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."
Crazy Janey and her mission man
Were back in the alley tradin' hands
'Long came Wild Billy with his friend G-Man
All duded up for Saturday night
Well, Billy slammed on his coaster brakes
And said, "Anybody want to go on up to Greasy Lake?
It's about a mile down on the dark side of Route 88
I got a bottle of rose so let's try it
We'll pick up Hazy Davy and Killer Joe
And I'll take you all out to where the gypsy angels go
They're built like light
Ooh, and they dance like spirits in the night (all night)
In the night (all night)
Oh, you don't know what they can do to you
Spirits in the night (all night)
Oh, in the night (all night)
Stand right up now and let it shoot through you
Well now, Wild Billy was a crazy cat
And he shook some dust out of his coonskin cap
He said, "Trust some of this, it'll show you where you're at
Or at least it'll help you really feel it"
By the time we made it up to Greasy Lake
I had my head out the window and Janey's fingers were in the cake
I think I really dug her 'cause I was too loose to fake
I said, I'm hurt, she said, honey, let me heal it
And we danced all night to a soul fairy band
And she kissed me just right, like only a lonely angel can
She felt so nice
Just as soft as a spirit in the night (all night)
In the night (all night)
Oh, Janey don't know what she do to you
Like a spirit in the night (all night)
All night (all night)
I stand right up and I let her shoot through me
(Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh)
(Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh)
(Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh)
(Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh)
Now, the night was bright and the stars threw light
On Billy and Davy dancin' in the moonlight
They were down near the water in a stone mud fight
Killer Joe gone passed out on the lawn
Well now, Hazy Davy got really hurt
He ran into the lake in just his socks and his shirt
Me and Crazy Janey was makin' love in the dirt
Singin' our birthday songs
Janey said it was time to go
So we closed our eyes and said goodbye to Gypsy Angel Row
Felt so right
Together we moved like spirits in the night (all night)
In the night (all night)
Oh, you don't know what they can do to you
Them spirits in the night (all night)
All night (all night)
Oh, stand right up and let her shoot through you
Like a spirit in the night (all night)
All night (all night)
All night (all night)
All night (all night)
All night (all night)
All night (all night)
All night
Be-da-ba the night
All night
In the night
In the night
Were back in the alley tradin' hands
'Long came Wild Billy with his friend G-Man
All duded up for Saturday night
Well, Billy slammed on his coaster brakes
And said, "Anybody want to go on up to Greasy Lake?
It's about a mile down on the dark side of Route 88
I got a bottle of rose so let's try it
We'll pick up Hazy Davy and Killer Joe
And I'll take you all out to where the gypsy angels go
They're built like light
Ooh, and they dance like spirits in the night (all night)
In the night (all night)
Oh, you don't know what they can do to you
Spirits in the night (all night)
Oh, in the night (all night)
Stand right up now and let it shoot through you
Well now, Wild Billy was a crazy cat
And he shook some dust out of his coonskin cap
He said, "Trust some of this, it'll show you where you're at
Or at least it'll help you really feel it"
By the time we made it up to Greasy Lake
I had my head out the window and Janey's fingers were in the cake
I think I really dug her 'cause I was too loose to fake
I said, I'm hurt, she said, honey, let me heal it
And we danced all night to a soul fairy band
And she kissed me just right, like only a lonely angel can
She felt so nice
Just as soft as a spirit in the night (all night)
In the night (all night)
Oh, Janey don't know what she do to you
Like a spirit in the night (all night)
All night (all night)
I stand right up and I let her shoot through me
(Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh)
(Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh)
(Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh)
(Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh)
Now, the night was bright and the stars threw light
On Billy and Davy dancin' in the moonlight
They were down near the water in a stone mud fight
Killer Joe gone passed out on the lawn
Well now, Hazy Davy got really hurt
He ran into the lake in just his socks and his shirt
Me and Crazy Janey was makin' love in the dirt
Singin' our birthday songs
Janey said it was time to go
So we closed our eyes and said goodbye to Gypsy Angel Row
Felt so right
Together we moved like spirits in the night (all night)
In the night (all night)
Oh, you don't know what they can do to you
Them spirits in the night (all night)
All night (all night)
Oh, stand right up and let her shoot through you
Like a spirit in the night (all night)
All night (all night)
All night (all night)
All night (all night)
All night (all night)
All night (all night)
All night
Be-da-ba the night
All night
In the night
In the night
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Always come back to this song when feeling a little homesick..Grew up close to rt 88 in Brick,N.J .back in the 80s, and can relate to the lyrics, both in a nostagic and geographic sense.As a later stage teenager we spent many nights together in the Pine Barrens with similar experiences,a sort of coming of age,transitional phase. We certainly had the spirits in the night all around us.