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."
if you promise me
you won't leave first
if you promise me
you won't leave
clear the books of the pictures
summers between six and nineteen
you were younger
take them all off the wall
so you can see us all
alone and you're older
all for me and my
gemini
why can't i
watch out for july
gemini
eaten alive
from the inside
remember nights when we used to drive
i'm surprised that we're still alive
you didn't have any headlights on your car
we used to drive so slow
stick our heads out the window and breath in the night
you and lou at the U. '62
take a ride when cells divide
cause kansas doesn't make a continent
it just kills you
way out west
gemini
why can't i
watch out for july
gemini
eaten alive from the inside
and if you promise me
you won't leave first
if you promise me
you won't leave
all the things we'll miss you doing
stick around for kissing cousins
tasting blood you've got suspicions
convictions that carry you back home
gemini
why can't i
watch out for july
gemini
eaten alive from the inside
i think i'm tasting your blood again
have to have a suspicion
take a trip to the doctor
i wish that you were here right now
you said that you would never leave me
but now it looks like you're leaving
time is all we wish for a kiss if you were here right now
clear the books of the pictures
summers between six and nineteen
you were younger
take them all on the wall
so you can see us all
alone and you're older
and you'll say
if you promise me
you won't leave first
and if you promise me
that you won't leave
you won't leave first
if you promise me
you won't leave
clear the books of the pictures
summers between six and nineteen
you were younger
take them all off the wall
so you can see us all
alone and you're older
all for me and my
gemini
why can't i
watch out for july
gemini
eaten alive
from the inside
remember nights when we used to drive
i'm surprised that we're still alive
you didn't have any headlights on your car
we used to drive so slow
stick our heads out the window and breath in the night
you and lou at the U. '62
take a ride when cells divide
cause kansas doesn't make a continent
it just kills you
way out west
gemini
why can't i
watch out for july
gemini
eaten alive from the inside
and if you promise me
you won't leave first
if you promise me
you won't leave
all the things we'll miss you doing
stick around for kissing cousins
tasting blood you've got suspicions
convictions that carry you back home
gemini
why can't i
watch out for july
gemini
eaten alive from the inside
i think i'm tasting your blood again
have to have a suspicion
take a trip to the doctor
i wish that you were here right now
you said that you would never leave me
but now it looks like you're leaving
time is all we wish for a kiss if you were here right now
clear the books of the pictures
summers between six and nineteen
you were younger
take them all on the wall
so you can see us all
alone and you're older
and you'll say
if you promise me
you won't leave first
and if you promise me
that you won't leave
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this is such an amazingly good song... i've had it on repeat for like 3 days straight. i love the way he sings "cause kansas doesn't make a continent, it just kills you" espeicially