This grew out of a chat with Aki Vanderlay, a Sofia based DJ and Producer. He sent over some rough ideas he was working on, and I had this conversation between James Baldwin and Angela Davis on my mind where he writes her to remind her that if activists don't speak up early and often - eventually it will be them getting rounded up in the middle of the night. Riffing off that letter - I started singing "before they take me, screamin' into the night.. Imma show you I'm a lion when the time is right."
Then of course I had to figure out how to turn a short novel's worth of words into coherent verses. Similar to the challenge I had on "Train and Plough" on the Dust album and "Fallin Too Low" on Sofia Sessions Pt. 1 - I just took my time, let it marinate until things started making sense.
By the time I got live musicians involved the song changed in some ways, but all the essentials came about during that first exchange of ideas with Iliya (Aki Vanderlay). Love it when things happen naturally like that!
lyrics
(Verse 1)
The success of indoctrination
is marked by a sharp line of demarcation
between those open to grow - and those too weak
the rest too ashamed to speak
For damn sure the premise of emancipation
was not a mass re-incarceration
when mutilation from bondage
has cut so deep - surely freedom is what one seeks..
So tell me how
from strange fruit hung from boughs
we in a system unfit for cows
(Verse 2)
It seems then the aim of the proclamation
was to unleash a population
who maintained awareness and hope
while under the yoke - the definition of staying woke
To calm fears statesmen and deacons
use words to reach - but preach ain't the same as teach
meanwhile there's wars over trade and at home over speech
and the books get cooked with bleach
One group gets wings
while bare feet kick up dust
and can a Pterodactyl win your trust?
(Chorus)
Before they take me
screamin' into the night
I'mma show you I'm a lion
when the time is right
Before they take me
screamin' into the night
I'mma show you I'm a lion
when the time is right
(Verse 3)
Despite the history of degradation
shared by oppressed folks of all persuasions
it's always inspiring to trace all the family trees
and what emerges from nurtured seeds
And how the soil
enriched by the wounds that bleed
can provide what the future needs - although -
the offspring and legacy of crooks and thieves
tend to print most of what we read
but even it's in our way
we can compensate
if we congregate
and we concentrate
(Chorus)
Before they take me
screamin' into the night
I'mma show you I'm a lion
when the time is right
Before they take me
screamin' into the night
I'mma show you I'm a lion
when the time is right
credits
from The Sofia Sessions 2,
released December 31, 2019
Music by Aki Vanderlay
Lyrics and vocal melody by Aled Ordu
The brilliant Ego Ella May returns with the latest installment in the “Fieldnotes” series, full of searching, gorgeous songs. Bandcamp New & Notable Nov 19, 2023
