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."
My guilt and my shame
Always sell me short, always feel the same
And my face and my soul
Always wear me thin, always under control
But the longest hours you'll have in your life
Are the ones you sit through to know if you're right
So I'll wait but I pray that I'm wrong
Because I think I know what's going on
So let me get this straight
The only will is my own
I do whatever I want and stay alone
All my decisions make it untouchable and tainted
I'm gonna suffer for the rest of my life
But I will always find a way to survive
I'm not a failure but I know what it's like
I can take it or leave it or die
Stay, you don't always know where you stand
'Til you know that you won't run away
There's something inside me that feels
Like breathing in sulfur
My life is undone
And I'm a sinner to most but a sage to some
And my Gods are untrue
I'm probably wrong but I'm better than you
And the longest hours I've had in my life
Were the ones I went through to know I was right
So I'm safe, but I'm a little outside
I'm gonna laugh when I'm buried alive
Stay, you don't always know where you stand
'Til you know that you won't run away
There's something inside me that feels
Like breathing in sulfur
Like breathing in sulfur
Like breathing in sulfur
Stay, you don't always know where you stand
'Til you know that you won't run away
There's something inside me that feels
Like breathing in sulfur, like breathing in sulfur
Stay, you don't always know where you stand
(You don't always know where you stand)
'Til you know that you won't run away
There's something inside me that feels
(There's something inside me that feels)
Like breathing in sulfur
Like breathing in sulfur
Like breathing in sulfur
Like breathing in sulfur
Like breathing in sulfur
Always sell me short, always feel the same
And my face and my soul
Always wear me thin, always under control
But the longest hours you'll have in your life
Are the ones you sit through to know if you're right
So I'll wait but I pray that I'm wrong
Because I think I know what's going on
So let me get this straight
The only will is my own
I do whatever I want and stay alone
All my decisions make it untouchable and tainted
I'm gonna suffer for the rest of my life
But I will always find a way to survive
I'm not a failure but I know what it's like
I can take it or leave it or die
Stay, you don't always know where you stand
'Til you know that you won't run away
There's something inside me that feels
Like breathing in sulfur
My life is undone
And I'm a sinner to most but a sage to some
And my Gods are untrue
I'm probably wrong but I'm better than you
And the longest hours I've had in my life
Were the ones I went through to know I was right
So I'm safe, but I'm a little outside
I'm gonna laugh when I'm buried alive
Stay, you don't always know where you stand
'Til you know that you won't run away
There's something inside me that feels
Like breathing in sulfur
Like breathing in sulfur
Like breathing in sulfur
Stay, you don't always know where you stand
'Til you know that you won't run away
There's something inside me that feels
Like breathing in sulfur, like breathing in sulfur
Stay, you don't always know where you stand
(You don't always know where you stand)
'Til you know that you won't run away
There's something inside me that feels
(There's something inside me that feels)
Like breathing in sulfur
Like breathing in sulfur
Like breathing in sulfur
Like breathing in sulfur
Like breathing in sulfur
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"Its kind of a reflection of where I am at the moment, I probably feel the best I have in years, not only health-wise, but as a person. The last 3 years have been an awakening for me. I'm standing up for my morals, standing up for myself, but the flip side to that coin is that there is always something inside of me that's going to make people feel like they're chewing on tin foil. For most of my life, I tended to base my opinion on myself by what people thought of me. As I got stronger, I learned to be happy in my own skin and accept that there are these fucked up things about me."