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."
Oh, take me back to dear old Blighty
Put me on the train for London Town
Take me anywhere
Drop me anywhere
Liverpool, Leeds or Birmingham
But I don't care
I should like to see my
I don't bless them
(Farewell) To this land's cheerless marshes
Hemmed in like a boar between arches
Her very Lowness with a head in a sling
I'm truly sorry, but it sounds like a wonderful thing
I say, "Charles, don't you ever crave
To appear on the front of the Daily Mail
Dressed in your Mother's bridal veil?"
(Oh, oh-oh, oh)
And so I checked all the registered historical facts
And I was shocked into shame to discover
How I'm the 18th pale descendant
Of some old queen or other
Oh, has the world changed, or have I changed?
Oh, has the world changed, or have I changed?
Some nine year old tough who peddles drugs
I swear to God, I swear, I never even knew what drugs were
(Oh, oh-oh, oh)
So I broke into the Palace
With a sponge and a rusty spanner
She said, "Eh, I know you, and you cannot sing"
I said, "That's nothing, you should hear me play piano"
We can go for a walk where it's quiet and dry
And talk about precious things
But when you're tied to your mother's apron
No one talks about castration
(Oh, oh-oh, oh)
We can go for a walk where it's quiet and dry
And talk about precious things
Like love and law and poverty, oh, oh
(These are the things that kill me)
We can go for a walk where it's quiet and dry
And talk about precious things
But the rain that flattens my hair, oh
(These are the things that kill me)
All their lies about makeup and long hair, are still there
Past the pub who saps your body
And the church who'll snatch your money
The Queen is dead, boys
And it's so lonely on a limb
Past the pub that wrecks your body
And the church, all they want is your money
The Queen is dead, boys
And it's so lonely on a limb
Life is very long when you're lonely
Life is very long when you're lonely
Life is very long when you're lonely
Life is very long when you're lonely
Put me on the train for London Town
Take me anywhere
Drop me anywhere
Liverpool, Leeds or Birmingham
But I don't care
I should like to see my
I don't bless them
(Farewell) To this land's cheerless marshes
Hemmed in like a boar between arches
Her very Lowness with a head in a sling
I'm truly sorry, but it sounds like a wonderful thing
I say, "Charles, don't you ever crave
To appear on the front of the Daily Mail
Dressed in your Mother's bridal veil?"
(Oh, oh-oh, oh)
And so I checked all the registered historical facts
And I was shocked into shame to discover
How I'm the 18th pale descendant
Of some old queen or other
Oh, has the world changed, or have I changed?
Oh, has the world changed, or have I changed?
Some nine year old tough who peddles drugs
I swear to God, I swear, I never even knew what drugs were
(Oh, oh-oh, oh)
So I broke into the Palace
With a sponge and a rusty spanner
She said, "Eh, I know you, and you cannot sing"
I said, "That's nothing, you should hear me play piano"
We can go for a walk where it's quiet and dry
And talk about precious things
But when you're tied to your mother's apron
No one talks about castration
(Oh, oh-oh, oh)
We can go for a walk where it's quiet and dry
And talk about precious things
Like love and law and poverty, oh, oh
(These are the things that kill me)
We can go for a walk where it's quiet and dry
And talk about precious things
But the rain that flattens my hair, oh
(These are the things that kill me)
All their lies about makeup and long hair, are still there
Past the pub who saps your body
And the church who'll snatch your money
The Queen is dead, boys
And it's so lonely on a limb
Past the pub that wrecks your body
And the church, all they want is your money
The Queen is dead, boys
And it's so lonely on a limb
Life is very long when you're lonely
Life is very long when you're lonely
Life is very long when you're lonely
Life is very long when you're lonely
Lyrics submitted by weezerific:cutlery
Queen Is Dead (Take Me Back to Dear Old Blighty) [Medley] Lyrics as written by Johnny Marr Steven Morrissey
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
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Shortly before this album was released, some guy called Fagin broke into Buckingham palace and actually found his way into her very lowness's bedroom and sat on her bed talking to her for about ten minutes before the alarm was raised (wouldn't you love a transcript?)
I think the sponge and rusty spanner line is mocking the lack of security at the palace...just another sign of the declining importance of the Monarchy in Britain. The bit about Charles and the wedding veil could be the singer asking Charles is he really as stiff and correct as he appears or does he have crazy fantasies and ideas like the rest of us...is he a human-being! At least Morrissey is polite enough to ask.
God save the queen! Eh, John?
this song is a total anthem. it combines morrissey's wit, sarcasm, anti-monarchy sentiments, a quick bit of animal rights, freud, sexuality, class warfare and more so i'm just going to ramble about those now.
i like the bit about the nine yr old who peddles drugs as it reminds me of my home town {yeah it's kind of rough, the dealers get younger all the time} but also makes a really nice contrast with him finding out he's related to 'some old queen or other'.
him finding out he's related to a royal family of some sort is classic moz irony. he's trying to make a case about nationalism and how ridiculous the monarchy is but finds himself ashamedly connected to it. the class stuff is always pretty interesting in moz/smiths songs but here it is paticularly pertinent. he mentions two institutions in working class life - the church and the pub - yet people feel lonely without the queen. a connection could be made that britain sees the queen as like a mother, from whose apron strings we cannot be disentangled.
the WW1 song at the beginning is also interesting for two reasons - because of the nationalist sentiment drummed up during such a huge war effort, and because of the important role of the monarchy in symbolising national unity and strength during the time - perhaps why the 'boys' feel so 'lonely on a limb' once the queen is declared dead.
on another note, for britishers, can you believe David Cameron {current conservative/opposition/pro-monarchy leader} has this album on his I-pod? what a crapbag.
I agree - not the biggest David Cameron fan but LOVE this song.
Brilliant analysis!
This song is about the codependent relationship between the royal family and its subjects. There was a time - war time as M points out - when the Family and the population were united. Now the Family is hopelessly out of touch, stuck in the past, and in denial of human emotions ("Charles don't you ever crave") and circumstances ("nine year old who peddles drugs"). The Family is vaguely aware of this disconnect and so they periodically appear in garden walk TV interviews where they launch into talks about precious things, but still they come across as insincere, stuck up, and outdated. But the population is not without blame. It would rather medicate in pubs and cling to the church being incapable of renewing or creating a "healthy national spirit" and so the codenpendency continues. When I first heard the phrase "sponge and a rusty spanner" it made me think of sponge as a methaphor for female and spanner as male, but I've abandoned that idea.
Great interpretation
I didn't like this song when I first heard it - but it has grown on me so much. Some of the lines in this are just plain fantastic. I love the bit about the Queen saying that Morrissey can't sing and him replying about his awful piano playing! ;]
This song is fucking epic.
Morrissey is the only one that can be so self-dreprecating and humorous and seem totally serious when singing it. Love it.
The scene in this song, Morrissey entering the palace, was inspired by the disturbed 'Michael Fagin, who not only broke into Buckingham Palace,butactually entered th Queen's boudoir and chatted with her over a cigarette before being led away. Thereafter, the easy entrances to the palace grounds were reinforced by barbed wire, less scaleable walls and more vigilant surveillances.
"The Queen Is Dead" -Last Exit To Brooklyn, Hubert Selby Jnr
"Shall we go for a walk where it's quiet ... ?" From the film of Billy Liar
"Take Me Back To Dear Old Blighty..." is from the film The L Shaped Room.
ACTUALLY I think it quite good that a centre-right politician likes an act that was around twenty years earlier, an act that blatantly disliked Thatcher - and then admits it - highlights that Morrissey's wit crosses all boundaries
"The bit about Charles and the wedding veil could be the singer asking Charles is he really as stiff and correct as he appears or does he have crazy fantasies and ideas like the rest of us"
HA! and of course years later it was found that he actually wanted to be a tampon. No joke. Look it up.