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 clouds hold
A storm over this road.
You're dreaming
Or at least you've got your eyes closed.
And this dormant love you've built
Inside your stubborn ways
Well its begging now for air
Of the sudden breath of change
As these waves crash, against the highway cliffs
I'm so scared they'll flood me where I sit
When roads they change to waterways
They never carry home.
You pull back,
And you angle towards the window.
Now the rain is crashing down,
And oh my god you're beautiful.
And I'm so unsated, still I pray you'll hold back your escape
Yeah we still got time
And in my mind these bends could be steered straight.
As these waves crash against the highway cliffs,
I'm so scared they'll flood me where i sit...
Well the roads, they change to waterways
They never carry home.
Well I'm sorry for
The things I had to say
And I'm sorry I...
I pushed your hand away
From the radio...
I pushed your hand away
From the radio...
I should have just let it go
A storm over this road.
You're dreaming
Or at least you've got your eyes closed.
And this dormant love you've built
Inside your stubborn ways
Well its begging now for air
Of the sudden breath of change
As these waves crash, against the highway cliffs
I'm so scared they'll flood me where I sit
When roads they change to waterways
They never carry home.
You pull back,
And you angle towards the window.
Now the rain is crashing down,
And oh my god you're beautiful.
And I'm so unsated, still I pray you'll hold back your escape
Yeah we still got time
And in my mind these bends could be steered straight.
As these waves crash against the highway cliffs,
I'm so scared they'll flood me where i sit...
Well the roads, they change to waterways
They never carry home.
Well I'm sorry for
The things I had to say
And I'm sorry I...
I pushed your hand away
From the radio...
I pushed your hand away
From the radio...
I should have just let it go
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More Featured Meanings
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
Firstly, what a beautiful track. The chorus comes out of nowhere and is such a pleasant surprise. Injects that much needed intensity to the song. There is also so much power and emotion in the line "Now the rain is crashing down, and oh my god you're beautiful."
My interpretation:
This song does great with the imagery. I feel that they're in a car and I feel like I'm watching over them and see and feel these little things that the song tries to portray.
He's driving, a storm is near. She's fast asleep in the passenger seat. The second verse about the dormant love she's built and talking about her stubbornness to me indicates that she's capable of loving him dearly but she's held back because he's either held back or taken her for granted. Hence the stubborn ways. But then he says that it's begging now for air with the silent breath of change may indicate that he's willing to change and perhaps be more expressive and not take her for granted. And he really needs that love now and he can finally truly, for the first time, return it. So he can finally love her as much as she loves him.
The fourth verse is this slow realisation that he's taken this girl for granted. He noticed her true beauty and while it is actually raining, it's also used as a metaphor here because his true realisation has just come crashing down just like the rain has. He's done wrong by her and she deserved better, she deserved more. The line "oh my god" further emphasises this realisation that he's just now come to. He wants to make amends, he says there's still time. He says we can steer through these tough times. They might be travelling in the car together after a fight. And she decides to sleep so she doesn't have to ride through awkwardness or anger and doesn't really want to communicate with him.
The waves crashing might also be a metaphor for the sudden realisation. And for the first time, he fears losing her. And it makes him realise how much he's taken her for granted.
Then the last verse is him coming to terms with it all. He apologises and the final touch is "And I'm sorry i pushed your hand away from the radio... I pushed your hand away from the radio... I should have just let it go..." - Which is an indication of the little things. The little things he thought might not have much impact but does when it accumulates in the grand scheme of things. And coming to terms with that means that his journey is complete and he's ready to love her the way she deserves to be loved.
Well said.