He reuses the verse melody from the previous album's "Dirty Little Religion", the topics of the verses are all over the place, and he packs too many words into one line (goes to show...) and too few in another (it's pretty hard to find), and rhymes "Henley Regatta" with "Persona non grata", but gets away with it all as only he could.
It all spans out on a plane
Looking back, hardly a hill or valley still remains
The boy before the pain
Still longs for the womb of love as he smashes down with a cane
It builds up, then it breaks down
It's your perception alone
Of grey hands taking control
But what can you do to prove it?
The flat waste of a life
How many times did you try and stop the bleeding with a knife
There's an incline to the floor
And everything in your crooked life ends up rolling out the door
It builds up, then it breaks down
But it's your perception alone
Of grey hands have taken control
But what can you do to prove it?
Look man, there's nothing to it
What are you really getting at when you sing?
There's something wrong and beautiful
Kill a snake and make yourself pariah king
The voice bleeds through the wall, "no Jimmy no"
It builds up, then it breaks down
It's your perception alone
With your hand over your mouth
God forbid it gets out
The grey hands have got you in tow
But what can you do to prove it?
Look boy, there's nothing to it
What are you really getting at when you sing?
It's something wrong and beautiful
Kill a snake and make yourself pariah king
The voice bleeds through the wall, "no Jimmy no"
Looking back, hardly a hill or valley still remains
The boy before the pain
Still longs for the womb of love as he smashes down with a cane
It builds up, then it breaks down
It's your perception alone
Of grey hands taking control
But what can you do to prove it?
The flat waste of a life
How many times did you try and stop the bleeding with a knife
There's an incline to the floor
And everything in your crooked life ends up rolling out the door
It builds up, then it breaks down
But it's your perception alone
Of grey hands have taken control
But what can you do to prove it?
Look man, there's nothing to it
What are you really getting at when you sing?
There's something wrong and beautiful
Kill a snake and make yourself pariah king
The voice bleeds through the wall, "no Jimmy no"
It builds up, then it breaks down
It's your perception alone
With your hand over your mouth
God forbid it gets out
The grey hands have got you in tow
But what can you do to prove it?
Look boy, there's nothing to it
What are you really getting at when you sing?
It's something wrong and beautiful
Kill a snake and make yourself pariah king
The voice bleeds through the wall, "no Jimmy no"
Lyrics submitted by llscience
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This song is def a twin to "Unfair" (a song she has been quoted as saying is about falling in love with someone who is already in a relationship) so it is presumably about the same person. Given the references to buying an apartment and not being able to see her love interest "after tonight," it's most likely that she's moving away and she'll "wait a day to break the bad news" (i.e. notifying him that she's leaving once she's already gone).
And, of course, the fact that she sees in him a fellow "idealist" and "dreamer" (terms commonly given to people with the INFP personality on the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)) portends that she'll always be left wondering if they would've been perfect together.
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The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
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This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Mountain Song
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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."
Most guys while growing up have to (unfortunately) "tough it out" and hide their soft emotional side around their buddies, or be mocked (aka Caring is Creepy.) He tries to hide his "bleeding" heart by using a "knife" or sharp comments. This kind of macho thing stunts guys for too many years until they grow out of it. Or become parents. Or adopt a kitten. The same goes for expressing unpopular or unusual experiences. Mercer has been open about this in interviews. But here in Pariah King, he is singing about something he is really scared of letting people know about. Something otherworldly he perceives but can't prove. Information which, if revealed, will make him a pariah; so he keeps his "hand over [his] mouth," and "God forbid it gets out." The "grey hands" are in control, but he can't talk about it for fear of being ridiculed; "No Jimmy, NO!". Something officially deemed as "nothing to it." Hmmm, what did he experience growing up on those nuclear Air Force bases? It makes me wonder about the hundreds of military personnel finally speaking up about what they witness and are warned not to disclose. I have personal experience with this. Enough said. So many of Mercer's lyrics sound to me like struggles of conscience. He does a lot of battling inner demons- while mocking religious dogma itself (Australia...Red Rabbits...Mine is Not a High Horse...) It's also apparent (in this and other songs such as Know Your Onion) he was a sensitive kid able to see through human nature as basically selfish and "crooked." In Pariah King, when he says, "It builds up, then it breaks down" it describes the cognitive dissonance of bottling up what his "perceptions alone" tell him, until they reach the breaking point. As a result, he is questioning himself about his own artistic honesty; "What are you really getting at when you sing?" He has stated in interviews that his lyrics are very meaningful for him personally, but in this song, he hints at a subject that he can only bear to dance around. It's wrong but so beautiful.