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."
You took the tunnel route home
You'd never taken that way with me before
Did you feel a need for change?
Apologies on your fingernails
Love flickered in the city of lights
Like intermittent radio waves
I don't need your tears
I don't want your love
I've just got to get home
And I feel like I'm breaking up
But I wanted to stay.
Headlights on the hillside
Don't take me this way
I don't want you to hold me
I want you to pray
'Cause it's bigger than us
You went where the horses cry
You'd never taken that way with me before
Did you feel a need for a change?
Guilt smeared across your lips
I was tired and cold from the window
You're tired nothing has changed
I don't need your tears
I don't want your love
I've just got to get home
And I feel like I'm breaking up
But I wanted to stay
Headlights on the hillside
Don't take me this way
I don't want you to hold me
I want you to pray
'Cause it's bigger than us
And I feel like I'm breaking up
But I wanted to stay
Headlights on the hillside
Don't take me this way
I don't want you to hold me
I want you to pray
'Cause it's bigger than us
And I feel like I'm breaking up
But I wanted to stay
Headlights on the hillside
Don't take me this way
I don't want you to hold me
I want you to pray
'Cause it's bigger than us
And I feel like I'm breaking up
But I wanted to stay
Headlights on the hillside
Don't take me this way
I don't want you to hold me
I want you to pray
'Cause it's bigger than us
You'd never taken that way with me before
Did you feel a need for change?
Apologies on your fingernails
Love flickered in the city of lights
Like intermittent radio waves
I don't need your tears
I don't want your love
I've just got to get home
And I feel like I'm breaking up
But I wanted to stay.
Headlights on the hillside
Don't take me this way
I don't want you to hold me
I want you to pray
'Cause it's bigger than us
You went where the horses cry
You'd never taken that way with me before
Did you feel a need for a change?
Guilt smeared across your lips
I was tired and cold from the window
You're tired nothing has changed
I don't need your tears
I don't want your love
I've just got to get home
And I feel like I'm breaking up
But I wanted to stay
Headlights on the hillside
Don't take me this way
I don't want you to hold me
I want you to pray
'Cause it's bigger than us
And I feel like I'm breaking up
But I wanted to stay
Headlights on the hillside
Don't take me this way
I don't want you to hold me
I want you to pray
'Cause it's bigger than us
And I feel like I'm breaking up
But I wanted to stay
Headlights on the hillside
Don't take me this way
I don't want you to hold me
I want you to pray
'Cause it's bigger than us
And I feel like I'm breaking up
But I wanted to stay
Headlights on the hillside
Don't take me this way
I don't want you to hold me
I want you to pray
'Cause it's bigger than us
Lyrics submitted by schattenperle
Bigger Than Us Lyrics as written by Harry Mcveigh Charles Cave
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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She cheated on him. Simple as that.
The video is not related, it's just a very nice video with an interesting concept.
Coming from a bad break up, this song is just amazing, reflecting just how you can feel about someone you love deeply, that has betrayed you.
You took the tunnel route home, you've never taken that way with me before. Did you feel the need for change? ***This lines clearly define some sort of mockery and bitterness towards her... She cheated, so, he's asking her if she did it just because it was something different, or out of boredom about their relationship (you've never taken that way with ME before)
Apologies on your fingernails, love flickered in the city of lights, Like intermittent radio waves ***As it usually happens, when he found out, she apologized and probably said a lot of crap, he knows it's not heartfelt, hence she was just apologizing "from" her fingernails
I don't need your tears I don't want your love I just gotta get home. ***Again, when someone cheats, crying is their way of making up for the fact they've betrayed you. Assuming he really loved her, he's devastated, he wants nothing to do with her at the moment, he just "gotta get home"
And I feel like I'm breaking up, and I wanted to stay, Headlights on the hillside, don't take me this way, ***He was really commited to the relationship, he wanted to stay in it.
I don't want you to hold me, I want you to pray, This is bigger than us ***He's bargaining, mixed with denial and hope about this situation, he really don't want to let go, but he can't forgive as easily. Trust me, if you've ever been in this sucky situation, you know what if feels like.
You went where the horses cry, you've never taken that way with me before. Did you feel the need for change? ***You wonder over and over "why did she do it?" so it's congruent that it's similar to the very first line of the song
Guilt smeared across your lips, I was tired and cold from the window You're tired, nothing's changed. ***She feels guilty, but that's just not enough in this situation, he needs more, but maybe he realizes that she's done this for a reason, she's subconsciously tired of him, or out of the relationship, and even though she might try to fix this with her words, nothings changed from the fact that she cheated.
I think that sums it up. Amazing song.
I'm guessing, by sleeping with another man. Or maybe she went as far as having a second relationship with someone.
For me, the meaning of this song could be generalized in that way, that "she" was caught by something big, may it be love for someone else, death, whatever. For him, the only way to stand this circumstance is to break up with her.
The video may seem very confusing, but I figured out some explanation for me. I think the video goes beyond the story told by the lyrics and shows the only possibilty for him to stay with her: The candy bar symbolizes the big something that takes hold of her and is the reason for him to break up with her (even though he still loves her madly, I think). The only way to get her out of this mess she's in, was to consult kind of a higher instance. In the video, it would be Harry McVeigh who gets the girl out if the candy bar and in the end back into the arms of the boy. But since there aren't any higher instances (except you believe in God or stuff like destiny) in the real life, the lyrics don't mention this intervention by a higher instance and because of that stays as nihilistic as it appears to the reader/listener.
Wow. In my eyes that's such a deliberate and overall interpretation. :)
More interesting: How would you interpret the lyrics without the video?
I think all the car references like "tunnel route", and "headlights on the hillside" are about being in a relationship that you know is doomed to fail. Like you can see the relationship moving toward a tragic end, or in the song's case a car crash.
The singer can tell "she's" driving them in the wrong direction, so he obviously feels she's at fault. But what has she done? What's bigger than the both of them? Maybe it's something so big that he already knows it can't be fixed between them.
PS: The candy bar was chosen because the girl in the video was involved in the commercial for this candy bar. Maybe, the "bigger than us"-thing in the video was her work for the commercial and can therefore easily be used to show how she's caught in this whole thing by putting her directtly in the candy bar.
Your two posts explain exactly how I think the lyrics and video are meant to mean.<br /> The person is fed up of the girl only wanting him at certain times, because she is caught up in everything else. <br /> <br /> "Guilt smeared across your lips, I was tired and cold from the window<br /> You're tired, nothing's changed."<br /> <br /> He's trying to be with her but she is pushing him away because of 'being tired' or other reasons so he wants to go home, whether that is literal I don't know.<br /> <br /> But yeah brilliant song from White Lies (again, like usual :D). Can't wait, going to see them in February!
Oh, you're great, you got me one more step closer to a full interpretation of the lyrics, thank you! :) The window-thing wasn't that clear to me until now. Now I literally see him pushed against a window waiting for her, staring out...<br /> Do you have any clue about the crying horses? Since English isn't my first language, maybe I miss some kind of collocation.<br /> <br /> Some more thing came into my mind why a candy bar was chosen for the video: Usually, everybody loves candy bars, they are sweet and have their own force of attraction. But this candy bar is way too big to eat it, you would die if you tried to eat it at one time. As you can see, the candy bar seems to be bit. So maybe this again is meant to symbolize how hard he wants her but cannot handle the whole situation and has to break of.<br /> <br /> I never heard of the White Lies before but since I got to know this song I have to say that they are really going under my skin! :)
isnt the crying horses about the hillside? 'you went where the horses cry'
Here are the correct lyrics:
You took the tunnel route home, you've never taken that way with me before. Did you feel the need for change? Apologies on your fingernails, love flickered in the city of lights, Like intermittent radio waves
I don't need your tears I don't want your love I just gotta get home.
And I feel like I'm breaking up, and I wanted to stay, Headlights on the hillside, don't take me this way, I don't want you to hold me, I want you to pray, This is bigger than us
You went where the horses cry, you've never taken that way with me before. Did you feel the need for change? Guilt smeared across your lips, I was tired and cold from the window You're tired, nothing's changed.
I don't need your tears I don't want your love I just gotta get home.
And I feel like I'm breaking up, and I wanted to stay, Headlights on the hillside, don't take me thisway, I don't want you to hold me, I want you to pray, This is bigger than us.
And I feel like I'm breaking up, but I wanted to stay, Headlights on the hillside, don't take me thisway, I don't want you to hold me, I want you to pray, This is bigger than us.
And I feel like I'm breaking up, but I wanted to stay, Headlights on the hillside, don't take me thisway, I don't want you to hold me, I want you to pray, This is bigger than us.
sorry for the wrong lyrics, heard it live @ Hurricane Festival and there were videos with bad audio, so it was kinda hard to understand what he was singing. ;)
Well.. The thing about "I don't want you to pray" is actually correct. Proof: youtube.com/watch<br /> You can hear it clearer on this cover. And if you listen carefully to the original, it is not that difficult to hear.
ITS about a girl who has to tell her boyfriend she has cheated, and she takes him for a drive and while they are driving he realizes she has something to tell him hence "Apologies on your fingernails" she was biting her nails telling him she was nervous and " guilt smeared across your lips" she obviously atleast kissed another man, and then once she finally tells him he just looses it and just has to get out of there and crashes the car because she puched him over the edge
you guys don't get it the candy bar was demonstrating how she was trapped in her life and she needed someone to help break her out of her own comfort zone.
i love this song so much!! the lyrics have really confused me though not to mention the video :/ i think it might be that the boy in it is a younger version of the lead singer and so he's reminicing about a childhood sweetheart (the girl in it) that he clearly cared for and would do anything to be with her but she kept hurting him "And I feel like I'm breaking up, and I wanted to stay, Headlights on the hillside, don't take me this way,I don't want you to hold me" and "this is bigger than us" meaning that their relationship was way more mature than them... i think then the rest of it is the older, wiser him is saying that he doesn't want her anymore and that things WILL improve eventually with time "I don't need your tears I don't want your love" BUT in the end he carries her back to the young boy because even though he knows she messed him up, he wouldn't have changed a thing becuase she's made him into who he is today and the she gave him some really happy memories.... okay i've gone on for to long!! haha
The band Hooverphonic did a great cover version of Bigger than us, which you can find on youtube. youtube.com/watch
I love that version more! its so mellow and heart felt!
Im reading the lyrics and watching the video and I take the lyrics and video interpretation as the girl is dying inside because maybe she cannot be the person she wants to be so she plays the role of something she's not (a candy bar) and the boy is trying to reach out to her. in the end when she is broken out of the candy bar (shell) she is a beautiful girl underneath... hence her inner beauty is beautiful.... and the kid only wants to help her realize that. The lyrics that help me come to that conclusion are: "You went where the horses cry, you've never taken that way with me before. Did you feel the need for change? Guilt smeared across your lips, I was tired and cold from the window You're tired, nothing's changed."
I feel that this song is about coming to terms with who you are... an acceptance song... Im not trying to bring my sexuality into it but coming with the aspect of coming to terms with being gay... I know how she feels... being trapped in a shell and wanting to be free but not being able to until you come out or someone shows you that you still matter under the facade you put up...