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 spring is in the streets again and too many seasons gone by
We move to cruise and stare at ourselves
Hoping to find
Someone half-blind
Somebody who
Will make us knew
To hold in the night
Guard us from fright
Change all thats gone for the new
While in our very city there lives a Unicorn of old
The Queen that holds the Unicorn
Will be reborn
His mighty horn
Falls on that day
Storms pass away
Night turns to day
The whole world is gay
Angels descend from the sky
The trucks are cold and barren again and the numbers have all turned to jade
I search for a way to tear out my eyes
So I won't see
The dying tree
Fall to its knees
and as it must
with fragments of lust
Return to dust
Then we are gone in the night
While in our very city there lives a real live Unicorn
the Queen who captures the Unicorn
is virgin again
just touching its hand
wisdom is hers
focus from blurs
possessing the key
brings life to the tree
and makes it grow taller again
the Sanctuary's crowded again
the poisons are all passed around
Each star walks in, we turned to the door
Our eyes leave our head
the zombies are dead
just walking around
held to the ground
our feet our bound
obeying each sound
waiting to meet god knows who
While in our very city there lives a Unicorn of Old
The Queen who holds the Unicorn
Will be reborn
His mighty horn
Falls on that day
Storms pass away
Night turns to day
The whole world is gay
Angels descend from the sky
We move to cruise and stare at ourselves
Hoping to find
Someone half-blind
Somebody who
Will make us knew
To hold in the night
Guard us from fright
Change all thats gone for the new
While in our very city there lives a Unicorn of old
The Queen that holds the Unicorn
Will be reborn
His mighty horn
Falls on that day
Storms pass away
Night turns to day
The whole world is gay
Angels descend from the sky
The trucks are cold and barren again and the numbers have all turned to jade
I search for a way to tear out my eyes
So I won't see
The dying tree
Fall to its knees
and as it must
with fragments of lust
Return to dust
Then we are gone in the night
While in our very city there lives a real live Unicorn
the Queen who captures the Unicorn
is virgin again
just touching its hand
wisdom is hers
focus from blurs
possessing the key
brings life to the tree
and makes it grow taller again
the Sanctuary's crowded again
the poisons are all passed around
Each star walks in, we turned to the door
Our eyes leave our head
the zombies are dead
just walking around
held to the ground
our feet our bound
obeying each sound
waiting to meet god knows who
While in our very city there lives a Unicorn of Old
The Queen who holds the Unicorn
Will be reborn
His mighty horn
Falls on that day
Storms pass away
Night turns to day
The whole world is gay
Angels descend from the sky
Lyrics submitted by theageofcake
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Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
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Ed Sheeran
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Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Midnight” is a song about finding a love that is so true that it provides a calming feeling through every storm. Ed Sheeran reflects on his good fortunes in landing someone with such peace and support and speaks of not fearing the dark days because he knows they’ll all end in the safety nets of her arms.
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System
Mel And Kim
Mel And Kim
Just listening for the 784,654th time....and it's just perfect in every way. Just incredible. The only reason it was remade was to scoop up a boatload of money from a more modern and accepting audience. But it is a completely different song than the other one that sounds slapped together in a few takes without a thought for the meaning.
This song captivates me still, after 50+ years. Takes me to the deep South and the poverty of some who lived thru truly hard times. And the powerful spirit of a poor young girl being abandoned to her future with only a red dress and her wits to keep her alive.
She not only stayed alive, she turned her hard beginnings around, became self sufficient, successful and someone with respect for herself. She didn't let the naysayers and judgers stop her. She's the one sitting in the drivers seat at the end.
So, not a song about a poor girl, but a song of hope and how you can rise up no matter how far down you started.
There is a huge difference between a singer who simply belts out a song that is on a page in front of them, and someone who can convey an entire experience with their voice. Telling not just a story with words, but taking you inside it and making you feel like you are there, with their interpretation.
I believe that the first verse is about love, about lost love and the shearch for a new by 'someone half-blind' Peter seems to refer to how love can blind us from seeing flaws in one another.. and by 'change all thats gone for the new' he means that we're leaving our past behind and moving forward with the search for another love. .