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."
Where once was light
Now darkness falls
Where once was love
Love is no more
Don't say - goodbye
Don't say - I didn't try...
These tears we cry
Are falling rain
For all the lies
You told us
The hurt, the blame
And we will weep
To be so alone
We are lost
We can never go home
So in the end
I will be what I will be
No loyal friend
Was ever there for me
Now we say - goodbye
We say - you didn't try...
These tears you cry
Have come too late
Take back the lies
The hurt, the blame
And you will weep
When you face the end alone
You are lost
You can never go home
You are lost
You can never go home
Now darkness falls
Where once was love
Love is no more
Don't say - goodbye
Don't say - I didn't try...
These tears we cry
Are falling rain
For all the lies
You told us
The hurt, the blame
And we will weep
To be so alone
We are lost
We can never go home
So in the end
I will be what I will be
No loyal friend
Was ever there for me
Now we say - goodbye
We say - you didn't try...
These tears you cry
Have come too late
Take back the lies
The hurt, the blame
And you will weep
When you face the end alone
You are lost
You can never go home
You are lost
You can never go home
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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,
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
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.
I love this song. It describes Gollum perfectly because he used to have such a better life 'till he found the ring and it destroyed him. It shows how he feels betrayed by everybody because they turn him away. The story of Gollum is so sad because he could have such a better life if he could give up the ring, but because it's so corruptive and he'd had it so long before, there's no way he can get away from it. This song describes him feeling that there's no hope left for him and then starting in the second verse how he feels there's no hope for Frodo and Sam either. It makes me sad because there really WAS no hope for him. He wasn't as strong as Frodo and he'd had the ring for at least 500 years, which explains why he looked and acted the way he did. Besides the book and movie meaning, this song makes me think of people in the world who feel betrayed and alone and the ones who feel there's no hope for themselves. For those people I just wanna say: God loves you no matter what, even if you don't beleive he exists at all. He knew when he sent Jesus that not everybody would accept him, but he loved us so much that he sent him anyway. What really gets me is that Jesus CHOSE to go through it all. Jesus said that if he wanted he could call 12 legions of angels to save him. ONE legion is 12,000, so that means there were 72,000 angels waiting for his command. But he still didn't call them. He chose to stay on the cross and die for us because he loved us too much to live without us. I think the people who feel the way Gollum does wouldn't feel that way if they gave their hearts to God, but that's between them and God. To meursaultsrevolver I just wanna say that I think they put Arwen in so many times bcuz they thought people would want to know what happens between her and Aragorn. Not everybody has read the books and they would want to know why she was in one movie and then left out of the others until the end. I guess that's just the way they had to do it. Anyway, I love the books, I love the movies, and I love this song.
Love always in Christ,
MrReallyBigBadMan