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."
She lifted the monument in her monumental arms
She was the mother superior with carry-on luggage charms
She was this androgynous powder nosed girl next door
She had eaten her dog and he was back for more back for more
Her gym teacher thought himself a sweat sock demi god
Her geraniums thought themselves an alien pod
Her front porch gave way beneath classified weight
And when the ambulance came they said it's much too late oh it's much too late
Now the people of New Guinea and the people of LA
Have been pen pals for years cause they both hate ballet
Only the pandas and bears have made a clean getaway
But the news bulletin claims it's gonna be OK
Now Miss Lucy had a sweatshop where the immigrants worked
Problem was they all turned to pumpkins at the twelve o'clock stroke
Promptly confiscated by police precinct number X
That was when the alien geraniums demanded the facts
No violence of course; no violence of course; hey no violence of course. Of course? Why yes, of course!
Here the story gets hazy and the hair gets too long
The TV gets quiet as we hear a real bad song
The mothers get whiskey, and the girlfriends get tongue
And there's a back of a truck selling smoke free lungs
There's a back of a truck selling alien pods
There's a back of a truck selling game show hosts
There's a back of a truck selling the souls of the dead
There's a back of a truck selling crumb free bread....This is New York!
There's a back of a truck selling the back of a car
There's a back of a car selling roadway maps
There are roadway maps selling the back of a head
Hey how much for that back of a head, man?
Hey wait a minute that's my back of a head
Hey you can't sell that man
That's mine
Hey sell it back to me man
Hey sell it back to me
It's mine!
She lifted the monument in her monumental arms
She was the mother superior with carry-on luggage charms
She was this androgynous powder nosed girl next door
She had eaten her dog and he was back for more
Back for more, back for more.
She was the mother superior with carry-on luggage charms
She was this androgynous powder nosed girl next door
She had eaten her dog and he was back for more back for more
Her gym teacher thought himself a sweat sock demi god
Her geraniums thought themselves an alien pod
Her front porch gave way beneath classified weight
And when the ambulance came they said it's much too late oh it's much too late
Now the people of New Guinea and the people of LA
Have been pen pals for years cause they both hate ballet
Only the pandas and bears have made a clean getaway
But the news bulletin claims it's gonna be OK
Now Miss Lucy had a sweatshop where the immigrants worked
Problem was they all turned to pumpkins at the twelve o'clock stroke
Promptly confiscated by police precinct number X
That was when the alien geraniums demanded the facts
No violence of course; no violence of course; hey no violence of course. Of course? Why yes, of course!
Here the story gets hazy and the hair gets too long
The TV gets quiet as we hear a real bad song
The mothers get whiskey, and the girlfriends get tongue
And there's a back of a truck selling smoke free lungs
There's a back of a truck selling alien pods
There's a back of a truck selling game show hosts
There's a back of a truck selling the souls of the dead
There's a back of a truck selling crumb free bread....This is New York!
There's a back of a truck selling the back of a car
There's a back of a car selling roadway maps
There are roadway maps selling the back of a head
Hey how much for that back of a head, man?
Hey wait a minute that's my back of a head
Hey you can't sell that man
That's mine
Hey sell it back to me man
Hey sell it back to me
It's mine!
She lifted the monument in her monumental arms
She was the mother superior with carry-on luggage charms
She was this androgynous powder nosed girl next door
She had eaten her dog and he was back for more
Back for more, back for more.
Lyrics submitted by geekusa, edited by brian10002
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Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
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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,
When We Were Young
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Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
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.
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.
I instantly thought of this poor, suburban "androgynous Girl Next Door" who decides to run away to the city. She can't stand her old life with her disgusting gym teacher (I felt like there was some sexual connotation there) and her obese mother (who falls through the porch). All she has at home are geraniums, who seem so exceptional (like "alien pods") compared to the rest of her dreary life. She hears about the city through a friend, and she's eaten up the glorified image of it ("she had eaten her dog, and she was back for more").
She hits New York City. There's people from New Guinea and L.A., there's violence, and sweatshops. "The story gets hazy and the hair gets too long" as she falls in with a bad lot, so to speak. "The mothers get whiskey" (drunk) and "the girlfriends get tongue" (fall into prostitution). Everyone sells everything out of a cart or the "back of a truck." They'll sell anything just for a little cash to live, from their own body parts ("smoke free lungs"), to farcical sensationalist nonsense ("alien pods"), to sex and slavery ("the souls of the dead"). They sell ways out of the city too (backs of cars and roadway maps). But at one point, Girl Next Door goes too far. She sells something too valuable, too personal (represented by "the back of a head"). She tries and tries to get it back, but "this is New York," and the people are harsh and hard-hearted.
In the end, she's stuck in New York City with nothing. She's still waiting around, trying to get somewhere. But things look very bleak in this cruel, yet glamorous city...
WOW!!! Now I see the lyrics more clearly. Thank you.