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've got a thousand words that I never spoke,
See I broke down codes at an early age,
Filled the page, filled my ears with rage,
Sound in my headphones sound like a cyclone,
I'm all fed up with your list of demands,
You're dreaming of the things that you're holding in your hands,
I keep my head low, I stay in the know,
I break down the door with the renegade flow,
Professor Plum with the candlestick in the conservatory,
Dr. Prynn mixes rhymes in the underwater laboratory,
You know I flow I don't drink joe coming every Friday night I know the hottest place to go
, I'm lean I'm mean I'm clean I'm not seventeen,
I'm the hottest girl rapper that you know you ever seen,
Northern States it's a new beginning, gonna throw the first pitch top of the first inning,
Coming from the island where the sun is shining,
The flow is smooth like a vinyl lining,
It's like dumb de dumb I keep my eyes underground,
I'm walking down the street I'm the purveyor of sound,
It's like dumb de dumb de dee 1,2,3,
I'm speaking loud and clear so you can understand me,
The things I do so easily,
It's like dumb de dumb de dee 1, 2, 3,
Where you at? Over here.
In a new place with the same old face you're recognizing me from the CD case,
Cause I'm 5'4 and I've got brown eyes,
Long brown hair and I'm medium sized,
You thought you knew me before, you thought you knew me when,
But now I've got the strength of a million men,
We bring the optimism and the opportunity,
You can feel the power of the possibility,
If you could see half the shit I see,
You see I caught the disease on the 1,2,3,
Beats passing through my system faster than I can spit it,
If you don't feel my style then you're not down with it,
I'm a saint not a sinner I am the prize winner,
Gonna get the NSP and host my own spaghetti dinner,
I'm a vegetarian, humanitarian, imaginarian, not a libertarian,
The country's getting ugly and there's more in store,
But don't blame me cause I voted for Gore,
Keep choice legal, your wardrobe regal,
Chekhov wrote the Seagull, and Snoopy is a beagle,
It's like dumb de dumb I keep my eyes underground,
I'm walking down the street I'm the purveyor of sound,
It's like dumb de dumb de dee 1,2,3,
I'm speaking loud and clear so you can understand me,
The things I do so easily,
It's like dumb de dumb de dee 1, 2, 3,
Where you at? Over here.
I'm running off my mouth, my engine running clean,
I'm running til I'm raw like I'm running down a dream,
I'm running out of beans, I'm running out the door,
I'm running round in circles cause I always want more,
Where you at?
See I broke down codes at an early age,
Filled the page, filled my ears with rage,
Sound in my headphones sound like a cyclone,
I'm all fed up with your list of demands,
You're dreaming of the things that you're holding in your hands,
I keep my head low, I stay in the know,
I break down the door with the renegade flow,
Professor Plum with the candlestick in the conservatory,
Dr. Prynn mixes rhymes in the underwater laboratory,
You know I flow I don't drink joe coming every Friday night I know the hottest place to go
, I'm lean I'm mean I'm clean I'm not seventeen,
I'm the hottest girl rapper that you know you ever seen,
Northern States it's a new beginning, gonna throw the first pitch top of the first inning,
Coming from the island where the sun is shining,
The flow is smooth like a vinyl lining,
It's like dumb de dumb I keep my eyes underground,
I'm walking down the street I'm the purveyor of sound,
It's like dumb de dumb de dee 1,2,3,
I'm speaking loud and clear so you can understand me,
The things I do so easily,
It's like dumb de dumb de dee 1, 2, 3,
Where you at? Over here.
In a new place with the same old face you're recognizing me from the CD case,
Cause I'm 5'4 and I've got brown eyes,
Long brown hair and I'm medium sized,
You thought you knew me before, you thought you knew me when,
But now I've got the strength of a million men,
We bring the optimism and the opportunity,
You can feel the power of the possibility,
If you could see half the shit I see,
You see I caught the disease on the 1,2,3,
Beats passing through my system faster than I can spit it,
If you don't feel my style then you're not down with it,
I'm a saint not a sinner I am the prize winner,
Gonna get the NSP and host my own spaghetti dinner,
I'm a vegetarian, humanitarian, imaginarian, not a libertarian,
The country's getting ugly and there's more in store,
But don't blame me cause I voted for Gore,
Keep choice legal, your wardrobe regal,
Chekhov wrote the Seagull, and Snoopy is a beagle,
It's like dumb de dumb I keep my eyes underground,
I'm walking down the street I'm the purveyor of sound,
It's like dumb de dumb de dee 1,2,3,
I'm speaking loud and clear so you can understand me,
The things I do so easily,
It's like dumb de dumb de dee 1, 2, 3,
Where you at? Over here.
I'm running off my mouth, my engine running clean,
I'm running til I'm raw like I'm running down a dream,
I'm running out of beans, I'm running out the door,
I'm running round in circles cause I always want more,
Where you at?
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
A Thousand Words Lyrics as written by Correne Spero Christian Castagno
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
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.