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."
One, two, one, two three, four
Spineless from the start, sucked into the part
Circus comes to town, you play the lead clown
Please, please
Spreading his disease, living by his story
Knees, knees
Falling to your knees, suffer for his glory
You will
Time for lust, time for lie
Time to kiss your life goodbye
Send me money, send me green
Heaven you will meet
Make a contribution
And you'll get a better seat
Bow to leper messiah
Marvel at his tricks, need your Sunday fix
Blind devotion came, rotting your brain
Chain, chain
Join the endless chain, taken by his glamour
Fame, fame
Infection is the game, stinking drunk with power
We see
Time for lust, time for lie
Time to kiss your life goodbye
Send me money, send me green
Heaven you will meet
Make a contribution
And you'll get the better seat
Bow to leper messiah
Witchery, weakening
Sees the sheep are gathering
Set the trap, hypnotize
Now you follow
Time for lust, time for lie
Time to kiss your life goodbye
Send me money, send me green
Heaven you will meet
Make a contribution
And you'll get the better seat
Lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie
Spineless from the start, sucked into the part
Circus comes to town, you play the lead clown
Please, please
Spreading his disease, living by his story
Knees, knees
Falling to your knees, suffer for his glory
You will
Time for lust, time for lie
Time to kiss your life goodbye
Send me money, send me green
Heaven you will meet
Make a contribution
And you'll get a better seat
Bow to leper messiah
Marvel at his tricks, need your Sunday fix
Blind devotion came, rotting your brain
Chain, chain
Join the endless chain, taken by his glamour
Fame, fame
Infection is the game, stinking drunk with power
We see
Time for lust, time for lie
Time to kiss your life goodbye
Send me money, send me green
Heaven you will meet
Make a contribution
And you'll get the better seat
Bow to leper messiah
Witchery, weakening
Sees the sheep are gathering
Set the trap, hypnotize
Now you follow
Time for lust, time for lie
Time to kiss your life goodbye
Send me money, send me green
Heaven you will meet
Make a contribution
And you'll get the better seat
Lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie
Lyrics submitted by elmoz, edited by RyanWolfeh
Leper Messiah Lyrics as written by Lars Ulrich James Alan Hetfield
Lyrics © Word Collections Publishing
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Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
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."
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
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.
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
The first time I read the lyrics to this song I thought they were condemning Christianity and religion in general, now that I reread them, however, they seem to be talking solely about corrupt churches with corrupt ministers, and not condemning Christianity as a whole. I'm suddenly reminded of hearing a story about how sometime in the 80s there was a preacher saying that God told him he would die if he didn't get one million dollars from his church. Ozzy Osbourne then sent the preacher a gun.
@ViLeMetal It was 8 million dollars, and the minister was Oral Roberts. Ozzy didn't send him a gun, he sent him $1.
@ViLeMetal this talks about a person who’s nothing more than the devil. He’s a parasite, a leper in messiah clothes
@ViLeMetal It's about corrupt pastors that say "If you give me money then you will go to Heaven and get a better place in Heaven" which is completely wrong, there is no "better place in Heaven". It's Heaven or Hell, and paying a preacher money doesn't make you go to Heaven, it's a choice of faith.
The song, according to an interview with Metallica in the 80s, was written as a direct outcome of the televangelism scandal, where millions were given to two ministers who used it for their own personal gain rather than that of the church. The song reflects the control that religion, in specific, the Christian Church, has upon millions of people. They blindly follow their preachers and the story of a man who lived two thousand years ago, doing whatever their abstract lord says. I could go on with this for hours, but I won't, as this is not the place to do so. I was a member of the brainwashed elite for quite some time, but I've been questioning for quite awhile. A year or so ago, I left the Church and all organized religion behind and became agnostic. It remains as the best decision I've made in my life. This song reminds me of the chains I left behind.
Traditionally, a leper messiah was someone who was brave enough to preach to the lepers. Leprosy was feared greatly and lepers were ostracized and sent to live by themselves. Most priests feared these colonies and refused to have anything to do with them.
In context of these lyrics, the phrase takes on a slightly different meaning. Metallica, specifically, uses the phrase to refer priests and preachers who use religion to appeal to those who feel disenfranchised and alone. However, they don't use religion to make these people feel better, instead they guilt them into donating money. The term is not used with fondness in the lyrics. Most people see these fly by night preachers as little better than con artists.
Actually, according to one site I visited, It was about all these "other" so-called "religions" that make you think that you will be "saved" and you have to pay them to join and it's really all bullshit 'cuz they money is all there after.
i agree with you on this one. People have holes that only religion can fill. But when something bad happens they often leave their religious pathes. and then some guy comes around says he'll make everything better just by drinking his "Kool-Aid"
This song is not anti-god. It's just about the corruption of religion. God is a personal thing that some people choose to have faith in. Metallica is talking about evil people who exploit the concept of god for personal profit, turning it into a business and a way to control people.
Metallica is my favourite band, even though I am a Christian, which some people may find hard to believe. When I heard this song and "The God That Failed", I wanted to know why these songs were written, whether they had meaning or were just sticking their finger up at God. When I found out what the song "The God That Failed" meant, I felt quite bad as I felt I wrongly judged them. The same with this song, I thought it was taking the pee out of Jesus, saying that he was wrongly healing the lepers, now I know that it was about the false prophets, I feel better about the band.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure that this song is about religious nuts who preach about doing something that they want you to do in order to make it to heaven, Instead of going by what the bible says. I'm talking about people like the space ship death case, Jim jones, David koresh, People like that are leper messiahs. The use God in a negative manner.
If you are an atheist, or agnotic, please read this and honestly give it some thought...
Your belief that there is no God, or belief that there is nothing, is just as much of an act of faith as a Christian's belief IN God. Just as a christian cannot "prove" the exitence of God, an atheist cannot prove that there is NO God. Are you 100% sure beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is no heaven, hell, or afterlife when you die? Have you been dead? You belive whatever you believe based on faith. Faith that you are right. Faith that whatever knowledge and facts you used to ascertain your conclusion is correct. So there is no need to call anyone "mindless", or "morons" for practicing their faith, when that is exactly the same thing that the atheist is doing. Do you know everything there is to know? If so, you would know the intimate details of the sex life of Napolian's great-grandmother's black cat's fleas. With that as a baseline, would you say you maybe knew 1% of everthing there is to know? or even 1% of 1%? I'm just saying it would be good that you be pretty knowledgeable before you go betting your eternity on what you know, or worse, what you don't know.
If you're a logical thinker and an atheist, I challenge you to read, "God doesn't believe in Atheists". It's filled with logical examples like this. Atheists are nothing if not logical thinkers, and this book really appeals to that kind of reader. In fact, if you are not quite sure what you are sure of regarding your belief in God and would like a copy of that book, email me at gsjones1234@gmail.com with your address or po box or whatever, and I will buy a copy from Amazon and have it sent to you, no questions asked. If only one person receives the greatest gift God ever gave us through this, then it will have been worth the money.
For the record guys, Christianity is not about thinking you're better than anyone, or judging anyone for their sins, or trying to gather up $ from mindless masses. PEOPLE do that. Jesus did not like organized religeon for this very reason. It's not God's fault when humans do evil in the name of God. Don't condemn yourself to an eternal life away from God because you associate Him with the evil that men have done in the name of religion.
We're all sinners. It's human. You can't be a good enough person to just go to heaven because you're a good guy. It doesn't work like that. That is not a good "fall-back" plan if you happen to be wrong about the whole atheism thing. Have you ever been wrong about anything? As much as heaven is a real place, so if hell. You need to be right about this.
The good news is that it doesn't cost a thing. No payments to the "Leper Messiah" lol. You just have to repent, and believe. That's it. Free as the air you breathe. Pretty good deal, especially when you consider the alternative. It's all in the book mentioned above. I was serious about that offer if anyone is still reading this board. Maybe you're reading this for a reason. I did not plan to come here to write all this. Just seemed like there was a surprisingly large atheist majority here to speak to I guess.
Ten reasons why I do not believe in God<br />
But you're the one that believes something which was believed by people 6,000 years ago. People back then were pretty easy to scare with 'Listen to me, I have this book! Which says how we have to live! And if you don't live like this and don't believe in my God, your soul shall be tortured for eternity when you are dead! Now give me your money, so that you will not live your life in hell!"<br /> <br /> You wish to apply logic to belief to disprove an atheist's belief of no belief, yet think there's an imaginary man up in the sky that cares about EVERYTHING you do.<br /> <br /> We have sciene. We can prove things. You have a book written by corrupt, power and money hungry people that were just sophisticated enough to trick people into believing such nonsense.
If your god is so great then why is he so fucking stupid that he can't see how people will disbelieve in him by his lack of proof of himself?
Nice comment. You summed it all up nicely without all the technical mumbo jumbo that puts people off religion in this day and age. As for the reply by terosan, I fail to see how light, Pi, evolution (proven incorrect anyway), midgets (lol), Fossils, Isotopes etc, testes (what the?), gravity (it sucks by the way...) have to do with why someone should not beleive in God.. As for God creating sin? Nah, he gave man free will and we chose to disobey God, so man created sin not God and DNA? well that's been proven to be similar to a programmed code of sorts which could never have occured by a step-by-step evolutionary process, so who programmed our DNA? God? a higher intellegence? Hmmm.... gets you thinking ay?<br /> <br /> Ps, dont beleive what you read or are told. Do your own investigations and work it out for yourself. The answer is simple then.
@stepout if there was only more people like you to represent religion :)
this song is about fake priests that preach fuckin shit and just want your munay
Awsome song, i disagree with some of you guys ranting ^ , i think religion can be a good thing as it hides the truth from people and, as we all know, ignorance is bliss. (you never see a sad fish)
i agree with you friskitty. you are right about the fact that these 'holy wars' were fought for greed for money and power, but religion has been used as the 'motivator' for all the wars i mentioned. thats why i mentioned them.