To be fated to telling only lies
But my dreams they aren't as empty
As my conscience seems to be
I have hours, only lonely
My love is vengeance
That's never free
No one knows what it's like
To feel these feelings
Like I do
And I blame you (you, you, you)
No one bites back as hard
On their anger
None of my pain and woe
Can show through
But my dreams they aren't as empty
As my conscience seems to be
I have hours, only lonely
My love is vengeance
That's never free
(Discover)
(L.I.M.P.)
(Say it)
(Discover)
(L.I.M.P.)
(Say it)
(Discover)
(L.I.M.P.)
(Say it)
(Discover)
(L.I.M.P.)
(Say it)
(Discover)
No one knows what it's like
To be mistreated, to be defeated
Behind blue eyes
And no one knows how to say
That they're sorry and don't worry
I'm not telling lies
But my dreams, they aren't as empty
As my conscience seems to be
I have hours, only lonely
My love is vengeance
That's never free
No one knows what it's like
To be the bad man
To be the sad man
Behind blue eyes
Lyrics submitted by Prime_Knight, edited by TheKLF99
Behind Blue Eyes Lyrics as written by Pete Townshend
Lyrics © Spirit Music Group, Songtrust Ave, Abkco Music Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Mountain Song
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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,
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“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.
Take it for what it is, people seem to harp on things (especially covers or remakes of things) a lot... and that's because its the easiest thing to do and to sound like you know what your talking about and that your totally awesome. When in reality, people that have any brains can see right through your bullshit.
Now, I am not a huge Limp Bizkit fan, it was bigger on me when I was young, and even then, I could only tolerate some of it. Also, though I do not listen to The Who, I respect them. The Who surely did a lot more for rock than Limp Bizkit did. The Who just existed and were popular before my time and the way they sound, just isn't my cup of tea; mostly because when I grew up, the music I was listening to was different. Its just all what you are used to.
That said, no matter who covered this song, or what they did to it or whether they kept it exactly the same I'm sure that most the people bitchin' on here would still be bitchin'. Its a cover, if you like the original better, go listen to it, that's totally acceptable, its what your used to. Nobody is making you listen to this song. I feel as though Limp Bizkit did a good job of capturing the main point of the song and its emotion, but in a more modern sound. This is one of the things that Fred Durst got right, give him credit as a musician to recognize how good this song really is and putting his own little spin on it.
What I'm saying is you don't have to like everything, nobody does, but give respect where its due under all the circumstances. Realize that the real world is more than just black and white. Its easy to see when reading through the comments of who "gets it" and who is a moron that likes making things easy for themselves so they can feel better about themselves.