He reuses the verse melody from the previous album's "Dirty Little Religion", the topics of the verses are all over the place, and he packs too many words into one line (goes to show...) and too few in another (it's pretty hard to find), and rhymes "Henley Regatta" with "Persona non grata", but gets away with it all as only he could.
Sweet surrender on the quayside
You remember we used to run and hide
In the shadow of the cargoes I take you one time
And we're counting all the numbers down to the waterline
Near misses on the dog leap stairways
French kisses in the darkened doorways
A foghorn blowing out wild and cold
A policeman shines a light upon my shoulder
Up comes a coaster fast and silent in the night
Over my shoulder all you can see are the pilot lights
No money in our jackets and our jeans are torn
Your hands are cold but your lips are warm
She can see him on the jetty where they used to go
She can feel him in the places where the sailors go
When she's walking by the river and the railway line
She can still hear him whisper
Let's go down to the waterline
Come on
You remember we used to run and hide
In the shadow of the cargoes I take you one time
And we're counting all the numbers down to the waterline
Near misses on the dog leap stairways
French kisses in the darkened doorways
A foghorn blowing out wild and cold
A policeman shines a light upon my shoulder
Up comes a coaster fast and silent in the night
Over my shoulder all you can see are the pilot lights
No money in our jackets and our jeans are torn
Your hands are cold but your lips are warm
She can see him on the jetty where they used to go
She can feel him in the places where the sailors go
When she's walking by the river and the railway line
She can still hear him whisper
Let's go down to the waterline
Come on
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Mountain Song
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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.
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I've been listening to this song since it came out 40 years ago. I always interpreted it literally -- they are hiding on the docks to secretly make out and they see the numbers on the ship which tell how low the ship is riding in the water. The numbers count down to the waterline of the ship.
Today I suddenly realized the title may actually be a double-entendre. The couple is likely engaging in more than kissing in darkened doorways, as they have "near misses" and almost get caught by a cop. Which makes me think that "counting all the numbers down to the waterline" could be a playful metaphor they invented for counting the buttons as they unbutton their clothes, down to the metaphorical waterline and to "sweet surrender on the quayside". Later she's dreaming about her first love/ first time, or rather the singer is imagining that she's dreaming about it.
Just an idea; the song could be about a more innocent love, but the evocative phrasing of their encounters seem to suggest that the title line means more than just checking out the ships while they are in the neighborhood.