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."
You don't understand
This is a demand
And I think that I have to show you
Try to look inside
Take me for a ride
In the day and the night
Get to know you
Boys meet boys get together
Boys meet boys live forever
Don't say no
Boys say go
I can run away
If you never stay
And the rain and the pain and the sorrow
I'm not very sure
When you close the door
If the end is the same as tomorrow
Boys!
Boys!
Boys say go!
By Fistan Majere
This is a demand
And I think that I have to show you
Try to look inside
Take me for a ride
In the day and the night
Get to know you
Boys meet boys get together
Boys meet boys live forever
Don't say no
Boys say go
I can run away
If you never stay
And the rain and the pain and the sorrow
I'm not very sure
When you close the door
If the end is the same as tomorrow
Boys!
Boys!
Boys say go!
By Fistan Majere
Lyrics submitted by Fistan
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Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
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.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
Sunglasses at Night
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.
Indigo
Of Mice & Men
Of Mice & Men
This track is about is about questioning why the sky would choose to be blue if it had the choice to be anything else, “blue also meaning sad,” states frontman Aaron Pauley. “It's about comforting a loved one in a time of loss by telling them you feel blue, too.”
this song speaks to me in ways no other song ever could. to me, it's a social commentary on the cold war
Uh. Social commentary about the cold war? Highly unlikely. Vince Clarke - who wrote this song - isn't exactly known for penning symbolic and insightful double entendres, so much as infectiously catchy "what you hear is what you get" pop songs. Depeche Mode weren't much more than a synthpop band among the throngs until Martin Gore assumed full song-writing responsibility and turned the band in to a masterpiece-producing phenomenon, following the departure of Vince Clarke. Before gaining mainstream success, Depeche Mode gained a loyal "underground" following in the club circuit - particularly in the gay community. "Boys Say Go!" and "What's Your Name?" (both are on Speak and Spell), are blatantly homoerotic songs - a classic example of catering to the largest audience at that time.
GAY!!!! OK! GAY! but funny. I love DM.
GAY!!!! OK! GAY! but funny. I love DM.
Yeah, I think it's a gay song. Probably to appeal to their the homosexual audience. Fletch even wore a policeman cap, for God's sake!!! ;)
I think it's about the courtship rituals of gay caballeros rather than a commentary about the cold war
I like this song so much, because it was the first I've heard of DM.
Yeah, I think it is a gay song. If fact, I always thought about Depeche Mode as a gay group (and I'm not talking about their sexuality).
I thought it was about some bloke choosing his mates (pals/friends) over a girl.
Kids, as a college radio station manager in the 80's, our staff thought it was pretty clear "Boys Say Go" is an anagram for "Boys So Gay"
Eeeek!!
Again, I'm a huge DM fan...but Speak and Spell sits untouched in my cd case. DM got infintely better after Vince Clarke left.