In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Broken windows and empty hallways
A pale dead moon in the sky streaked with gray
Human kindness is overflowing
And I think it's going to rain today
Scarecrows dressed in the latest styles
With frozen smiles to chase love away
Human kindness is overflowing
And I think it's going to rain today
Lonely, lonely
Tin can at my feet
Think I'll kick it down the street
That's the way to treat a friend
Bright before me the signs implore me
Help the needy and show them the way
Human kindness is overflowing
And I think it's going to rain today
A pale dead moon in the sky streaked with gray
Human kindness is overflowing
And I think it's going to rain today
Scarecrows dressed in the latest styles
With frozen smiles to chase love away
Human kindness is overflowing
And I think it's going to rain today
Lonely, lonely
Tin can at my feet
Think I'll kick it down the street
That's the way to treat a friend
Bright before me the signs implore me
Help the needy and show them the way
Human kindness is overflowing
And I think it's going to rain today
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"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."
Mountain Song
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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.
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Well, "Beaches" is one of my favorite movies and I think she did a stellar job covering Bette Midler.
Touching melody with beautiful images. A Randy Newman classic!
Difficult to decipher the meaning though. Seems like a song about a cold superficial society with a friendly appearance.. We are being 'drowned' in insignificant kindness( 'Human kindness is overflowing And I think it's going to rain today'); we have to help and guide each other, but at the end of the day nobody REALLY cares!
Or am I on a totally different track??
I could really see this played for one of those television...save the children kind of initiative. I think it serves as a paradox. We people are all full of a capacity to love, - "human kindness is overflowing"- we belong to this type of community where we should be able to love and care for one another. Even so, to the singer, or to any individual person, the world is a sad, lonely, and cold place. In the end, you find you stand alone.
The verses just talk about how we run our lives trying to be happy, to show we are okay...Scarecrows in new fashions, frozen smiles. We can't be vulnerable to the feeling of being alone, especially not to other people.
This song was also played in the season 5 finale of Gilmore Girls, and I think it was placed well, although its meaning in the show's context was different.
It was probably meant to show, that after several years, a really strong bond, a loving and caring mother-daughter relationship relationship has just crumbled. Both feel abandoned and hurt, and yet they try to compose themselves, hide their feelings lest they break down.