Both as a standalone and as part of the DSOTS album, you can take this lyric as read. As a matter of public record, Jourgensen's drug intake was legendary even in the 1980s. By the late 90s, in his own words, he was grappling with massive addiction issues and had lost almost everything: friends, spouse, money and had nearly died more than once. "Dark Side of the Spoon" is a both funny & sad title for an album made by a musical genius who was losing the plot; and this song is a message to his fans & friends saying he knows it. It's painful to listen to so I'm glad the "Keith Richards of industrial metals" wised up and cleaned up. Well done sir.
[Intro]
I burn poor and lonely packed to the brim with coal and cinder
Or on the shelf beside my bed where at night you lay turning like a door on its hinges
First on your left side, then on your right side
Then on your left side again
I burn poor and lonely
Tell all the stones to vacate building
Neither cut into shape or in the right place
So I gaze out the window, for a place to stake a claim
Condemning any kind words and feasting on the blame
And ruin my reputation like a stain
All I know is plan making, not a shred of living
It's so fun being unbearably lame
And I burn poor and lonely
[Bridge]
Where are my torches?
Where are my torches?
Where are my torches? Oh!
We could be torches together, torches together
Where are the torches? I have no torches
Whatever respect my tattered dignity commands
Not one torch to grace my hand
[Verse]
Why pluck these strings? What good are these happy notes
Oh, one string sounds fine I guess, but we were once 'one notes'
Ripped apart by savagery and a lack of faith
Oh, what darkness and delicious pain
I'm so in my safe distance
This faint and distant look
Why immerse yourself in pages
When you could piss upon the book
Why stand proud when you can eat your guitar?
Just eat your guitar
Eat your guitar
Eat the guitar
Only regret and self judgement
Take down the guitar and feast on the frets
Eat my guitar
Eat my guitar
Eat my guitar
Eat my guitar
Cause I am so afraid
And she's afraid
And everyone's afraid and everyone knows it
I will be deathly afraid evermore
[Outro]
I slit my throat and yet they keep dancing
I sang a sad song and all of you laughed
I slit my throat and yet they kept dancing
I sang a sad song and all of you laughed
I slit my throat, yet they kept dancing
I sang a sad song and all of you laughed
I slit my throat, yet they kept dancing
I sang a sad song, sang such a sad song
I burn poor and lonely packed to the brim with coal and cinder
Or on the shelf beside my bed where at night you lay turning like a door on its hinges
First on your left side, then on your right side
Then on your left side again
I burn poor and lonely
Tell all the stones to vacate building
Neither cut into shape or in the right place
So I gaze out the window, for a place to stake a claim
Condemning any kind words and feasting on the blame
And ruin my reputation like a stain
All I know is plan making, not a shred of living
It's so fun being unbearably lame
And I burn poor and lonely
[Bridge]
Where are my torches?
Where are my torches?
Where are my torches? Oh!
We could be torches together, torches together
Where are the torches? I have no torches
Whatever respect my tattered dignity commands
Not one torch to grace my hand
[Verse]
Why pluck these strings? What good are these happy notes
Oh, one string sounds fine I guess, but we were once 'one notes'
Ripped apart by savagery and a lack of faith
Oh, what darkness and delicious pain
I'm so in my safe distance
This faint and distant look
Why immerse yourself in pages
When you could piss upon the book
Why stand proud when you can eat your guitar?
Just eat your guitar
Eat your guitar
Eat the guitar
Only regret and self judgement
Take down the guitar and feast on the frets
Eat my guitar
Eat my guitar
Eat my guitar
Eat my guitar
Cause I am so afraid
And she's afraid
And everyone's afraid and everyone knows it
I will be deathly afraid evermore
[Outro]
I slit my throat and yet they keep dancing
I sang a sad song and all of you laughed
I slit my throat and yet they kept dancing
I sang a sad song and all of you laughed
I slit my throat, yet they kept dancing
I sang a sad song and all of you laughed
I slit my throat, yet they kept dancing
I sang a sad song, sang such a sad song
Lyrics submitted by Mellow_Harsher
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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.
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"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."
Gentle Hour
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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,
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.