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."
What, yeah, yeah
Black John McClane, Harold the Menace, and the Waterproof
With my nigga Bud'da, on the track
Golden State Warriors
Eatin every rapper on the plate
Huh, feel me
I got three-oh-fo's in three-one-oh
On section eight, with multiple one-eighty-sevens
Sport a Marilyn Manson t-shirt when I die and go to heaven
Smoke a beady, scrape my lungs, smoke the resin
Remember the name Ras Kass-ciano
Get to clownin y'all punk bitches, cause I'm a Mac, like Ronald
I make Mac make money, and mack murder wack rappers
My Makaveli verse Bomb First, the Mac-11'll gat cha
When I get at cha, the situation tenses
Fatality before you ever reach your senses
Got so-called writers, crashing into brick fences
Like my name was Al Fayed so you die, like that white princess
If you lookin for sympathy, you better look
Between are and T, in the fucking dictionary
See the object of the game is to win, stack some ends, sippinHenn'
Whip a Benz and leave it to your next of kin
Pick a card any card, I bet you can't pull it
Golden State, number one with a bullet
It's three card molly
Will they ever stop?
Probably not
Pull your spine through your mouth and watch your bodydrop
The un-edited medic, on the cut, with a degree in metaphysics
A doctor, with a lot of patients/patience
And perseverance, flows like an ocean liner
That sails/sales like a clearance, I'm bilingual
Fly like a flamingo, I'm a pitcha, everything I freak
I eat like Al Pacino, you don't like me baby
You ain't happy, you need some Ecstasy
Now you in my properties, but you have to pay my equity
For the lowest point in my character
I'll reach the highest place in the house when I rock
Like the Qu'ran, fuse hot, fluid with flavor like buillioncube
Been this way since I was fourteen
And like this I been runnin shit without the use of Sportscreme
Rippin up tracks like immigrant Chinese, peep the game I lay
I'm grim, I brim over my brow when I rip
Never write rhymes with slim fingertips
Each syllable you choose to use is light as a flower
Keep tryin to go gold
But all you're gettin is a golden shower
Pick a card any card, I bet you can't pull it
Golden State, number one with a bullet
It's three card molly
Will they ever stop?
Probably not
Pull your spine through your mouth and watch your bodydrop
Look, now if it wasn't for the West
These rap niggas wouldn't need a vest around they chest
Keep bustin about where you rest, and what you own, and what youdrive
So the day some niggas come for you I'm really not surprised
Mr. Black Bruce Willis, please don't kill us
I show mercy like Kevorkian, like a scorpion
We sting you from behind and put it in you, so meet me at thevenue
Put you on the spot to put you on the menu
Fricaseed emcee, we be the ones that keep the pussy hot
Xzibit livin life, like a bull inside a china shop
Strippin everything, see you ain't even got a dime to drop
Go ahead and call the cops, you ain't said nathin
Jerry Spring-you out the studio, then Suge Knight you
To the parkin lot, niggas ain't ready for all this heat we got
Picture yourself crushin Xzibit with your tough talk
That's like Christopher Reeves doing the crip walk
Pick a card any card, I bet you can't pull it
Golden State, number one with a bullet
It's three card molly
Will they ever stop?
Probably not
Pull your spine through your mouth and watch your bodydrop
Black John McClane, Harold the Menace, and the Waterproof
With my nigga Bud'da, on the track
Golden State Warriors
Eatin every rapper on the plate
Huh, feel me
I got three-oh-fo's in three-one-oh
On section eight, with multiple one-eighty-sevens
Sport a Marilyn Manson t-shirt when I die and go to heaven
Smoke a beady, scrape my lungs, smoke the resin
Remember the name Ras Kass-ciano
Get to clownin y'all punk bitches, cause I'm a Mac, like Ronald
I make Mac make money, and mack murder wack rappers
My Makaveli verse Bomb First, the Mac-11'll gat cha
When I get at cha, the situation tenses
Fatality before you ever reach your senses
Got so-called writers, crashing into brick fences
Like my name was Al Fayed so you die, like that white princess
If you lookin for sympathy, you better look
Between are and T, in the fucking dictionary
See the object of the game is to win, stack some ends, sippinHenn'
Whip a Benz and leave it to your next of kin
Pick a card any card, I bet you can't pull it
Golden State, number one with a bullet
It's three card molly
Will they ever stop?
Probably not
Pull your spine through your mouth and watch your bodydrop
The un-edited medic, on the cut, with a degree in metaphysics
A doctor, with a lot of patients/patience
And perseverance, flows like an ocean liner
That sails/sales like a clearance, I'm bilingual
Fly like a flamingo, I'm a pitcha, everything I freak
I eat like Al Pacino, you don't like me baby
You ain't happy, you need some Ecstasy
Now you in my properties, but you have to pay my equity
For the lowest point in my character
I'll reach the highest place in the house when I rock
Like the Qu'ran, fuse hot, fluid with flavor like buillioncube
Been this way since I was fourteen
And like this I been runnin shit without the use of Sportscreme
Rippin up tracks like immigrant Chinese, peep the game I lay
I'm grim, I brim over my brow when I rip
Never write rhymes with slim fingertips
Each syllable you choose to use is light as a flower
Keep tryin to go gold
But all you're gettin is a golden shower
Pick a card any card, I bet you can't pull it
Golden State, number one with a bullet
It's three card molly
Will they ever stop?
Probably not
Pull your spine through your mouth and watch your bodydrop
Look, now if it wasn't for the West
These rap niggas wouldn't need a vest around they chest
Keep bustin about where you rest, and what you own, and what youdrive
So the day some niggas come for you I'm really not surprised
Mr. Black Bruce Willis, please don't kill us
I show mercy like Kevorkian, like a scorpion
We sting you from behind and put it in you, so meet me at thevenue
Put you on the spot to put you on the menu
Fricaseed emcee, we be the ones that keep the pussy hot
Xzibit livin life, like a bull inside a china shop
Strippin everything, see you ain't even got a dime to drop
Go ahead and call the cops, you ain't said nathin
Jerry Spring-you out the studio, then Suge Knight you
To the parkin lot, niggas ain't ready for all this heat we got
Picture yourself crushin Xzibit with your tough talk
That's like Christopher Reeves doing the crip walk
Pick a card any card, I bet you can't pull it
Golden State, number one with a bullet
It's three card molly
Will they ever stop?
Probably not
Pull your spine through your mouth and watch your bodydrop
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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,
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
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.
saafir and ras kass make xzibit look really really boring on this song