Mercury starts with the story of a visit I made with my parents from Toronto to New York and Zebulon, North Carolina (small town near Raleigh, NC) via Washington, DC. This song is about plantations- rice, cotton, sugar and tobacco.
In the first verse, an uncle takes me down the street from his house and across the train tracks to see the crosses of Ku Klux Klan meetings nearby...but instead of getting angry or scared, Mercury is about getting strategic as Black and Indigenous people in the Americas. And about the rise of the South in general- India, China…. (“they think what we make is a joke, but they can’t control the tide”).
Mercury is the other side of Diamond Mind- it’s also about movement and translating and combining elements of folk, soul, blues and hip hop into a new sound, Cool Hop, but this time it is look back at the past from the future from a position now of strategy, strength and acceptance.
lyrics
MERCURY
by Twylight Seven
50 Stories Publishing (SOCAN)
Intro:
We turnin’ grass to gold
Giant steps and we look inside
They think that we’re makin’ joke
But they can’t control the tide
Mercury
Maman mwen mercure, oui
Verse 1: Realize
She used to go to Zebulon
To meet a friend of mine (iê)
Washing South to Raleigh North
On a rusty Five of Dimes…. (iê)
My friend said “You can flip your coin,
But you still should know your side.
Ev’ry acre ain’t for your horse,
Ev’ry church won’t bless your life”
Chorus:
Tell Zora /and /the mule
To meet me on the other side
Mama left me a banjo to play
So when I pawn I know the price, I
Verse 2: Recognize
Rode over from the plantation
To streets of gold to fight
Rollin’ with a song on my mind, a job on my mind
And my finger on the slide
We hid the knife in the song
And the symbols in the rhyme
So when they talk ‘bout slaves/ and/ homes
They get a good old fashioned smile….
Chorus
Tell Zora /and /the mule
To meet me on the other side
Mama left me a banjo to play
So when I pawn I know....
the price, oh…
Bridge:
I told my friend, I know, so I told my friend (3x)
That’s why I told my friend…you
Tell my horse to meet me
By the diamond minds
Tell my horse
To cross over the vines (Freedom Flight)
Tell my horse to hide
the beauty in her eyes
so when we rise
they’ll only see the light
All the different colours of light (x7)
Chorus:
Tell Zora /and /the mule
To meet me on the other side
Mama left me a banjo to play
So when I pawn I know the price, I…
Verse 3: Represent
Got castles on the corner
When they move I hear the chimes
Building these stories with my words
And a rusty Five of Dimes.
They think what we make is a joke
But they can’t control the tide…
Chant/Outro:
‘Cause everybody movin’ like Mercury
On the outside
Mama is movin’ like Mercury
On the outside
Ndene movin’ like Mercury
On a rusty Five of Dimes
Warao movin’ like Mercury
On the outside,
Tupi movin’ like Mercury
On a rusty Five of Dimes
Now Aymara movin’ like Mercury
On the outside, Quechua
Washin’ down pillars to post on a rusty Five of Dimes
Cree movin’ like Mercury
On the outside,
Mohawk movin’ like Mercury
On a rusty Five of Dimes
‘Cause now we movin’ like Mercury….
credits
from Manila Sunrise - Part 1: Digable Planets,
track released November 20, 2013
8) Mercury
Lead Vocals; Acoustic Guitar: Twylight Seven
Drums: Makesi Jawara Joseph
Hammond B3 Organ: Candace Moore
Backing Vocals: Rochelle Dalrymple; Kendel Haynes
Bass Guitar: Andre Jack
All Songs Written, Composed and Arranged by: Twylight Seven
All Songs Produced, Engineered and Mixed by: Lamar “Beebo” Pollard
Recording, Production and Mixing: Lion’s Den Studios, Mt. Lambert, Trinidad and Tobago
Mastering: Phillip Klum Mastering, New York City, USA
Publishing: 50 Stories Publishing (SOCAN)
These sweet, sad indie pop tunes accompany Ian Coss's podcast of the same name, in which he interviews his family about their divorces. Bandcamp New & Notable Aug 17, 2021
