Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Oh, to live on sugar mountain
With the barkers and the colored balloons
You can't be twenty on sugar mountain
Though you're thinking that you're leaving there too soon
You're leaving there too soon
It's so noisy at the fair
But all your friends are there
And the candy floss you had
And your mother and your dad
Oh, to live on sugar mountain
With the barkers and the colored balloons
You can't be twenty on sugar mountain
Though you're thinking that you're leaving there too soon
You're leaving there too soon
There's a girl just down the aisle
Oh to turn and see her smile
You can hear the words she wrote
As you read the hidden note
Oh, to live on sugar mountain
With the barkers and the colored balloons
You can't be twenty on sugar mountain
Though you're thinking that you're leaving there too soon
You're leaving there too soon
Now you're underneath the stairs
And you're giving back some glares
To the people who you met
And it's your first cigarette
Oh, to live on sugar mountain
With the barkers and the colored balloons
You can't be twenty on sugar mountain
Though you're thinking that you're leaving there too soon
You're leaving there too soon
Now you say you're leaving home
'Cause you want to be alone
Ain't it funny how you feel
When you're finding out it's real
Oh, to live on sugar mountain
With the barkers and the colored balloons
You can't be twenty on sugar mountain
Though you're thinking that you're leaving there too soon
You're leaving there too soon
Oh, to live on sugar mountain
With the barkers and the colored balloons
You can't be twenty on sugar mountain
Though you're thinking that you're leaving there too soon
With the barkers and the colored balloons
You can't be twenty on sugar mountain
Though you're thinking that you're leaving there too soon
You're leaving there too soon
It's so noisy at the fair
But all your friends are there
And the candy floss you had
And your mother and your dad
Oh, to live on sugar mountain
With the barkers and the colored balloons
You can't be twenty on sugar mountain
Though you're thinking that you're leaving there too soon
You're leaving there too soon
There's a girl just down the aisle
Oh to turn and see her smile
You can hear the words she wrote
As you read the hidden note
Oh, to live on sugar mountain
With the barkers and the colored balloons
You can't be twenty on sugar mountain
Though you're thinking that you're leaving there too soon
You're leaving there too soon
Now you're underneath the stairs
And you're giving back some glares
To the people who you met
And it's your first cigarette
Oh, to live on sugar mountain
With the barkers and the colored balloons
You can't be twenty on sugar mountain
Though you're thinking that you're leaving there too soon
You're leaving there too soon
Now you say you're leaving home
'Cause you want to be alone
Ain't it funny how you feel
When you're finding out it's real
Oh, to live on sugar mountain
With the barkers and the colored balloons
You can't be twenty on sugar mountain
Though you're thinking that you're leaving there too soon
You're leaving there too soon
Oh, to live on sugar mountain
With the barkers and the colored balloons
You can't be twenty on sugar mountain
Though you're thinking that you're leaving there too soon
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Cajun Girl
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Jane's Addiction
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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."
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."
No Surprises
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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.
dparks is getting to the point.
There was indeed a club in Canada the Neil and his friends used to frequent. After he turned 21 he was no longer allowed to enter the club.
However this songs goes well beyond that incident which mearly acted as a catalyst for this song.
This song is a lament for childhood and the innocense lost. Something I think we can all relate to in one way or another.
Neil speaks of Young Romance, Days at the Fair, Your First Smoke, and Moving out with such passionte and heartache.
It just doesn't get any better than this. This song embodies all things that make Neil great. Meaningful Lyrics, Colorful Imagry, Storytelling at it's finest and killer guitar.
Screw American Idol! This is REAL musical talent.
Tons of people can get on stage and sing someone elses song.
You take a man who writes/sings his own song, give him an accoutic guitar and harmonica and he sits down and bust out something this poetic and powerful: One in every few million can do that and very few can it do it like Neil.
Plain and Simple: Neil is a musical master.
This is the unofficial theme song of the camp that I've been attending for half of my life. Sugar Mountain is the place that we go where eventually we grow out of, even if we don't want to or aren't ready to. This song talks about realizing when it is your time to go.
You're all right, but I can reveal a little more. I believe that Joni Mitchell (who knew neil back in canada to) once said that neil and his friends used to hang out at this place, club or something called sugar mountain. The agelimit was 20, so when he turned twenty he was out on the streets alone. Joni actually wrote her song "the circle game" about this song.
@powderfinger I am listening to Neil's Archives Vol. 1, and in there is a little live rap by him in which he confirms what you are saying, that Joni's "Circle Game" is a response to this song.
Man, I love this fucking song. Never gets old.
people talked about back in canada when he would hang out at a place called sugar mountain. .. he went to lawrence park in toronto for high school which isn't a horrible walk from an awesome candy store called sugar mountain...i dunno how long it's been there...could be
Neil deserves a statue erected for him in commeration of this brilliant song (along with his countless other ones) though I'm preety sure he probably already has some sort of monument in his honor.
the candy store is named after this song
sugarmountain.ca
Its about young man watching clouds float by in the blue sky , remembering his childhood days, the sunshine is warm and breeze is quietly moving west. The young man staring up in the sky, he can recall the good and bad time that have passed - by in his mind like - its real as the day these memories were lived. He's now almost 21years old in few days, he realizes he will never be 17,18,19,20, ever again in his life. His mind is developing into an adult, a man, and his spirit, all those combined are giving him a chance to put the past behind him though music that he makes up as he walks towards the lake to remember a old fishing spot. On the lake there is huge flock of ducks and geese it's a beautiful mid October day. He runs toward the flocks like a reliving a childhood moment and scares all the birds into fight. He keeps on running by the edge of lake until he's out breath and comes to a walk. The world around him even looks a little different, The music begins to coordinate with his activity's, and he keep repeating " you cant be 20 on surge mountain though you think your leaving there to soon" He turns around and starts walking back to the spot he stared chasing the birds. He feel a little chilly, the grass is brown, and the geese, and ducks start landing back on the lake. He keeps walking until he gets back to the house and decides to put his thoughts in words on paper. Mr. Young's is his favorite singer. One day when he's 50 years old - plus- he found his old note book of poem's and sends that particular poem to Mr. Neil Young's office. Requesting that Mr. Young reads it and could it possibly be turned in to a song. Mr. Young writes back about 3 weeks later and say's " Hey man if you don't mind - Let see what I can do" and the rest of the story is history.
maybe this one's about growing up...
you never appreciate your teen years and when you gotta leave them behind, you don't wanna.
you can't be 20 on sugar mountain
Hey, this song is about the good times. The times when you were growing up and learning things for yourself. The age when you were most impressionable. It was the spot where you hung out with your best friends, where your most vivid memories reside. Sooner or later you gotta leave, but the images and memories of what once was will never always be there