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 was eightteen
my brother was twenty-one
one saturday evening
when all the work was done
we went down to the river,
had some trot lines to run
my brother walter
had a fight the week before
knocked a boy named wilson
through the pool hall door
they said you don't mess with wilson
unless you want a war
we put the boat in the water,
i made the engine run
loaded the lantern
against the sinking sun
and my brother walter
was loading his gun
and we went down the river
down past the coal docks
we wre running our lines
heard some drunken boaters
racing up behind
it was wilson and his cousin,
they had trouble on their minds
they passed on by us,
probably going to tend their pots
we headed up the river
with the fish we'd caught
but before we made the landing,
i thought i heard a shot
back down the river
my brother walter fell over the side
i couldn't find him no matter how i tried
and looked along the bank
but i couldn't find where they'd hide
they drug the river,
they searched it up and down
couldn't find his body
so they decided that he'd drowned
but i knew better
and wilson bragged around town
so one night i floated down
right above wilson's shack
i hid in the woods
till i saw him walk out back
i put a bullet in his head
and dropped him in his tracks
and we went down the river
down below the trestle
where the water runs slow
i chained him to an anvil
and then i let him go
and five years later
i ain't told a soul
and i ain't done much fishing,
i hardly wet a line
the death of my brother
is still heavy on my mind
i've been thinking wilson's cousin
better find a place to hide
cause i'm going down the river
yeah i'm going down the river
my brother was twenty-one
one saturday evening
when all the work was done
we went down to the river,
had some trot lines to run
my brother walter
had a fight the week before
knocked a boy named wilson
through the pool hall door
they said you don't mess with wilson
unless you want a war
we put the boat in the water,
i made the engine run
loaded the lantern
against the sinking sun
and my brother walter
was loading his gun
and we went down the river
down past the coal docks
we wre running our lines
heard some drunken boaters
racing up behind
it was wilson and his cousin,
they had trouble on their minds
they passed on by us,
probably going to tend their pots
we headed up the river
with the fish we'd caught
but before we made the landing,
i thought i heard a shot
back down the river
my brother walter fell over the side
i couldn't find him no matter how i tried
and looked along the bank
but i couldn't find where they'd hide
they drug the river,
they searched it up and down
couldn't find his body
so they decided that he'd drowned
but i knew better
and wilson bragged around town
so one night i floated down
right above wilson's shack
i hid in the woods
till i saw him walk out back
i put a bullet in his head
and dropped him in his tracks
and we went down the river
down below the trestle
where the water runs slow
i chained him to an anvil
and then i let him go
and five years later
i ain't told a soul
and i ain't done much fishing,
i hardly wet a line
the death of my brother
is still heavy on my mind
i've been thinking wilson's cousin
better find a place to hide
cause i'm going down the river
yeah i'm going down the river
Lyrics submitted by nicoleeelove
Down The River Lyrics as written by Chris Knight
Lyrics © Bluewater Music Corp.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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"This song is about the time i killed the guy who killed my brother" ~Chris Knight
He always opens this song by saying this. I think it pretty much explains everything.