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."
The river was rainbow stew
The fishes choked and cursed
The thirsty dogs spat fire
Rolled in glue, then they burst
The fur balls flying, trees were dying
Dandelions were crippled, bald
We saw it all in color
Now we're waiting for the cloud
A mother forcefed baby milk
Which ticked and bubbled black
She sank it back with plastic pills
Although it stank, seemed thankful
Rolled up in her sack
She won't be back
She won't grow old
We saw it all in color
Now we're waiting for the cloud
And crocodiles were sprouting wings
Dead sheep filled the fields
The children rode on locusts
And threw slings at anything
That could be killed and eaten raw
No weeping sore, no claws, no balls
We saw it all in color
Now we're waiting for the cloud
We're told it could be fifteen days
We're busy digging holes
The deep ones for the pure selected
Shallow ones for old and sick
The derelicts, the poor
The junkies, criminals, the whores
There's more, there's red and yellow
Black and blue
There's me, there's you
(Waiting for the cloud)
The fishes choked and cursed
The thirsty dogs spat fire
Rolled in glue, then they burst
The fur balls flying, trees were dying
Dandelions were crippled, bald
We saw it all in color
Now we're waiting for the cloud
A mother forcefed baby milk
Which ticked and bubbled black
She sank it back with plastic pills
Although it stank, seemed thankful
Rolled up in her sack
She won't be back
She won't grow old
We saw it all in color
Now we're waiting for the cloud
And crocodiles were sprouting wings
Dead sheep filled the fields
The children rode on locusts
And threw slings at anything
That could be killed and eaten raw
No weeping sore, no claws, no balls
We saw it all in color
Now we're waiting for the cloud
We're told it could be fifteen days
We're busy digging holes
The deep ones for the pure selected
Shallow ones for old and sick
The derelicts, the poor
The junkies, criminals, the whores
There's more, there's red and yellow
Black and blue
There's me, there's you
(Waiting for the cloud)
Lyrics submitted by Mellow_Harsher
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Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
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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,
Blue
Ed Sheeran
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Ed Sheeran
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“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.
I think this song is about poisoning via pollution, and waiting for the inevitable nuclear bomb to just finish it all off. The cloud being a mushroom cloud. Also the last verse denotes the class division which would occur in such a scenario.
@Nexus7 the "cloud" actually refers to the Chernobyl disaster. 1986.