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."
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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,
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.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
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.
It's loosely about child abuse. The title: "To Cure a Weakling Child" denotes a harsh attitude toward a child, from which one can infer the "cure" not being a positive thing.
The lyrics, a child's voice talking about his body parts connecting with "your feet," further hints at an abusive theme.
The percussion starts off slow, connotation of the earlier, "more precious" years in life. The further it goes on, the the more menacing the beat becomes, until the 2:10 mark, where the song completely shifts from an innocent, albeit creepy tone to a ravaging of percussions reminiscent of a life-threatening beating. After which, the child's voice is played backwards, denoting that nothing could be the same.
The song continues as before the pounding drums, but fades out, leaving the haunting voice as the last thing to flicker out, suggesting either future beatings, or the rekindling of scars from the past.
Leastaways, that's how I see it. I could just be talking out of my arse, but that's what it means to me past the scarce lyrics.
I think it's about finding the meaning of life. I can't believe how beautifully phrased these lyrics are; Richard D. James is obviously a poetic genius. The words are so plain yet so complex, deep, and twisted. You have to look deep to understand their true meaning, however. I wish more musicians could write like this.
I'm assuming this was sarcasm right? xD
I don't think it's a stretch to say it's about child abuse. In the context of such a dark and disturbing album, it was the first thing that crossed my mind.
Its a great song although those lyrics above are incorrect... it goes "My Feet, My Arms, And My Ears, And Your Beat"
acrually its feet not beat
actually*
iv always thought it was feet but i now think it could be "beat". Think about it... My Feet (dancing), My Arms (waving around) And My Ears (listening to the music)...And Your BEAT (Aphex's tunes!) What do u all think???
actually, richard just recorded himself saying a bunch of random shit. and then chopped this together. i don't think there is a meaning. find beauty in the random complexities of inane babble? maybe.
either or, the song rocks it. hard.
whether its 'feet' or 'beat', doesnt matter cause the words are skewed to let you hear what you want. To me, this song is about listening to any aphex twin curing his listeners, especially on the Richard D. Jame's album, most of the songs are soothing. I wish he had done a music video for this song, does he have any from RDJ's album?