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."
Send me a sign, let me know
Give me a time, a place I should go
Reach inside, watch me grow
See me rise.
Scene of the crime, star of the show
If you were mine, then we would know
The peace of mind and seeds that we sow
Are intertwined.
We almost made it,
But making it is overrated.
Scene of the crime, friend or foe
I've got a body to hide,
You've got a body on show
And with our bodies entwined,
We will know paradise
Scene of the crime, go with the flow
Take it fast, take it slow
Stay blind so I don't know what's right.
Our breath evaporates
Before our eyes
The ground beneath
That shakes under our weight
We almost made it,
Making it is overrated.
Making it is overrated. [x4]
Scene of the crime...
The Scene of the crime (The Scene of the crime) [x4]
Give me a time, a place I should go
Reach inside, watch me grow
See me rise.
Scene of the crime, star of the show
If you were mine, then we would know
The peace of mind and seeds that we sow
Are intertwined.
We almost made it,
But making it is overrated.
Scene of the crime, friend or foe
I've got a body to hide,
You've got a body on show
And with our bodies entwined,
We will know paradise
Scene of the crime, go with the flow
Take it fast, take it slow
Stay blind so I don't know what's right.
Our breath evaporates
Before our eyes
The ground beneath
That shakes under our weight
We almost made it,
Making it is overrated.
Making it is overrated. [x4]
Scene of the crime...
The Scene of the crime (The Scene of the crime) [x4]
Lyrics submitted by JackieBee
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,
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Midnight
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Midnight” is a song about finding a love that is so true that it provides a calming feeling through every storm. Ed Sheeran reflects on his good fortunes in landing someone with such peace and support and speaks of not fearing the dark days because he knows they’ll all end in the safety nets of her arms.
“Well, good morning there / What a way to start the day / With everything laid bare,” Ed Sheeran sings in the first verse, enthusiastic to be waking up beside his woman. He apologizes for missing her calls in the second verse and promises to return them because for him, speaking to her is the most important thing. “Well, I get lost inside my head / In this chaos, you’re my calm / And I will find my feet again / ‘Cause еven the worst days of my life will always еnd / At midnight in your arms,” sings Ed Sheeran in the chorus, revelling in his good luck.
Zombie
Cranberries, The
Cranberries, The
"Zombie" is about the ethno-political conflict in Ireland. This is obvious if you know anything of the singer (Dolores O'Riordan)'s Irish heritage and understood the "1916" Easter Rising reference.
"Another head hangs lowly
Child is slowly taken
And the violence caused such silence
Who are we mistaken
-
Another mother's breaking
Heart is taking over"
Laments the Warrington bomb attacks in which two children were fatally injured on March 23rd, 1993. Twelve year old Tim Parry was taken off life support with permission from his mother after five days in the hospital, virtually braindead.
"But you see it's not me
It's not my family"
References how people who are not directly involved with the violence feel about it. They are "zombies" without sympathy who refuse to take action while others suffer.
Uh, it's clearly about sex. "Send me a sign, let me know Give me a time, a place I should go Reach inside, watch me grow See me rise." One's inviting other for sex, then quite a metaphor for erection there.
"We almost made it, But making it is overrated" Sex isn't about when it ends, but the doing of it.
"Scene of the crime, go with the flow Take it fast, take it slow Stay blind so I don't know what's right.
Our breath evaporates Before our eyes The ground beneath That shakes under our weight" Even clearer the song is about sex.
This album is so great and yet so different than other Placebo's albums.
I think the song is about a story between two individuals who are trying to find the way to love, through sex. They want to meet each other, so they play a game of signs and hidden emotions. But they're discovering that sex, can create something meaningful between them, but also, can destroy the expectations they had when they met for the first time. The Scene of the crime.
This song is clearly about sex, but what makes the song interesting is the slight hint to the underlying message of the song: 'Love Fails when the lovers don’t evolve beyond desire.
' And the main character recognizes this by calling their passionate endeavor 'scene of the crime' because the crime is that their love is not evolving and they are only with each other because of the great sex they have. The line 'We almost made it But making it was overrated' refers to both: the act of the sex being more fun than the climax as well as they almost made to get into a committed relationship but relationships are overrated. So we see that the protagonist is not yet mature enough to be in a committed relationship.