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."
I still remember that time when we were dancing
We were dancing to a song that I'd heard
Your face was simple and your hands were naked
I was singing without knowing the words
But I started listening to the wolves in the timber
Wolves in the timber at night
I heard their songs when I looked in the mirror
In the howls and the moons round my eyes
[Chorus]
So long, so high
So long, so high
So long, so high
So long
Then winter came and there was little left between us
Skin and bones of love won't make a meal
I felt my eyes lifting over your shoulder
There were wolves at the edge of the field
But I still remember that time when we were dancing
We were dancing to a song that I'd heard
Your face was simple and your hands were naked
I was singing without knowing the words
[Chorus]
Then one day I just woke up
And the wolves were all there
Wolves in the piano
Wolves underneath the stairs
Wolves inside the hinges
Circling round my door
At night inside the bedsprings
Clicking cross the floor
I don't know how they found me
I'll never know quite how
I still can't believe they heard me
That I was howling out that loud
[Chorus]
At times in the frozen nights I go roaming
In the bed she used to share with me
I wake in the fields with the cold and the lonesome
The moon's the only face that I see
But I still remember that time when we were dancing
We were dancing to a song that I'd heard
Your face was simple and your hands were naked
I was singing without knowing the words
[Chorus]
We were dancing to a song that I'd heard
Your face was simple and your hands were naked
I was singing without knowing the words
But I started listening to the wolves in the timber
Wolves in the timber at night
I heard their songs when I looked in the mirror
In the howls and the moons round my eyes
[Chorus]
So long, so high
So long, so high
So long, so high
So long
Then winter came and there was little left between us
Skin and bones of love won't make a meal
I felt my eyes lifting over your shoulder
There were wolves at the edge of the field
But I still remember that time when we were dancing
We were dancing to a song that I'd heard
Your face was simple and your hands were naked
I was singing without knowing the words
[Chorus]
Then one day I just woke up
And the wolves were all there
Wolves in the piano
Wolves underneath the stairs
Wolves inside the hinges
Circling round my door
At night inside the bedsprings
Clicking cross the floor
I don't know how they found me
I'll never know quite how
I still can't believe they heard me
That I was howling out that loud
[Chorus]
At times in the frozen nights I go roaming
In the bed she used to share with me
I wake in the fields with the cold and the lonesome
The moon's the only face that I see
But I still remember that time when we were dancing
We were dancing to a song that I'd heard
Your face was simple and your hands were naked
I was singing without knowing the words
[Chorus]
Lyrics submitted by EffulgentEnnui
Wolves Lyrics as written by Josh Ritter
Lyrics © Songtrust Ave
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
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.
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.
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.
I feel it's not just temptation or jealousy, it's both these things and other things. The wolves are all the doubts and problems and negative things in a relationship. "I started listening to the wolves in the timber" when he starts listening to the doubts in his mind.
"Then winter came and there was little left between us Skin and bones of love won't make a meal I felt my eyes lifting over your shoulder There were wolves at the edge of the field" -Winter just means any hard time, here, probably a time of financial difficulty. The wolves come closer, all he has to do is look away from her for a moment.
"One day I just woke up and the wolves were all there" - his doubts are everywhere. At the end of the song he's lost her and he's made up only of his doubts, all the negative things.
This is my interpretation, and what the song means to me. Not necessarily the actual meaning of the song.
My ex-husband had me listen to this song early in our relationship in 2010. We tried for 5 years but our mutual mental health issues left us unable to stay together, but we stayed best friends and talked weekly as I moved across the country. Neither of us knew he had schizophrenia, he succumbed to full schizophrenic delusions during the pandemic and was hospitalized after violent episodes. He said he could feel it from his early 20's, from the time we loved this song. For me the wolves were there before our marriage when my "hands were naked" and we danced to this song he loved. He could see the wolves as I left. Since our divorce he woke up cold and lonesome never getting into another relationship. One day he woke up with the wolves everywhere, very literally the wolves took over his existence until they were controlling his whole life. And now I listen to this song to remember the past, even if it makes me cry.
I am taking a shot at the dark on this one. My best guess is that "wolves" represent lingering feelings of jealousy. Wolves possessed him and broke up their relationship; he became jealous, a wolf, himself; and now he roams like a wolf in search of another lover, but still thinks of her.
wolves= lonesome memories. that's it
My impression was that the wolves in the song signified temptation. Now he has lonesome memories of his old lover.
The line 'I felt my eyes lifting over your shoulder' does sound like it symbolizes his eyes looking over the shoulder of his partner to look at another woman. I agree with the temptation theory.
The line 'I felt my eyes lifting over your shoulder' does sound like it symbolizes his eyes looking over the shoulder of his partner to look at another woman. I agree with the temptation theory.
I almost feel that it's about a fear of intimacy. He's looking back on a time when he was content and in love, but then came the fear (the wolves) and he just couldn't overcome it.
It seems to me that "your hands were naked" refers to "before we were engaged" - the song is about more than a mere breakup, but a broken engagement.
So while I can understand where most of the thoughts on intimacy are coming from, I wonder the following:
The lyrics "singing without knowing the words" stick out to me... while all the time, the wolves are getting closer, he is getting further and further from the one he is dancing with.
What if he was going along with the relationship (dancing) without really knowing what he was doing (singing without knowing the words), and reality (the wolves?) continued getting closer and closer until realization came that he was not in the right place (woke up in the morning and they had arrived). He was obviously showing or voicing signs (howling- the wolves heard him) whether or not he knew it.
Perhaps this is of a relationship that is complacent and continuing but sooner or later, (perhaps in this instance, before an engagement or marriage- the hands being naked, that is?) reality hits (wolves advancing) and the 'dance' is over.