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."
Aboard a craft bereft of oar
I rowed upstream to find Lenore
Abducted by a bandit or
A king from some forgotten war
And mindful of his larval craze
The rhinotropic micro-gaze
Ignored it and to my amazement
Rode to Paris in twelve days
This is the work of the guelah papyrus
Stranded for a moment on the ocean of Osyrus
Absorbing all she can for every member of her clan
Expanding exponentially like some recursive virus
She take me on, I never fail
To ride on the redundant rail
'Cause when I know she's switched a track
There's always one to take me back
And through the bedroom door intrude
A fretful frown and spoil the mood
'Cause though I never really stand that tall
She tilt my frame, she watch me fall
So maybe I could be a fly
And feed arachnid as I die
And view the ritual from within
The silken tunnel that they spin
And through the bedroom door intrude
A fretful frown and spoil the mood
'Cause though I never really stand that tall
She tilt my frame, she watch me fall
I rowed upstream to find Lenore
Abducted by a bandit or
A king from some forgotten war
And mindful of his larval craze
The rhinotropic micro-gaze
Ignored it and to my amazement
Rode to Paris in twelve days
This is the work of the guelah papyrus
Stranded for a moment on the ocean of Osyrus
Absorbing all she can for every member of her clan
Expanding exponentially like some recursive virus
She take me on, I never fail
To ride on the redundant rail
'Cause when I know she's switched a track
There's always one to take me back
And through the bedroom door intrude
A fretful frown and spoil the mood
'Cause though I never really stand that tall
She tilt my frame, she watch me fall
So maybe I could be a fly
And feed arachnid as I die
And view the ritual from within
The silken tunnel that they spin
And through the bedroom door intrude
A fretful frown and spoil the mood
'Cause though I never really stand that tall
She tilt my frame, she watch me fall
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Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
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.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
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.
beautiful trip aide.
"She take me on, I never fail to ride on the redundant rail"
one of the best phish lines ever.
i still have no real idea what this song is about.
though i could be wrong, this verse:
"And through the bedroom door intrude a fretful frown and spoil the mood
'Cause though I never really stand that tall she tilt my frame, she watch me fall"
makes me think of erectile dysfunction..haha
great song. what does is mean though? I think its definitely about relationships and the perils that girls will put you through.
I think this song is about expecting to catch a cheating girlfriend in the act, with undertones of fears of venereal disease as a running theme? Why? Well, when you listen to the other lyrics on the album, STD's are something of a running theme-- it's a public health announcement to jam band types everywhere. "Whatever you do, take care of your shoe" (Cavern) lest you get a "Crab" in your "Shoemouth" (Manteca)
"In summing up, the moral seems A little bit obscure...
Give the director a serpent deflector A mudrat detector, a ribbon reflector A cushion convector, a pitcher of nectar * A viral dissector,a hormone collector"
(Cavern) - this entire list is a collection of synonyms for condoms. With the exception of a "picture of Nectar." Nectar's was a club that Phish played in and while I haven't seen the proprietor myself, it would presumably be enough of a turn off to prevent any activity that might result in catching anything!!! And I think bacteria can come in the shape of little serpents, ribbons, rods, or tiny spheres. Yuck.
This album came out during the AIDS epidemic when I was a teenager-- I think the message was pretty clear at the time. The remainder of "Cavern's" lyrics contain a lot of disease imagery, and other earlier tunes like Golgi Apparatus suggest that microbiology tends to come up in Phish lyrics.
So the singer imagines himself paralyzed by a spider, a "fly on the wall" to witness the tryst of his lover, and then imagines walking in, causing frowns all around-- and noticing that his photo frame on the nightstand has been turned flat on the table.
The relationship issues that run through the sequence of songs here also echo the dysfunctional relationship theme here.
flat earth