| Song | Mercury & Lightning // Picture Of Mercury’s Back (Commentary) |
| Artist | John Mark McMillan |
| Album | The Mercury Sessions |
| [00:00.471] | So the original album cover for this record was supposed to be a picture of Mercury’s back. |
| [00:06.040] | Mercury is the Roman equivalent to the God Hermes. |
| [00:08.953] | We found a picture of his back that we were gonna use. |
| [00:13.410] | But I decided against it because it was hard to tell who he was and I thought it was important to me that he’d be someone recognizable, some recognizable features we’ll talk about it later. |
| [00:24.222] | But originally it was Mercury’s back because I think it illustrated a statement or statements of this record on a couple of different levels. |
| [00:35.504] | The first level for me, which is almost always personal is that I felt like if I’m being honest I’ve been chasing God all my life and can never quite catch him. |
| [00:45.457] | And I found myself at a stage in life where this began to bother me, I felt like my whole life have been looking at God’s back like he’s always a couple of steps ahead of me and just when I think I haven’t figured it out, he seems to disappear. |
| [01:01.915] | So the first reason to have Mercury on the cover is to begin this conversation. |
| [01:06.396] | It's the beginning of a conversation I'm having with God essentially the record opens up with me. |
| [01:11.326] | So I'm pointing at this picture and asking God something like, "So, is this you?" |
| [01:16.021] | 'Cause you know sometimes it certainly feels that way. |
| [01:21.326] | I need a new religion, or a new lie. |
| [01:24.942] | Or am I doing something wrong or what am I missing here? |
| [01:29.291] | I've always felt like I was missing something. |
| [01:31.545] | And it seems like it would be easy on Sundays just to lay down my ideas of God and move on. |
| [01:39.595] | And many people don't do this because of some deep seeds of guilt or existential fears but for me, it's neither of these. |
| [01:47.853] | There's just something beyond me that calls me out into "unknown", like a dream you feel when you wake up but you can't remember the details of the dream. |
| [01:57.550] | Or when you have a word on the tip of your tongue that you can feel in your gut but you just can't immediately articulate it. |
| [02:04.387] | Like I feel that and any time I try to simply put God away, this voice seems to reverberate throughout the universe, reminding me of my existential need for God. |
| [02:17.308] | So I can't easily walk away from that. |
| [02:20.317] | Obviously we're on the scratch and the surface here when it comes to a real conversation about faith. |
| [02:25.399] | But I never wanted to do much more with this song. |
| [02:29.613] | I never planned on resolving anything here but rather opening up the conversation on this record with this sort of questions and this sort of tension. |
| [00:00.471] | So the original album cover for this record was supposed to be a picture of Mercury' s back. |
| [00:06.040] | Mercury is the Roman equivalent to the God Hermes. |
| [00:08.953] | We found a picture of his back that we were gonna use. |
| [00:13.410] | But I decided against it because it was hard to tell who he was and I thought it was important to me that he' d be someone recognizable, some recognizable features we' ll talk about it later. |
| [00:24.222] | But originally it was Mercury' s back because I think it illustrated a statement or statements of this record on a couple of different levels. |
| [00:35.504] | The first level for me, which is almost always personal is that I felt like if I' m being honest I' ve been chasing God all my life and can never quite catch him. |
| [00:45.457] | And I found myself at a stage in life where this began to bother me, I felt like my whole life have been looking at God' s back like he' s always a couple of steps ahead of me and just when I think I haven' t figured it out, he seems to disappear. |
| [01:01.915] | So the first reason to have Mercury on the cover is to begin this conversation. |
| [01:06.396] | It' s the beginning of a conversation I' m having with God essentially the record opens up with me. |
| [01:11.326] | So I' m pointing at this picture and asking God something like, " So, is this you?" |
| [01:16.021] | ' Cause you know sometimes it certainly feels that way. |
| [01:21.326] | I need a new religion, or a new lie. |
| [01:24.942] | Or am I doing something wrong or what am I missing here? |
| [01:29.291] | I' ve always felt like I was missing something. |
| [01:31.545] | And it seems like it would be easy on Sundays just to lay down my ideas of God and move on. |
| [01:39.595] | And many people don' t do this because of some deep seeds of guilt or existential fears but for me, it' s neither of these. |
| [01:47.853] | There' s just something beyond me that calls me out into " unknown", like a dream you feel when you wake up but you can' t remember the details of the dream. |
| [01:57.550] | Or when you have a word on the tip of your tongue that you can feel in your gut but you just can' t immediately articulate it. |
| [02:04.387] | Like I feel that and any time I try to simply put God away, this voice seems to reverberate throughout the universe, reminding me of my existential need for God. |
| [02:17.308] | So I can' t easily walk away from that. |
| [02:20.317] | Obviously we' re on the scratch and the surface here when it comes to a real conversation about faith. |
| [02:25.399] | But I never wanted to do much more with this song. |
| [02:29.613] | I never planned on resolving anything here but rather opening up the conversation on this record with this sort of questions and this sort of tension. |