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."
Come and open up your folding chair next to me
My feet are buried in the sand and there's a breeze
There's a shadow, you can't see my eyes
And the sea is just a wetter version of the skies
Let's get a silver bullet trailer and have a baby boy
I'll safety-pin his clothes all cool and you'll graffiti up his toys
I've got a perfect body, though sometimes I forget
I've got a perfect body cause my eyelashes catch my sweat
Yes, they do, they do
Now I've been sitting on this abandoned beach for years
Waiting for the salty water to cover up my ears
But every time the tide come in to take me home
I get scared, and I'm sitting here alone
Dreaming of the dolphin song
Maybe one day you will understand
I don't want nothing from you but to sweetly hold your hand
Till that day just please don't be so down
Don't make frowns, you silly clown
Just come and open up your folding chair next to me
My feet are buried in the sand and there's a breeze
There's a shadow, you can't see my eyes
And the waves are just a frothier version of the skies
There's a shadow, you can't see my eyes
There's a shadow, you can't see my eyes, eyes
My feet are buried in the sand and there's a breeze
There's a shadow, you can't see my eyes
And the sea is just a wetter version of the skies
Let's get a silver bullet trailer and have a baby boy
I'll safety-pin his clothes all cool and you'll graffiti up his toys
I've got a perfect body, though sometimes I forget
I've got a perfect body cause my eyelashes catch my sweat
Yes, they do, they do
Now I've been sitting on this abandoned beach for years
Waiting for the salty water to cover up my ears
But every time the tide come in to take me home
I get scared, and I'm sitting here alone
Dreaming of the dolphin song
Maybe one day you will understand
I don't want nothing from you but to sweetly hold your hand
Till that day just please don't be so down
Don't make frowns, you silly clown
Just come and open up your folding chair next to me
My feet are buried in the sand and there's a breeze
There's a shadow, you can't see my eyes
And the waves are just a frothier version of the skies
There's a shadow, you can't see my eyes
There's a shadow, you can't see my eyes, eyes
Lyrics submitted by medicine, edited by nickireland7, ElectraHeart
Folding Chair Lyrics as written by Regina Spektor
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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More Featured Meanings
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,
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.
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.
I think the meaning of this song is alot simpler than some of the posts I read. I mean it makes sense...the scene Regina so beautifully portrays is very simple--she's sitting on a beach, there's a breeze--there's no real action. Even the imagery suggests simplicity--the sea is just a wetter version of the sky. Once this image of simplicity is grasped, the song meaning is much more easily understood... This woman enjoys keeping things simple. She thinks she wants real love--a serious committed relationship (Now I've been sitting on this abandoned beach for years Waiting for the salty water to cover up my ears), but every time things start to turn serious or complicated with a guy, she gets scared and winds up alone.(But every time the tide come in to take me home...I get scared NOW I'm sitting here alone) So she wants this person she begins addressing toward the end of the song to keep things simple with her, to simply hold her hand, to just come open up his folding chair next to hers. But still, the complexity lies in this line here: "There's a shadow, You can't see my eyes" Its obviously important because of its repetition and appearance at the beginning and end of the song. She is content keeping things simple with a guy, just having someone around, but she still truly longs for real love that will come and sweep her away like a tide--only problem is she's scared to death of this. This is why its important that he can't see her eyes. He can't see her deep longings and fears. She wants to keep things simple so she does not let him see her real feelings, but because she does not let guys see her real feelings, things will stay simple, she won't find serious love which is secretly something she wants but is just scared of.