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."
Rival gangsters sit down to plan an after school program
A religious fanatic posts footage of an interfaith service project
A group of teenage boys watches a video of a father playing catch with his son
An adult film star paints thumbnail portraits of elderly couples fully clothed an smiling
A record executive records a demo of his apology
A policeman makes reverse 911 calls instructing residents to take to the streets
A patriarch reports for duty
She's wearing an orange jumpsuit and holding a picket sign
She's ashamed of her birthplace, but retreat is not an option
Women and children
Front line
Log on
Tune in
Stand and be counted, wounded, stationed
In the belly of the vulture watch your back
Theres no civilians
Women, children
Front line listen
Consider this a distant early warning
The fires imminent
Pollution gathering dust particles
Funneling through smokestacks, airways, bandwidth
This information tube fed
Check the labels
Delete the virus
Alert the masses
Butterfly wing cross wings,send black hawks toward hurricane survivors
Roses sprout from empty lots and sidewalk cracks
Pacifist gorillas move undetected, through concrete jungles
New forms are beginning to take shape
Once occupied minds are activating.
People are waking up!
The insurgency is alive and well
Rise of the flobots
Portrait of
The new American insurgent
Rattle and shake the foundations of the world order
Assembly line incent, resist, refuse
Inform, create
Direct loved one's to the trenches
Suit up forge rubble into fortress's
Plaster, cloth, aluminum
Broken porcelain
Rusted platinum
Burn blood stains from decompressed diamonds
Hammer the battle cry into braille studded armor
We are building up a new world
Do not sit idly by
Do not remain neutral
Do not rely on this broadcast, alone
We are only as strong as our signal
There is a war going on for your mind
If you are thinking, you are winning
Resistance is victory
Defeat is impossible
Your weapons are already in hand
Reach within you and find the means by which to gain your freedom
Fight with tools
Your fate, and that of everyone you know
Depends on it
A religious fanatic posts footage of an interfaith service project
A group of teenage boys watches a video of a father playing catch with his son
An adult film star paints thumbnail portraits of elderly couples fully clothed an smiling
A record executive records a demo of his apology
A policeman makes reverse 911 calls instructing residents to take to the streets
A patriarch reports for duty
She's wearing an orange jumpsuit and holding a picket sign
She's ashamed of her birthplace, but retreat is not an option
Women and children
Front line
Log on
Tune in
Stand and be counted, wounded, stationed
In the belly of the vulture watch your back
Theres no civilians
Women, children
Front line listen
Consider this a distant early warning
The fires imminent
Pollution gathering dust particles
Funneling through smokestacks, airways, bandwidth
This information tube fed
Check the labels
Delete the virus
Alert the masses
Butterfly wing cross wings,send black hawks toward hurricane survivors
Roses sprout from empty lots and sidewalk cracks
Pacifist gorillas move undetected, through concrete jungles
New forms are beginning to take shape
Once occupied minds are activating.
People are waking up!
The insurgency is alive and well
Rise of the flobots
Portrait of
The new American insurgent
Rattle and shake the foundations of the world order
Assembly line incent, resist, refuse
Inform, create
Direct loved one's to the trenches
Suit up forge rubble into fortress's
Plaster, cloth, aluminum
Broken porcelain
Rusted platinum
Burn blood stains from decompressed diamonds
Hammer the battle cry into braille studded armor
We are building up a new world
Do not sit idly by
Do not remain neutral
Do not rely on this broadcast, alone
We are only as strong as our signal
There is a war going on for your mind
If you are thinking, you are winning
Resistance is victory
Defeat is impossible
Your weapons are already in hand
Reach within you and find the means by which to gain your freedom
Fight with tools
Your fate, and that of everyone you know
Depends on it
Lyrics submitted by outxofxsight
We Are Winning Lyrics as written by Jamie Laurie Andrew Guerrero
Lyrics © Bluewater Music Corp.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Mountain Song
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I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
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.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
This song is deep.
The first part where the women is speaking is very ironic. Rival gangsters coming together to start a program a police man makes reverse 911 calls etc. Its all very ironic.
It seems to me that this song is about fighting against what you have become and rebelling against what society deems you.
Hard to explain. But I do love this song.
I love this song for the same reason I love the fact that Flobots went mainstream. See, the problem with most good bands going mainstream is that too many people get their hands in the bands' pocket, and eventually it gets to the point where the band has no control and must do whatever they're told. You get success, but you sort of lose your original purpose. That's why people call it SELLING OUT.
With them, though, all of their songs on this "mainstream" album persist with a deeper meaning, with a deeper intent and goal. For those of us whom are already aware of these social issues, this album can be a calling, a source of inspiration, or thought provoking as we consider things we hadn't thought of before.
For those who haven't, though, and got this album because they liked "Handlebars" and how it sounded, these songs are a perfect way to open their eyes. The other songs are much more complicated, and it's easy to miss the message if you aren't looking for it or at least paying proper attention. This song, however, slows it down to tell us all directly. It basically sums up the entire album, and spells it out slowly. I'd be interested to see how many people were moved or saw their lives differently after hearing this song, along with the whole album.
Rise of the Flobots.
I classify myself as one of those people who got the album because of "Handlebars" but upon listening to the entire album, I quickly realized that "Handlebars," although being the most catchy, easily accessible song on the album, is certainly not the best song. When I listened to this song, it made me stop, and really listen to the rest of the album, and I realized that it is really incredible. It definitely changed the way I see my life, and has made me more interested in helping change the world, or at least my own life.<br /> <br /> The most meaningful line in this song, possibly the entire album, has to be "There is a war going on for your mind. If you are thinking, you are winning." That's what really caught my attention.
-Butterfly wing crosswinds send black hawks toward hurricane survivors. -I think they are talking about the Choas theory. Which the most common example is that a butterfly flapping it's wings in south America can trigger a hurricane in North America.
Well your completely wrong.
well, if he is wrong, it wouldnt be far off...
Intense and Beautiful. This is one of those songs that comes about very rarely that actually inspires me.
"We are building up a new world Do not sit idly by Do not remain neutral Do not rely on this broadcast alone We are only as strong as our signal There is a war going on for your mind If you are thinking you are winning Resistance is victory Defeat is impossible Your weapons are already in hand Reach within you and find the means by which to gain your freedom Fight with tools Your fate and that of everyone you know depends on it"
That passage is incredible. I especially love "If you are thinking you are winning". I think what the overall message comes down to here is, the world's changing and it's incredibly important to stand up and take part in it. The new generation is slowly gaining power, and we all need to take it seriously, stand up, use our voices, and make a difference in the name of peace. Just my two cents...
Love this song. So inspiring.
damn straight<br />
I hate to simply repeat what people are saying, but... wow. Talk about inspiration, yanno?
This may be just something that happens to me, but my skin crawls when I hear the song.. especially when it's the spoken word. Not in the bad sense, but, it gives me goosebumps. Its terribly uncommon in todays scene to find touching and thought-invoking lyrics. It is music like this that makes me wonder what has happened to music itself. I'll listen to anything, granted. And I do prefer my fair share of screaming and growling. But, if I had to choose a single album to listen to, nonstop, for months at a time (no-one can listen to the same thing forever)? It would be Fight With Tools.
The chaos theory passage needs an edit: bringing Blackhawks (one word; its the helicopters they're referencing).
I love how its telling us to be insurgents, to stand up and fight back, but not to actually fight. They reference in other songs how blow for a blow never reaches equilibreum.
Their message is deep and their beats are strong. No matter how you slice these guys, no matter what music you prefer, these guys should be among your reportoire of albums. I despise paying for music, but I'll gladly shell the money I have enough trouble scraping together to these artists and their cause.
If you have the mp3s, do not pay for the cd. That's dumb. Paypal these guys $5 or something: sure, its not much, but its a helluva lot better than the nothing they get from you buying the cd in stores.
I think this song is great. I suggest to get a full effect, listen to Handlebars first, then this one.
I agree with the people above. Its a song about how the people are taking charge and really using the power we all have to accomplish. In the first bit, each line is, in a way, a stereotypical oxymoron. Common conception is that gangs are bad, yet they meet to plan after school programs. I think that's the best one of them.
I think the black hawks going to the survivors is another oxymoron thing in that the government may not typically spend the money to send the aircraft there. Incidentally the wind blows them there to help following the oxymorons presented earlier.
Another line I love is the roses from the lots and sidewalk cracks. Just the music its self right there is great.
And finally the line about "If you are thinking you are winning"; just great. The best part of it all is that the first time you hear it, you probably won't recognize or even pick up the line, but after you really listen to what she's saying, it all makes sense after a few times and by that point you really are winning cause you're thinking.
Great song for sure.
It's a modern day revolution song, and a beautiful one at that. They say the arts are the canary in the mine - the first sign of an upcoming change. If so, then this is one of them.
I wonder if all the instances the lady speaks of are true happenings... I speculate they are. If so, that's awesome. "Pacifist guerrillas move undetected through concrete jungles" is interesting. I think it's partially a reference to parkour, and partially a reference to revolutionaries. Very cool
"If you are thinking you are winning"
This song is really inspiring. I agree with a lot of peoples interpretation of the song, but I find it more about change, the first verse of the woman speaking is ironic, but also shows a dramatic change of what could happen.
They aren't exactly things which might happen...they are things which have already happened somewhere around the world.