Ocean Size - Music

Music

The songwriting process for Nothing's Shocking varied from song to song. Navarro noted, "Some came from Eric's bass lines, some from guitar, some came from Perry, some came from drum riffs, and some just came from free-form jams. There was really no formula." Eric Avery wrote several songs, including "Mountain Song", "Had a Dad", "Jane Says", and "Summertime Rolls" (the latter two of which he also created the guitar parts for). With his songs, Avery came up with conceptual ideas for lyrics that Perry Farrell would then create the actual lyrics for; for example, "Had a Dad" dealt with Avery discovering he had a different biological father.

Several of the tracks on the album originally appeared on other releases. "Jane Says" and "Pigs in Zen" were taken from the band's 1987 debut Jane's Addiction. They were re-recorded, however, for Nothing's Shocking and feature some differences from their original versions. The Nothing's Shocking version of "Jane Says" features a steel drum while the spoken word interlude in "Pigs in Zen" is completely different than the original.

"Mountain Song" was another song not originally recorded for Nothing's Shocking, having been previously recorded and released in 1986 on the soundtrack to the film Dudes. Like "Jane Says" and "Pigs in Zen," it was re-recorded for the album. Musically it is similar to the original version, but the lyrics are sung in a higher key as to be consistent with the rest of the record. The 1986 original eventually saw a more widespread release when it was included on the band's 1997 out-take/alternate cut/live & new track compilation album Kettle Whistle.