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."
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Baby, here I come
Baby, here I come
Baby, baby, baby, baby
Baby, baby, baby, yeah
Baby, here I come
Baby, here I come, hey
Baby, here I come
I want you, good God, to sit down
Put your hand across your lap
Get yourself together, I'm ready
I'm ready, hey, sit down, baby
And put your hand
Your hand across your lap
Let me sit down
And listen to my rap
I wanna write, good God
The soul book, so good
Baby, I wanna cook
Baby, yeah
Now, baby, lookie here
I wanna tell you bout
The book I wanna cook
Good God
Get down in the pot
I said my body getting hot
Yeah, I don't have
A whole lot left, good God
But I can do my thing
Get back, my bad self
Now, baby, sit down, sit down
Listen here, lay your
Hands across your lap
Get ready, listen to me
The brother got the rap
I want the band, the band
To take me to the bridge
Take me to the bridge
Take me now
Got to, got to, got to
Hey, hey, hey
Baby, good God
Hey, Lord, Lord, Lord
Put your hands across your lap
I wanna rap
I got to what I do
For me and you
Let me, let me, let me
Get next to, baby
Get next to you
Let me get, let me get
Let me get, let me
Let me, let me get
Next to you, baby
Now, Maceo, brother
Brother, now brother Maceo
Grab your horn
March over here, brother
Brother, brother Maceo
Grab your horn
And march over here
I wanna, I wanna, I wanna
Wanna watch you blow
Good God, so I can go
Before I go, come on, Maceo
Lookie here now
Lay your horn
Across your lap, brother
Yeah, brother
Me and you, just the two
Me and you, me and you
You know, you know
You know, you know
Play, little brother
Good God
Put your horn in your lap
Good God, Maceo
Now brother, lay your horn
Lay your horn right there
In your lap, lookie here
Lay your horn in your lap
Let the brother back up
And get the thing together
I wanna rap
I said, baby, up in here
Whoa, baby, whoa
Here I come, here I come
Good God
I'm standing in the back
My soul is heavy, good God
My body getting hot
Baby, baby, baby
My body getting hot
Dong dong dong
Lookie here
It's your thing, your thing
Thing, thing, thing
Thing, thing, thing
Take your thing, take your thing
It's your thing, it's your thing
Baby, here I come
Baby, here I come
Baby, baby, baby, baby
Baby, baby, baby, yeah
Baby, here I come
Baby, here I come, hey
Baby, here I come
I want you, good God, to sit down
Put your hand across your lap
Get yourself together, I'm ready
I'm ready, hey, sit down, baby
And put your hand
Your hand across your lap
Let me sit down
And listen to my rap
I wanna write, good God
The soul book, so good
Baby, I wanna cook
Baby, yeah
Now, baby, lookie here
I wanna tell you bout
The book I wanna cook
Good God
Get down in the pot
I said my body getting hot
Yeah, I don't have
A whole lot left, good God
But I can do my thing
Get back, my bad self
Now, baby, sit down, sit down
Listen here, lay your
Hands across your lap
Get ready, listen to me
The brother got the rap
I want the band, the band
To take me to the bridge
Take me to the bridge
Take me now
Got to, got to, got to
Hey, hey, hey
Baby, good God
Hey, Lord, Lord, Lord
Put your hands across your lap
I wanna rap
I got to what I do
For me and you
Let me, let me, let me
Get next to, baby
Get next to you
Let me get, let me get
Let me get, let me
Let me, let me get
Next to you, baby
Now, Maceo, brother
Brother, now brother Maceo
Grab your horn
March over here, brother
Brother, brother Maceo
Grab your horn
And march over here
I wanna, I wanna, I wanna
Wanna watch you blow
Good God, so I can go
Before I go, come on, Maceo
Lookie here now
Lay your horn
Across your lap, brother
Yeah, brother
Me and you, just the two
Me and you, me and you
You know, you know
You know, you know
Play, little brother
Good God
Put your horn in your lap
Good God, Maceo
Now brother, lay your horn
Lay your horn right there
In your lap, lookie here
Lay your horn in your lap
Let the brother back up
And get the thing together
I wanna rap
I said, baby, up in here
Whoa, baby, whoa
Here I come, here I come
Good God
I'm standing in the back
My soul is heavy, good God
My body getting hot
Baby, baby, baby
My body getting hot
Dong dong dong
Lookie here
It's your thing, your thing
Thing, thing, thing
Thing, thing, thing
Take your thing, take your thing
It's your thing, it's your thing
Lyrics submitted by Mellow_Harsher
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More Featured Meanings
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
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No Surprises
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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.
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“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
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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.
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