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."
Wanda had a baby in nineteen fifty one
The father was a stranger and a stranger was the son
Call that child James Lewis, call these rooms a home
Changing all them diapers, polish all that chrome
C'mon, baby, spend the night with me
All around the schoolyard playing all the games
Running, laughing back and forth the kid with two first names
Stranger in the closet, lock the diary
The past is running faster singing harmony
C'mon, baby, spend the night with me
"God bless this kitchen" said the knick-knack shelf
"The dinner's almost ready, go and wash yourself"
Jimmy's growing up now and Wanda's growing old
The time is growin' shorter, the nights are long and cold
C'mon, baby, spend the night with me
Sneaking in the closet and through the diary
Now, don't you know all he saw was all there was to see
The whole town saw Jimmy on the six o'clock news
His brains were on the sidewalk and blood was on his shoes
C'mon, baby, spend the night with me
C'mon, baby, spend the night with me
The father was a stranger and a stranger was the son
Call that child James Lewis, call these rooms a home
Changing all them diapers, polish all that chrome
C'mon, baby, spend the night with me
All around the schoolyard playing all the games
Running, laughing back and forth the kid with two first names
Stranger in the closet, lock the diary
The past is running faster singing harmony
C'mon, baby, spend the night with me
"God bless this kitchen" said the knick-knack shelf
"The dinner's almost ready, go and wash yourself"
Jimmy's growing up now and Wanda's growing old
The time is growin' shorter, the nights are long and cold
C'mon, baby, spend the night with me
Sneaking in the closet and through the diary
Now, don't you know all he saw was all there was to see
The whole town saw Jimmy on the six o'clock news
His brains were on the sidewalk and blood was on his shoes
C'mon, baby, spend the night with me
C'mon, baby, spend the night with me
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings, edited by Walleke, Gsolis
Six O'Clock News Lyrics as written by John Prine
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
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this song is so sad it makes me cry. its about a kid that grows up not knowing his father, and gets into "trouble" for it. it ends up with him going out and being killed, but could also be taken that he went out to find the dad who abandoned him and actually murdered him. i love the way john repeats the line "c'mon baby, spend the night with me" which i believe is the father of the child to the mother. it is a constant reminder us all what can happen as a result of a one night stand and premature relationship. jp is sooo gr8!
The song is about a lady that spends her life sleeping with strange men looking for love (or money) and then she gets pregnant and has a baby. She doesn't know who the real father is and that's why she gave the boy two first names. "Polish all that chrome" refers to one of the sexual acts Wanda performs on the men. When James Lewis is old enough to read, he finds his mother's diary and reads about where he really came from. He is so distraught he commits suicide by jumping out a window (his brains were on the sidewalk and blood was on his shoes" and it ends up on the 6:00 news. (The repeated line "come on baby..." signifies the mother going home with strange men.) The only hting I'm unsure of is whether Wanda was a prostitute or if she slept around to make up for a loveless existence.