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."
I met a young soldier
He said his name was Killer Kyle
He was shakin' all over
Like a night-frightened child
This is his story
It's a tough one for me to sing
Hard as the squawk and the flap
And the beat of, the beat of black wings
Charlie Angel
Charlie Angel
Charlie Angel
"They gave me a gun," he said
"They gave me a mission
For the power and the glory
Propaganda, piss on 'em
There's a war zone inside me
I can feel things exploding
I can't even hear the fucking music playing
For the beat of, the beat of black wings"
Charlie Angel
Charlie Angel
Charlie Angel
He said, "I never had nothin'
Nothin' I could believe in
My girl killed our unborn child
Without even grievin'
I put my hands on her belly
To feel the kid kickin', damn
She'd been to some clinic
Oh, the beat of black wings"
Charlie Angel
Charlie Angel
Charlie Angel
"They want you, they need you
They train you to kill
To be a pin on some map
Some vicarious thrill
The old hate the young
That's the whole heartless thing
The old pick wars
We die in 'em
To the beat of, the beat of black wings"
Charlie Angel
Charlie Angel
Charlie Angel
There's a man drawing pictures
On the sidewalk with chalk
Just as fast as he draws them
Rain come down and wash 'em off
"Keep the drinks comin' girl
'Til I can't feel anything
I'm just a chalk mark in a rainstorm
I'm just the beat of black wings"
Charlie Angel
Charlie Angel
Charlie Angel
He said his name was Killer Kyle
He was shakin' all over
Like a night-frightened child
This is his story
It's a tough one for me to sing
Hard as the squawk and the flap
And the beat of, the beat of black wings
Charlie Angel
Charlie Angel
Charlie Angel
"They gave me a gun," he said
"They gave me a mission
For the power and the glory
Propaganda, piss on 'em
There's a war zone inside me
I can feel things exploding
I can't even hear the fucking music playing
For the beat of, the beat of black wings"
Charlie Angel
Charlie Angel
Charlie Angel
He said, "I never had nothin'
Nothin' I could believe in
My girl killed our unborn child
Without even grievin'
I put my hands on her belly
To feel the kid kickin', damn
She'd been to some clinic
Oh, the beat of black wings"
Charlie Angel
Charlie Angel
Charlie Angel
"They want you, they need you
They train you to kill
To be a pin on some map
Some vicarious thrill
The old hate the young
That's the whole heartless thing
The old pick wars
We die in 'em
To the beat of, the beat of black wings"
Charlie Angel
Charlie Angel
Charlie Angel
There's a man drawing pictures
On the sidewalk with chalk
Just as fast as he draws them
Rain come down and wash 'em off
"Keep the drinks comin' girl
'Til I can't feel anything
I'm just a chalk mark in a rainstorm
I'm just the beat of black wings"
Charlie Angel
Charlie Angel
Charlie Angel
Lyrics submitted by just_old_light
The Beat of Black Wings Lyrics as written by Joni Mitchell
Lyrics © Reservoir Media Management, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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As for subject matter. It's about a Vietnam vet.
Trully sad song. "There's a warzone inside of me, I can feel things exploding...I can't even hear the fucking music playing"
What "Beat of Black Wings" stand for?
the beat of black wings are the sound of war helicopters that he cant get out of his head
The black wings are the wings of the Angel of Death. Those wings brought him to Vietnam, and those wings brought the mother of his unborn child to her Clinic. He perceives himself as the bearer of black wings in the end. The bringer of death.