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."
Time - He's waiting in the wings
He speaks of senseless things
His script is you and me boys
Time - He flexes like a whore
Falls wanking to the floor
His trick is you and me, boy
Time - In Quaaludes and red wine
Demanding Billy Dolls
And other friends of mine
Take your time
The sniper in the brain, regurgitating drain
Incestuous and vain, and many other last names
I look at my watch it say 9:25 and I think "Oh God I'm still alive"
We should be on by now
We should be on by now
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la (repeat)
You - are not a victim
You - just scream with boredom
You - are not evicting time
Chimes - Goddamn, you're looking old
You'll freeze and catch a cold
'Cause you've left your coat behind
Take your time
Breaking up is hard, but keeping dark is hateful
I had so many dreams, I had so many breakthroughs
But you, my love, were kind, but love has left you dreamless
The door to dreams was closed. Your park was real dreamless
Perhaps you're smiling now, smiling through this darkness
But all I had to give was the guilt for dreaming
We should be on by now (x5)
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la (repeat)
Yeah, time!
He speaks of senseless things
His script is you and me boys
Time - He flexes like a whore
Falls wanking to the floor
His trick is you and me, boy
Time - In Quaaludes and red wine
Demanding Billy Dolls
And other friends of mine
Take your time
The sniper in the brain, regurgitating drain
Incestuous and vain, and many other last names
I look at my watch it say 9:25 and I think "Oh God I'm still alive"
We should be on by now
We should be on by now
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la (repeat)
You - are not a victim
You - just scream with boredom
You - are not evicting time
Chimes - Goddamn, you're looking old
You'll freeze and catch a cold
'Cause you've left your coat behind
Take your time
Breaking up is hard, but keeping dark is hateful
I had so many dreams, I had so many breakthroughs
But you, my love, were kind, but love has left you dreamless
The door to dreams was closed. Your park was real dreamless
Perhaps you're smiling now, smiling through this darkness
But all I had to give was the guilt for dreaming
We should be on by now (x5)
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la (repeat)
Yeah, time!
Lyrics submitted by niip
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Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
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.
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.
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.
Zombie
Cranberries, The
Cranberries, The
"Zombie" is about the ethno-political conflict in Ireland. This is obvious if you know anything of the singer (Dolores O'Riordan)'s Irish heritage and understood the "1916" Easter Rising reference.
"Another head hangs lowly
Child is slowly taken
And the violence caused such silence
Who are we mistaken
-
Another mother's breaking
Heart is taking over"
Laments the Warrington bomb attacks in which two children were fatally injured on March 23rd, 1993. Twelve year old Tim Parry was taken off life support with permission from his mother after five days in the hospital, virtually braindead.
"But you see it's not me
It's not my family"
References how people who are not directly involved with the violence feel about it. They are "zombies" without sympathy who refuse to take action while others suffer.
I think the two lines, "flexes like a whore" and "wanking to the floor" are supposed to be interpretations of what the hands of a clock looks like. Just check it out for yourself.
10:10 - "flexes like a whore" 09:00 - "falls wanking to the floor" (no legs) 09:25 - '"Oh God I'm still alive"' (hurdled over [drunk or in pain, maybe?])
Reminds me of the void between input and output. Everyone goes through it once. That's adolescence. Artists go in and out and in and out and in and out again. That's just being an artist. It's a depression and a numb sort of cowardice. You know you could be doing something productive with your time, learning how to play another instrument or helping someone with their chores. You just can't seem to escape the sludge of your own spirits, and no amount of rationalising or motivational speeches will force you into doing so. That's why I'm wasting my own precious time commenting on David Bowie's lyrics. Not that the aren't worth commenting on.
I believe this song is about nothing more than knowing that time ends all things. Time is compared to a predator(he's waiting in the wings), a director (his script is you and me), and a few other things. Bowie is just saying that any second now he expects time to come and get him (Oh God I'm still alive). Then towards the end of the song he changes it and says "take your time" but I do not think he means you have the time to take. Instead I think he means use the remainder of your time before it's too late. At the end I think it's about someone dying; "Perhaps you're smiling now, smiling through this darkness But all I had to give was the guilt for dreaming" That concludes my interpretation.
@BowieOwnsAll brilliant.<br />
I agree with BowieOwnsAll (and oh he does!), however, Bowie himself, in an interview once said in regards to this song something like "Oh my god! I've written a GAY song!"
Funny he should choose this one to call gay. Read the lyrics to "Width Of A Circle"!
@QuietEarp I think the point is that Time wasn't meant to be "gay" but was perceived as such. I believe he knew very well how "gay" Width of a Circle is...lol
@IcarusIncarnate as a lyran, bowie would try anything,even gay sex, including addictions, Lyran starseed, he was a starman, still is but in higher dimensions now, but also giving advice in his lyrics(lyre the musical instrument and also lyrics, associated to the lyra consellation. Artistic genius. <br /> Listen to them all again with a new perspective, with your 6th sense. All of Bowies tunes, then tell me what you really see. <br /> PaulAT
This is one of the most underrated Bowie songs out there. What an amazing song!
@thinwhiteduchess agreed
I like the intro alot and then how the song just explodes. Very glam, this one.
I think this song would of had critical and popular success if he had omitted the lines about time flexing like a whore and wanking to the floor.
Those lines define this as a Ziggy/ Bowie bisexual song though. I love it.
The sniper in the brain, regurgitating drain Incestuous and vain, and many other last names I look at my watch it say 9:25 and I think "Oh God I'm still alive"
Fucking Genius.
This song is layered with meaning. An obvious one is the passing of time, not just the shortness of a lifetime, but the tendency for time to vary in it's pace, one moment it speeds by, the next it crawls in tedium, another interpretation of time 'flexing like a whore', not a physical flex, but a perception one, the juxtaposition between it's fleeting when youre enjoying yourself but showing no interest in passing when you're not. Touring is known for its long, dull, periods in between performances, travelling, sound checking, ect, often given as a reason for a lot of artist's drug taking, in this case quaaludes and red wine, and the generally missed double meaning of Billy Dolls (I'm looking at you, Wikipedia) not just a nod to the New York Dolls, but also amphetamine in capsule form (Billy Whizz, a character from the Beano comic, was a British slang term for speed, also known as just Billy or Whizz, 'dolls' is used as a term for capsule drugs in Jaqueline Susanne's cult 1966 novel Valley of the Dolls), 'other friends of mine' could well be referencing cocaine. A great song, RIP Mr Jones, I feel like I've lost a friend.
I feel like the lyrics of this song describe the feeling of being a actor and waiting to go on stage, an the way time has a distorted feeling about it-"time is waiting in the wings", the opening line shows the impatience of waiting to perform, and how time is "waiting" could show how it is frozen in the moment before going on stage. Additionally, "the script is you and me", could capture the feeling of rehearsing what you are supposed to say in the wings, hence why he mentions a script. Then the last lines of the song,"We should be on by now" is showing his growing impatience after snapping back to reality after his perception of time has gone back fromm being all distorted " he flexes like a whore" shows how time has become twisted.