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."
When the spoon is hot
And the needle's sharp
And you drift away
Oh, oh I can hear you say
That the world in black
Is upon your back
And your body shakes
So you ditch away
And you close the shades
Don't try to do it
Don't try to kill your time
Oh, oh
Yeah, yeah you might do it
Then you can't change your mind
You've got a hold on to your time
Till your break through these Times of
Trouble
When you try to talk
And the words get hard
And they put you down
Don't you stay
Don't you ditch away
I saw you swinging
Yeah swinging your mother's sword, oh
Yeah, yeah I know you're playing
Sometimes the rules get hard, oh
But if somebody left you out on a ledge
If somebody pushed you over the edge
You got to hold on to your time till you break
Through these times of
Trouble
I saw you swinging
Yeah, swinging your mother's sword oh
Yeah yeah I know you're playing
Sometimes the rules get harder oh oh
But if somebody left you out on a ledge
If somebody pushed you over the edge
If somebody loved you and left you for dead
You got to hold on to your time till you break
Through these times of
Trouble
And the needle's sharp
And you drift away
Oh, oh I can hear you say
That the world in black
Is upon your back
And your body shakes
So you ditch away
And you close the shades
Don't try to do it
Don't try to kill your time
Oh, oh
Yeah, yeah you might do it
Then you can't change your mind
You've got a hold on to your time
Till your break through these Times of
Trouble
When you try to talk
And the words get hard
And they put you down
Don't you stay
Don't you ditch away
I saw you swinging
Yeah swinging your mother's sword, oh
Yeah, yeah I know you're playing
Sometimes the rules get hard, oh
But if somebody left you out on a ledge
If somebody pushed you over the edge
You got to hold on to your time till you break
Through these times of
Trouble
I saw you swinging
Yeah, swinging your mother's sword oh
Yeah yeah I know you're playing
Sometimes the rules get harder oh oh
But if somebody left you out on a ledge
If somebody pushed you over the edge
If somebody loved you and left you for dead
You got to hold on to your time till you break
Through these times of
Trouble
Lyrics submitted by fadel, edited by BarnWoodGuy
Times Of Trouble Lyrics as written by Christopher J. Cornell Stone C. Gossard
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Peermusic Publishing, Hipgnosis Songs Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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this song was meant to maybe make us see the light at the end of the tunnel. the lyrics explain that no matter how terribly low you've sank, that time will heal you. chris basically says "Don't do what Andy did. Don't fall into the trap of heroin. Don't loose hope, and don't fall short of your full potential". the part of the song that speaks to me the most is " i somebody left you out on a ledge and if somebody pushed you over the edge, and if somebody LOVED YOU AND LEFT YOU FOR DEAD, youve gotta hold on to your time till you break through these times of trouble". don't forget what they've done is what he's trying to say, but move on and learn.
@SwornToTheBlack <br /> <br /> Good thought. The only lyric that seems to be out of place (but is decently cool) is "I saw you swingin your mother's sword". The rest of the whole song i can decipher the lyrics to real life situations but that one line escapes me. Maybe i'm just out of time on expressions (shrug)...