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 want to weave a musical spell
That leaves you unwell and thinking of me everyday
I want to play you a tune that leaves you marooned and troubled
Each time I'm away
Is there a melody - that could lead you to me - like a lullabied child led to sleep?
So for one moment in time, you'd find that you're mine
And softly I'd kiss you and weep
I want to write a simple song that's so frequently sung
That you call me to have the thing banned
Who's sound so endears that whole nations cheer and sigh
When you take my hand
Is there a melody - that could lead you to me - like a lullabied child led to sleep?
So for one moment in time you'd find that you're mine
And softly I'd kiss you and weep
God I'm a gambler that just wants to lose and be allowed to leave
I'm a traveler - with one last mile my journey is complete
I'm like a swallow that wants one long last look, before flying east
Last on my list - and then I quit - to kiss your lips and weep
I want to play a silver note that fills you with hope
And tames you to feed from my hand
A turquoise chord that invites you to soar
And fly...to a faraway land
A symphony that gently leads you to sit and be still with me
And grief doesn't frighten me
At its worst it delights me
'Cause I want to kiss you and weep
I'm a gambler that just wants to lose and be allowed to leave
I'm a traveler - with one last mile my journey is complete
I'm like a swallow that wants one long last look before flying east
Last on my list - and then I quit - to kiss your lips and weep
Is there a melody - that could lead you to me - like a lullabied child led to sleep?
So for one moment in time you'd find that you're mine
And softly I'd kiss you and weep
So for one moment in time you'd find that you're mine
And softly I'd kiss you and weep
That leaves you unwell and thinking of me everyday
I want to play you a tune that leaves you marooned and troubled
Each time I'm away
Is there a melody - that could lead you to me - like a lullabied child led to sleep?
So for one moment in time, you'd find that you're mine
And softly I'd kiss you and weep
I want to write a simple song that's so frequently sung
That you call me to have the thing banned
Who's sound so endears that whole nations cheer and sigh
When you take my hand
Is there a melody - that could lead you to me - like a lullabied child led to sleep?
So for one moment in time you'd find that you're mine
And softly I'd kiss you and weep
God I'm a gambler that just wants to lose and be allowed to leave
I'm a traveler - with one last mile my journey is complete
I'm like a swallow that wants one long last look, before flying east
Last on my list - and then I quit - to kiss your lips and weep
I want to play a silver note that fills you with hope
And tames you to feed from my hand
A turquoise chord that invites you to soar
And fly...to a faraway land
A symphony that gently leads you to sit and be still with me
And grief doesn't frighten me
At its worst it delights me
'Cause I want to kiss you and weep
I'm a gambler that just wants to lose and be allowed to leave
I'm a traveler - with one last mile my journey is complete
I'm like a swallow that wants one long last look before flying east
Last on my list - and then I quit - to kiss your lips and weep
Is there a melody - that could lead you to me - like a lullabied child led to sleep?
So for one moment in time you'd find that you're mine
And softly I'd kiss you and weep
So for one moment in time you'd find that you're mine
And softly I'd kiss you and weep
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
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,
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
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.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
I wrote this for a newspaper review and blog once:
A long, long time ago (around 2002), I can still remember how a piece of music used to make me smile. And though the critics, given the chance, used to lump it under ‘dance’, there were classicists who were happy for a while. I refer to a particular moment in my favourite album ever, Rob Dougan’s Furious Angels.
[...]
Furious Angels is the perfect album because, for me, it tells a story. As the opening titles fade out from Prelude we get the beginning action sequence in the title track, not making sense but whetting our appetites for what is to come. The scene is then set in Will You Follow Me? Here we visit our hero’s home (it could almost be the Shire), a brightly coloured and triumphant scene before the first betrayal, Left Me For Dead, and our first frenzied wail of rejection in I’m Not Driving Anymore. And from there, we keep digging, the scene getting darker and darker and more and more intense until we can take it no more, when the orchestra is abandoned and the black and white visuals of the story so far make way for our hero sat at a piano alone in the corner of a smoky bar with half a dozen whisky chasers behind him and his dreams torn to shatters and all he wants… all he wants, is to kiss her lips and weep.
I refer to Drinking Song. This is the moment from a long, long time ago (around 2002) when a piece of music used to make me smile. It not only tells a story, but in fact Rob’s voice actually takes the role of our character. With each lonely piano note you long for the heroine to return and complete our hero’s list, to carry the traveller his last mile, to be with him to cherish that long, last look of the swallow preparing to fly east.
Needless to say, I love this song so much. When I had it blaring out in the car last week and some birds actually fluttered up around me on the second the strings take flight, a tear actually came to my eye. Sometimes music really can soothe the savage beast.