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."
Our dad would send us to our room
He'd be the voice of doom
He said that we would thank him later
All day he was solid as a rock
But by eight o'clock
We'd be crumbling
One night
My brother Joe and me
Climbed down the family tree
That grew outside our bedroom window
We ran though we knew it couldn't last
Running from the past
From things that we were born to be
Looking back it's so bizarre
It runs in the family
All the things we are
On the back seat of the car
With Joseph and Emily
We only see so far
And we all have our daddy's eyes
Looking back it's so bizarre
Dad rang the officer in charge
A man so large
He barely fit his circumstances
He said two kids out on the street
Were picked up on the beat
And in the station
So there's me
With Emily and Joe
Daddy driving home
All heading in the same direction
He knew no matter what the breaks
We'd make the same mistakes
Couldn't take his eyes of Joe and me
Looking back it's so bizarre
It runs in the family
All the things we are
On the backseat of the car
With Joseph and Emily
We only see so far
And we all have our daddy's eyes
Looking back it's so bizarre
It runs in the family
All the things we are
Looking back it's so bizarre
Like a dream within a dream
We're all somewhere in between
Like a drummer plays his drum
Like a father like a son
And your gonna have to face the music
Hey hey
We keep it running in the family
Hey hey
We keep it coming in the family
Hey hey
We keep it running in the family
Hey hey
We keep it coming in the family
Looking back it's so bizarre
It runs in the family
All the things we are
On the backseat of the car
With Joseph and Emily
We only see so far
'Cause we all have our daddy's eyes
Take me back into your arms
It's no longer a mystery
There's no cause for alarm
Could have never come this far
With no sense of history
It always leaves a scar
And we all have our daddy's eyes
Looking back it's so bizarre
Running in the family
Running in the family
And we all have our daddy's eyes
Looking back it's so bizarre hey
He'd be the voice of doom
He said that we would thank him later
All day he was solid as a rock
But by eight o'clock
We'd be crumbling
One night
My brother Joe and me
Climbed down the family tree
That grew outside our bedroom window
We ran though we knew it couldn't last
Running from the past
From things that we were born to be
Looking back it's so bizarre
It runs in the family
All the things we are
On the back seat of the car
With Joseph and Emily
We only see so far
And we all have our daddy's eyes
Looking back it's so bizarre
Dad rang the officer in charge
A man so large
He barely fit his circumstances
He said two kids out on the street
Were picked up on the beat
And in the station
So there's me
With Emily and Joe
Daddy driving home
All heading in the same direction
He knew no matter what the breaks
We'd make the same mistakes
Couldn't take his eyes of Joe and me
Looking back it's so bizarre
It runs in the family
All the things we are
On the backseat of the car
With Joseph and Emily
We only see so far
And we all have our daddy's eyes
Looking back it's so bizarre
It runs in the family
All the things we are
Looking back it's so bizarre
Like a dream within a dream
We're all somewhere in between
Like a drummer plays his drum
Like a father like a son
And your gonna have to face the music
Hey hey
We keep it running in the family
Hey hey
We keep it coming in the family
Hey hey
We keep it running in the family
Hey hey
We keep it coming in the family
Looking back it's so bizarre
It runs in the family
All the things we are
On the backseat of the car
With Joseph and Emily
We only see so far
'Cause we all have our daddy's eyes
Take me back into your arms
It's no longer a mystery
There's no cause for alarm
Could have never come this far
With no sense of history
It always leaves a scar
And we all have our daddy's eyes
Looking back it's so bizarre
Running in the family
Running in the family
And we all have our daddy's eyes
Looking back it's so bizarre hey
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
Running in the Family Lyrics as written by Philip Gabriel Gould Waliou Jacques Badarou
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Peermusic Publishing
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Mountain Song
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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,
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