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."
All the gold and the guns in the world (couldn't get you off)
All the gold and the guns and the girls (couldn't get you off)
All the boys, all the choices in the world
I remember when we we're gambling to win
Everybody else said better luck next time
I don't wanna bend, let the bad girls bend
I just wanna be your friend
Is it ever gonna be enough
Is it ever gonna be enough
Is it ever gonna be enough
Is it ever gonna be enough
Is it ever gonna be enough
Is it ever gonna be enough
Is it ever gonna be enough
All the lace and the skin in the shop (couldn't get you off)
All the toys and the tools in the box (couldn't get you off)
All the noise, all the voices never stop
I remember when we we're gambling to win
Everybody else said better luck next time
I don't wanna bend, let the bad girls bend
I just wanna be your friend
Why you giving me a hard time?
I remember when we we're gambling to win
Everybody else said
Is it ever gonna be enough
Is it ever gonna be enough
Is it ever gonna be enough
Is it ever gonna be enough
Is it ever gonna be enough
Is it ever gonna be enough
More and more, more and more, more and more
More and more, more and more, more and more and more and more
More and more, more and more, more and more, more and more and
More and more, more and more, more and more and more and more
Is it ever gonna be enough
Is it ever gonna be enough
Is it ever gonna be enough
Is it ever gonna be enough
Is it ever gonna be enough
Is it ever gonna be enough
Is it ever gonna be enough
Is it ever gonna be enough
Is it ever gonna be enough
Is it ever gonna be enough
Is it ever gonna be enough
Is it ever gonna be enough
Is it ever gonna be enough
All the gold and the guns and the girls (couldn't get you off)
All the boys, all the choices in the world
I remember when we we're gambling to win
Everybody else said better luck next time
I don't wanna bend, let the bad girls bend
I just wanna be your friend
Is it ever gonna be enough
Is it ever gonna be enough
Is it ever gonna be enough
Is it ever gonna be enough
Is it ever gonna be enough
Is it ever gonna be enough
Is it ever gonna be enough
All the lace and the skin in the shop (couldn't get you off)
All the toys and the tools in the box (couldn't get you off)
All the noise, all the voices never stop
I remember when we we're gambling to win
Everybody else said better luck next time
I don't wanna bend, let the bad girls bend
I just wanna be your friend
Why you giving me a hard time?
I remember when we we're gambling to win
Everybody else said
Is it ever gonna be enough
Is it ever gonna be enough
Is it ever gonna be enough
Is it ever gonna be enough
Is it ever gonna be enough
Is it ever gonna be enough
More and more, more and more, more and more
More and more, more and more, more and more and more and more
More and more, more and more, more and more, more and more and
More and more, more and more, more and more and more and more
Is it ever gonna be enough
Is it ever gonna be enough
Is it ever gonna be enough
Is it ever gonna be enough
Is it ever gonna be enough
Is it ever gonna be enough
Is it ever gonna be enough
Is it ever gonna be enough
Is it ever gonna be enough
Is it ever gonna be enough
Is it ever gonna be enough
Is it ever gonna be enough
Is it ever gonna be enough
Lyrics submitted by dustybreeze, edited by AngBar
Gold Guns Girls Lyrics as written by James Shaw Emily Haines
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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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.
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.
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.
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.
To me, the song is about someone who is struggling to keep the dynamics of a friendship as is and not indulge in their own romantic feelings. Its done so in this person's head while they look at the person of their affection.
The song immediately starts off by her listing reasons why a romantic relationship would not work and she goes straight for the biggest items stereotyped for guys- guns, girls, gold.
The verse "All the boys, all the choices in the world" she's basically asking herself why out of all the boys do I have to fall for this one.
From the gambling verse, I get their friendship's history is long enough for both to have witnessed each others relationships falter and start new.
The bad girls bending reference would be the type of girls the friend goes after (which is the opposite of what she is).
She goes back to telling herself she just wants to be friends yet she knows she'll never be satisfied and will continue to want more from this friend.
She then goes back to listing other obvious male infatuations to justify why it wouldn't work- lace, skin, toys, tools.
"all the noise, all the voices, never stop" would be the nightmare-like movie playing in her head of all the girls coming in and out of her friend's life.
The final hook in the song is altered to include the line "while you're giving me a hard time." Whatever it is that this friend does to make her melt is being done unknowingly by him and she can't help but fall more for him each time.
I always felt a special thing for this song because it describes perfectly my situation (and thought process) over the past 2 years with my best friend.