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."
On a quiet street
In the city
A littleold man walked along
Shufflin' thru the autumn afternoon
And the autumn leaves reminded him
Another summer's come and gone
He had a lonely night ahead
Waitin' for June
Then among the leaves
Near the orphan's home
A piece of paper caught his eye
And he stooped to pick it up with trembling hands
As he read the childish writing
The old man began to cry
'Cause the words burned inside of him
Like a brand
Whoever finds this I love you
Whoever finds this I need you
I ain't even got no one to talk to
So whoever finds this I love you
The old man's eyes searched the orphan's home
And came to rest upon a child
With her nose pressed up against the window pane
And the old man knew he'd found a friend at last
So he waved at her and smiled
And they both knew they'd spend the winter laughing at the rain
And they did spend the winter laughing at the rain
Talkin' thru the trees and exchanging little gifts
They'd made for each other
The old man would carve toys for the little girl
And she would draw picture for him of beautiful ladies
Surrounded by green trees and sunshine
And they laughed a lot
But then on the first day of June
The little girl ran to the fence to show
The old man a picture she had drawn
But he wasn't there
And somehow the little girl knew he wasn't coming back
So she went back to her little room
Took a crayon, piece of paper and wrote:
Whoever finds this I love you
Whoever finds this I need you
I ain't even got no one to talk to
So whoever finds this I love you
In the city
A littleold man walked along
Shufflin' thru the autumn afternoon
And the autumn leaves reminded him
Another summer's come and gone
He had a lonely night ahead
Waitin' for June
Then among the leaves
Near the orphan's home
A piece of paper caught his eye
And he stooped to pick it up with trembling hands
As he read the childish writing
The old man began to cry
'Cause the words burned inside of him
Like a brand
Whoever finds this I love you
Whoever finds this I need you
I ain't even got no one to talk to
So whoever finds this I love you
The old man's eyes searched the orphan's home
And came to rest upon a child
With her nose pressed up against the window pane
And the old man knew he'd found a friend at last
So he waved at her and smiled
And they both knew they'd spend the winter laughing at the rain
And they did spend the winter laughing at the rain
Talkin' thru the trees and exchanging little gifts
They'd made for each other
The old man would carve toys for the little girl
And she would draw picture for him of beautiful ladies
Surrounded by green trees and sunshine
And they laughed a lot
But then on the first day of June
The little girl ran to the fence to show
The old man a picture she had drawn
But he wasn't there
And somehow the little girl knew he wasn't coming back
So she went back to her little room
Took a crayon, piece of paper and wrote:
Whoever finds this I love you
Whoever finds this I need you
I ain't even got no one to talk to
So whoever finds this I love you
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
Whoever Finds This, I Love You Lyrics as written by Mac Davis
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
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Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
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.
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.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.