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."
When our masterpiece is complete
And the coroner's report is back in
It will read, "The cause of death: art"
Art
It will read, "The cause of death: art"
Art
Your death scene projected on the ceiling
What's in your veins will express the way I'm feeling
A melting image of the holes in your head
Bleeding from the walls that we painted red in the dark
Only when you're hurting
Will you know what you are
Only if we end it together, forever
Can you take it that far?
Can you take it that far?
Art
Will you take it that far?
It will read, "The cause of death: art"
All the fucked up things I'm feeling
The suffering I see when I'm dreaming
Of worlds that can't exist (why resist?)
I only wanted you to believe
To feel my hate without the emotion
Darker than the black of the ocean
I'm breaking, I'm falling apart
All for the sake of my
Art
Art
Your rape scene's been rewritten again
I'll make a new mask made of stranger's skin
Scratching out the parts that aren't what they seem
It takes a lot of patience to teach you how to scream
Only when you're hurting
Will you know what you are
Only if we do this together, forever
Can you take it that far
All the fucked up things I'm feeling
The suffering I see when I'm dreaming
Of worlds that can't exist (why resist?)
I only wanted you to believe
To feel my hate without the emotion
Darker than the black of the ocean
I'm breaking and falling apart
All for the sake of my art
I'm breaking and falling apart
All for the sake of my art
When our masterpiece is complete
And the coroner's report is back in
It will read, "The cause of death: art"
It will read, "The cause of death: art"
And the coroner's report is back in
It will read, "The cause of death: art"
Art
It will read, "The cause of death: art"
Art
Your death scene projected on the ceiling
What's in your veins will express the way I'm feeling
A melting image of the holes in your head
Bleeding from the walls that we painted red in the dark
Only when you're hurting
Will you know what you are
Only if we end it together, forever
Can you take it that far?
Can you take it that far?
Art
Will you take it that far?
It will read, "The cause of death: art"
All the fucked up things I'm feeling
The suffering I see when I'm dreaming
Of worlds that can't exist (why resist?)
I only wanted you to believe
To feel my hate without the emotion
Darker than the black of the ocean
I'm breaking, I'm falling apart
All for the sake of my
Art
Art
Your rape scene's been rewritten again
I'll make a new mask made of stranger's skin
Scratching out the parts that aren't what they seem
It takes a lot of patience to teach you how to scream
Only when you're hurting
Will you know what you are
Only if we do this together, forever
Can you take it that far
All the fucked up things I'm feeling
The suffering I see when I'm dreaming
Of worlds that can't exist (why resist?)
I only wanted you to believe
To feel my hate without the emotion
Darker than the black of the ocean
I'm breaking and falling apart
All for the sake of my art
I'm breaking and falling apart
All for the sake of my art
When our masterpiece is complete
And the coroner's report is back in
It will read, "The cause of death: art"
It will read, "The cause of death: art"
Lyrics submitted by shadeth
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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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