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."
Take your eyes off me
There's nothing here to see
Just trying to keep my head together
And as we make our vow
Let us remember how
There's nothing good that lasts forever.
Time out on the running boards
We're running
Through a world that's lost its meaning
Trying to find a way to love
This running
Ain't no kind of freedom.
Feel the touch of grief
You stand in disbelief
Can steal the earth from right
Beneath you
And falling in so far
They know just where you are
Yeah but there ain't no way
To reach you.
Time out on the running boards
We're running
Through a world that's lost its meaning
Trying to find a way to love
This running
Ain't no kind of freedom.
Of freedom
Yeah yeah
It's time to clean these boots
Fold up there parachutes
The words goodbye but I can't say it
The end is close at hand
I think we understand
There ain't no use in trying to delay it.
There's nothing here to see
Just trying to keep my head together
And as we make our vow
Let us remember how
There's nothing good that lasts forever.
Time out on the running boards
We're running
Through a world that's lost its meaning
Trying to find a way to love
This running
Ain't no kind of freedom.
Feel the touch of grief
You stand in disbelief
Can steal the earth from right
Beneath you
And falling in so far
They know just where you are
Yeah but there ain't no way
To reach you.
Time out on the running boards
We're running
Through a world that's lost its meaning
Trying to find a way to love
This running
Ain't no kind of freedom.
Of freedom
Yeah yeah
It's time to clean these boots
Fold up there parachutes
The words goodbye but I can't say it
The end is close at hand
I think we understand
There ain't no use in trying to delay it.
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More Featured Meanings
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.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
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.
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.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
"It's time to clean these boots Fold up these parachutes"
Soldier?
"Fasten on my mask"
Gas mask?
"I know this work is never finished"
Is it not said that the fight for freedom is never finished?
Just wondering if/how this ties in with going to war.
"Feel the touch of grief You stand in disbelief Can steal the earth from right beneath you"
And perhaps getting news that your boyfriend/husband was KIA...?
Incedible. One of the man's best songs and no other comments?
Incedible. One of the man's best songs and no other comments?
I think it was written when his Dad died. Don't think it is about his Dad as such, but more a reflection on the world. In fact, was this song written 9/11 era? "running through a world thats lost its meaning"?
I was just listening to this song. It's so beautiful.
It's easy to sell this one simply to death but I think it describes all of depression really. The whole song simply describes what it's like to grieve in a world that only feeds you more and more. I love this song, and agree, it's absolute perfection.
I think its about losing someone, and knowing its going to happen but not quite being able to bring yourself to say it. My best friend broke up with his girlfriend of a year, and realising that it just wasn;t right anymore, and i remember him saying it this is the part that he could really relate to: The word's goodbye but I can't say it The end is close at hand I think we understand There ain't no use trying to delay it The part about the end is close at hand means deep down they both know they can;t go on, and there isn;t any point trying to delay it or put it off anymore. The line that really meant something to him though,w as the "the words goodbye but i can;t say it", meaning that he cared about her so much, and just couldn;t bring himself to say goodbye but he knew he had to. amazing song
This song makes me cry.
I think it's a bit ironic how the song is called 'Freedom' when 'free' is the last thing he wishes to be. This song is so sad.
For me this song is somewhat about a loss of someone close , "The words goodbye but I can't say it", he was obviously hurt by this but I get a feeling he felt quite oppressed and dominated to a degree by this person- hence the title. Furthermore I think he's writing about how he has now escaped this person, "I can still see you dancing Laughing loud and undiminished"