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."
Hey there you lady in tears
Do you think that they care if they're real, woman?
They just take it as part of the deal
Lost in your men and the games you play
Trying to prove that you're better, woman
But you needn't get heavy with them
Like it or not, we were built tough
Because we're woman
No, we never die for long
While we've got that little life
To live for, where it's hid inside
No, we never die for long
Oh! Woman, two in one
There's room for a life in your womb, woman
Inside of you can be two, woman
There's room for a life in your womb, woman
Mama woman, aha!
Night after night in the quiet house
Plaiting her hair by the fire, woman
With no lover to free her desire
How long do you think she can stick it out?
How long do you think before she'll go out, woman?
Hey! Get up on your feet and go get it, now
Like it or not, we keep bouncing back,
Because we're woman
No, we never die for long,
While we've got that little life
To live for, where it's hid inside.
Oh! Woman, two in one,
There's room for a life in your womb, woman,
Inside of you can be two, woman,
There's room for a life in your womb, woman,
Mama woman, aha!
A-mama-woma-mama-woman-aha!
A-mama-woma-mama-woman-aha!
Oh, mama-woman, two-in-a-one, aha!
Oh, two in one, aha!
Oh, woman! Woman! Woman! Woman!
There's room for a life in your womb!
There's room for a life in your womb!
Two in one, aha!
Two in one! Two in one! Two in one!
Room for a life in your womb
Do you think that they care if they're real, woman?
They just take it as part of the deal
Lost in your men and the games you play
Trying to prove that you're better, woman
But you needn't get heavy with them
Like it or not, we were built tough
Because we're woman
No, we never die for long
While we've got that little life
To live for, where it's hid inside
No, we never die for long
Oh! Woman, two in one
There's room for a life in your womb, woman
Inside of you can be two, woman
There's room for a life in your womb, woman
Mama woman, aha!
Night after night in the quiet house
Plaiting her hair by the fire, woman
With no lover to free her desire
How long do you think she can stick it out?
How long do you think before she'll go out, woman?
Hey! Get up on your feet and go get it, now
Like it or not, we keep bouncing back,
Because we're woman
No, we never die for long,
While we've got that little life
To live for, where it's hid inside.
Oh! Woman, two in one,
There's room for a life in your womb, woman,
Inside of you can be two, woman,
There's room for a life in your womb, woman,
Mama woman, aha!
A-mama-woma-mama-woman-aha!
A-mama-woma-mama-woman-aha!
Oh, mama-woman, two-in-a-one, aha!
Oh, two in one, aha!
Oh, woman! Woman! Woman! Woman!
There's room for a life in your womb!
There's room for a life in your womb!
Two in one, aha!
Two in one! Two in one! Two in one!
Room for a life in your womb
Lyrics submitted by weezerific:cutlery, edited by Mellow_Harsher
Room for the Life Lyrics as written by Kate Bush
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Mountain Song
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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.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
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“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
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.
a tribute to the true power and strength of women everywhere....thank you Kate!
Maybe this song needs to be looked at in context; it's possible that she's just going against the position of many second-wave feminists. Ignoring the point about the womb temporarily, this song is actually saying that women shouldn't get down on themselves because of men. It's clear from 'Strange Phenomena' that Bush thinks femininity, womanliness, to be a powerful force, one that should be valued, and I think that that is all this song is trying to say.
Ah, I see your point, I was looking at it in a slightly jaded light i suppose. It's certainly clarified things a bit more for me, thanks for that.
I've always taken this song as being somewhat ironic as opposed to some kind of ode to motherhood.
She is saying that, bottom line women survive because they carry children, she wrote this at the height of feminist fervour in the seventies. We of course were busy kicking against the system which held us back. The best message is she is saying do not worry to much about men.
I've always found this song sort of patronising. I really don't think that women have a stronger survival instinct than men because they can carry and give birth to babies. I'd hate to be defined as strong just because I have a functioning uterus.
Or maybe it's because I'm just not maternal. Either way, I'm a firm believer in equality between men and women.
However this is an oldie, so it makes me wonder if Kate still feels this way, or possibly even more since she had her son?