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."
Love is forever, as I lie awake
Beside you
I believed, there's no heaven
No hideaway, for the lonely
But I was wrong, crazy
It's gotta be strong
It's gotta be right
Only wanted to stay a while
Only wanted to play a while
Then you taught me to fly like a bird
Baby, thought I'd died and gone to heaven
Such a night I never had before
Thought I'd died and gone to heaven
'Cause what I got there ain't no cure for
Oh it's so easy
What you do to me all night angel
I never loved, I swear to God
Never needed no one, 'til you came along
Here I come baby
It's gotta be strong, it's gotta be right
Only wanted to stay awhile
Only wanted to play awhile
Then you taught me to fly like a bird
Baby, thought I'd died and gone to heaven
Such a night I never had before
Thought I'd died and gone to heaven
'Cause what I got there ain't no cure for
I feel fast asleep, I feel drunk
I dream the sweetest dreams
Never wanna wake up
Never thought it could be this way
No doubt about it, can't live without it
Never thought it could be this good
You made love to me, the way it ought to be
But I was wrong, crazy
It's gotta be strong
It's gotta be right
Only wanted to stay a while
Only wanted to play a while
Then you taught me to fly like a bird
Baby, thought I'd died and gone to heaven
Such a night I never had before
Thought I'd died and gone to heaven
'Cause what I got there ain't no cure for
Got say, thought I'd died and gone to heaven
Never thought that I could feel this way yeah (thought I'd died and gone to heaven)
It's gotta be love (it's gotta be love)
Thought I'd died and gone to heaven heaven
Beside you
I believed, there's no heaven
No hideaway, for the lonely
But I was wrong, crazy
It's gotta be strong
It's gotta be right
Only wanted to stay a while
Only wanted to play a while
Then you taught me to fly like a bird
Baby, thought I'd died and gone to heaven
Such a night I never had before
Thought I'd died and gone to heaven
'Cause what I got there ain't no cure for
Oh it's so easy
What you do to me all night angel
I never loved, I swear to God
Never needed no one, 'til you came along
Here I come baby
It's gotta be strong, it's gotta be right
Only wanted to stay awhile
Only wanted to play awhile
Then you taught me to fly like a bird
Baby, thought I'd died and gone to heaven
Such a night I never had before
Thought I'd died and gone to heaven
'Cause what I got there ain't no cure for
I feel fast asleep, I feel drunk
I dream the sweetest dreams
Never wanna wake up
Never thought it could be this way
No doubt about it, can't live without it
Never thought it could be this good
You made love to me, the way it ought to be
But I was wrong, crazy
It's gotta be strong
It's gotta be right
Only wanted to stay a while
Only wanted to play a while
Then you taught me to fly like a bird
Baby, thought I'd died and gone to heaven
Such a night I never had before
Thought I'd died and gone to heaven
'Cause what I got there ain't no cure for
Got say, thought I'd died and gone to heaven
Never thought that I could feel this way yeah (thought I'd died and gone to heaven)
It's gotta be love (it's gotta be love)
Thought I'd died and gone to heaven heaven
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More Featured Meanings
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
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.
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.
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.
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.
This song is not really about love at its core. Bryan Adams is an incredible writer and can take many themes and bring them together cohesively. You need to take a look at what happened before the release of this album. Im from Canada and so I have followed his career pretty closely.
Brian was working on what would be waking up the neighbors, with producer steve liliwhite...of U2 fame. It was so bad, that he ended up firing him.
Shortly after that, he met Mutt Lange, of Def Leppard /AcDc fame. I listened to an interview with Brian who said that, the first time they got together at Mutt Langs house, it was like magic. They literally finished and wrote three or four songs in a day. Mutt Lange, litterly gave Brian the big sound he needed to move to the next level. He already had 6 albums or so under his belt, but he hadnt broke through in the US. Hense the title of the album. As Canadians, we have always seen the US as this big bright light behind a fence so to speak.
Have a read over the lyrics now and you will see that all this makes sense. I would be interested in hearing anyone elses comments on what I wrote here.