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."
(written by Jim Byron)
Well, the wicked, they’re misguided:
They don’t know what they're doin'...
And the mystics, they're alright, but
They're so misunderstood
Except for by the well-versed
In the nature of mystery,
Who know why this world is cursed
To fall in spirals
Of herstory
Can't you tell, the original spell which cast this universe:
We were all once the same energy, at the very first
Let's speak holy magic
Wherever we go
Let's speak holy magic
'Til everybody knows
The unspoken rules of thumb, they come without deliberation.
And if you infringe upon them, your freedom becomes incarceration
You better not play dumb,
no time for empty explanation
Listen to the silence; hear your heartbeat's trepidation
Well, the wicked, they’re misguided:
They don’t know what they're doin'...
And the mystics, they're alright, but
They're so misunderstood
Except for by the well-versed
In the nature of mystery,
Who know why this world is cursed
To fall in spirals
Of herstory
Can't you tell, the original spell which cast this universe:
We were all once the same energy, at the very first
Let's speak holy magic
Wherever we go
Let's speak holy magic
'Til everybody knows
The unspoken rules of thumb, they come without deliberation.
And if you infringe upon them, your freedom becomes incarceration
You better not play dumb,
no time for empty explanation
Listen to the silence; hear your heartbeat's trepidation
Lyrics submitted by tylermacmore
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Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
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Blue
Ed Sheeran
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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.
Page
Ed Sheeran
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There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
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Tom Odell
Tom Odell
I think the meaning is pretty clear. This person got really burned in a previous relationship, and because of this is unable to love and show care in his present one, even though he so badly wants to. It's lovely song, and very sad. You can really feel how defeated and frustrated he is with himself.
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Corey Hart
Corey Hart
In the 1980s, sunglasses were a common fashion for people who wanted to adopt a "tough guy" persona (note all the cop shows from that era -- Simon & Simon, Miami Vice, etc. -- where the lead characters wore shades). So I think this song is about a guy who wears shades as a way of hiding his insecurity after learning that his girlfriend is cheating on him. He's trying to pretend that he's a "tough guy" to hide the fact that his girlfriend's affair is disturbing him.