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."
Some people might say my life is in a rut
I'm quite happy with what I got
People might say that I should strive for more, but
I'm so happy I can't see the point
Something's happening here today
A show of strength with your boy's brigade
And I'm so happy and you're so kind
You want more money, of course I don't mind
To buy nuclear textbooks for atomic crimes
And the public gets what the public wants
But I want nothing this society's got
I'm going underground (going underground)
Well, if the brass bands play and feet start to pound
Going underground (going underground)
Well, let the boys all sing and let the boys all shout for tomorrow
Some people might get some pleasure out of hate
Me, I've enough already on my plate
People might need some tension to relax
Me? I'm too busy dodging between the flak
What you see is what you get
You've made your bed, you better lie in it
You choose your leaders and place your trust
As their lies wash you down and their promises rust
You'll see kidney machines replaced by rockets and guns
And the public wants what the public gets
But I don't get what this society wants
I'm going underground (going underground)
Well, if the brass bands play and feet start to pound
Going underground (going underground)
So let the boys all sing and let the boys all shout for tomorrow
(Oh) la-la-la-la
(Oh) la-la-la-la
We talk and we talk until my head explodes
I turn on the news and my body froze
These braying sheep on my TV screen
Make this boy shout, make this boy scream
Going underground
I'm going underground
I'm going underground
I'm going underground
(Oh) la-la-la-la
(Oh) la-la-la-la
(Oh) la-la-la-la
(Oh) la-la-la-la
Braying sheep on my TV screen
Make this boy shout, make this boy scream
Going underground (going underground)
Well, if the brass bands play and feet start to pound
Going underground (going underground)
Well, let the boys all sing and let the boys all shout
Going underground (going underground)
Well, if the brass bands play and feet go pound-pound-pound
Going underground (going underground)
So let the boys all sing and let the boys all shout for tomorrow
I'm quite happy with what I got
People might say that I should strive for more, but
I'm so happy I can't see the point
Something's happening here today
A show of strength with your boy's brigade
And I'm so happy and you're so kind
You want more money, of course I don't mind
To buy nuclear textbooks for atomic crimes
And the public gets what the public wants
But I want nothing this society's got
I'm going underground (going underground)
Well, if the brass bands play and feet start to pound
Going underground (going underground)
Well, let the boys all sing and let the boys all shout for tomorrow
Some people might get some pleasure out of hate
Me, I've enough already on my plate
People might need some tension to relax
Me? I'm too busy dodging between the flak
What you see is what you get
You've made your bed, you better lie in it
You choose your leaders and place your trust
As their lies wash you down and their promises rust
You'll see kidney machines replaced by rockets and guns
And the public wants what the public gets
But I don't get what this society wants
I'm going underground (going underground)
Well, if the brass bands play and feet start to pound
Going underground (going underground)
So let the boys all sing and let the boys all shout for tomorrow
(Oh) la-la-la-la
(Oh) la-la-la-la
We talk and we talk until my head explodes
I turn on the news and my body froze
These braying sheep on my TV screen
Make this boy shout, make this boy scream
Going underground
I'm going underground
I'm going underground
I'm going underground
(Oh) la-la-la-la
(Oh) la-la-la-la
(Oh) la-la-la-la
(Oh) la-la-la-la
Braying sheep on my TV screen
Make this boy shout, make this boy scream
Going underground (going underground)
Well, if the brass bands play and feet start to pound
Going underground (going underground)
Well, let the boys all sing and let the boys all shout
Going underground (going underground)
Well, if the brass bands play and feet go pound-pound-pound
Going underground (going underground)
So let the boys all sing and let the boys all shout for tomorrow
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,
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.
Somewhere Only We Know
Keane
Keane
Per the FAQ on Keane's website, Keane's drummer Richard Hughes, stated the following:
"We've been asked whether "Somewhere Only We Know" is about a specific place, and Tim has been saying that, for him, or us as individuals, it might be about a geographical space, or a feeling; it can mean something individual to each person, and they can interpret it to a memory of theirs... It's perhaps more of a theme rather than a specific message... Feelings that may be universal, without necessarily being totally specific to us, or a place, or a time..."
With the nostalgic sentiment and the overall tone of the song, I think Keane is attempting to express a Portuguese term known as 'saudade', which does not have a direct English translation but roughly means "that which we remember because it is gone."
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.”
How does it get better than: "You choose your leaders and place your trust As their lies wash you down and their promises rust You'll see kidney machines replaced by rockets and guns"?
@wmorris it blows my mind that Paul Weller wrote these lyrics (and everything else upto Setting Sons) by the time he was 22
@wmorris I do think John Lydon [Rotten] wrote better and more concise/accurate/acute lyrics
Great song would I be correct in saying it about England and Thatcher ect? Great song really sums up the anti society feelings that we all get. I love the opening line.
A brilliant song against the jingoistic war-mongering and materialism/"aspiration" appropriated by our press and politicians; but chiefly their prioritising warfare over welfare and how it makes you want to opt out altogether and go 'underground'. A testament to how good it is, is its relevance today - just look at how we're told our NHS has become "unaffordable" whilst non-renewal of the costly, useless, unusable, nuclear warheads AKA trident is off the table.
@Lonelyascanbe It is a great 'anti-capitalist' lyric/song [albeit done in the guise of a corporate band]
The modfather's greatest song.
I think it's about somebody who doesn't care for society and what it has to offer, so vows to do things his way
This song was voted number 28 on the Greatest Number 1's of all Time on Channel 4...great song, I love it! My favourite part is "What you see is what you get, you've made your bed, you better lie in it" :D
I love the last bit.
Going Underground! Weeoo-weeooo-weeoo-weeoo!
Sorry - bad attempt at cool guitar noise.
"You choose your leaders and place your trust As their lies wash you down and their promises rust You'll see kidney machines replaced by rockets and guns"
Weller is a godly lyricist.
how come all the jams songs hae so little posts?? in there time they were the greatest band around! the song is simple, its about nuculear holocaust "you want more money of cousre i don't mind, to buy nuculear textbooks for atomic crimes" is reffering to the goverment spending the taxpayers money on weapons of mass destruction, and "going underground is talking about how when nuculear war brakes out we will alll have to hide underground from the toxic poisons and the earths surface.
It's about him not understanding why the government does things like build nuclear bombs going underground is getting away from society.
I doubt this song will ever lose relevance. While it may've been written in the late 70s about the UK, it's just as relevant about any of the super powers of the world when it comes to the talk of rockets, guns, and nuclear arms. And it's still relevant 30 years later. That makes this a great song (besides it just being awesome). Anything that stands that test of time and is still relevant is something that is well-written.