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about
This song is the first single release from Reg Meuross's song cycle Stolen From God - about England's involvement in the Transatlantic Slave Trade.
The track was written as a response to the life and activities of slave-trader/philanthropist Edward Colston, points to the huge injustice of how he became so wealthy, his ill-gotten gains being the source of his now controversial philanthropy. The lyrics holding him to account.
GOOD MORNING MR COLSTON
Good morning Mr Colston I see your ship’s come in
Will you pay a hundred dollars for my torn and ragged skin?
Cos the Master needs his coffee and the master needs his rum
And the Missus needs her sugar to make her sugar plum
Good morning Mr Colston when will your kingdom come?
They tell me Mr Colston you’re a God fearing man
Did the Lord give you permission to take me from my land?
Though we’re equal in construction did he render you the best?
Do you hold a sacred licence to burn letters in my chest?
Good morning Mr Colston when will your soul be blessed?
Am I not a brother and a man
With a right to breathe the Bristol air
And walk this pleasant land?
Am I not a brother and a man?
Good morning Mr Colston bless your generosity
It’s thanks to you there’s hospitals and poor-folk property
It’s thanks to you a hundred thousand souls were sold as slaves
And a quarter died in transit and the ocean was their graves
Good morning Mr Colston when will your soul be saved?
Good morning Mr Colston I see you on the strand
Beneath your arm The Manifest your Bible in your hand
Your sugar from Barbados your coffee from Brazil
For each white child you educate another black child killed
Good morning Mr Colston when will your cup be filled?
Am I not a sister on this earth?
And black or white each child agrees
On every mother’s worth
Am I not a sister on this earth?
Good morning Mr Colston your philanthropy is plain
There’s hardly hall or street or school that doesn’t bear your name
It’s a golden chain that binds you to a poison legacy
No statue or memorial can hide your history
Good morning Mr Colston when will your soul be free?
Am I not a brother and a man
With a right to breathe the Bristol air
And walk this pleasant land?
Am I not a brother and a man?
Good morning Mr Colston I see your ship’s come in
credits
released December 2, 2022
Song by Reg Meuross
Co-prroduced with and mixed by Tom Jobling at Mill Farm Studios
Mastered by Guy Joyner at Sine-Post Audio
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The breadth and depth of Reg Meuross’s material is unparalleled in contemporary folk: songs about forgotten heroes, famous
names, folk legends, the climate emergency, tales from the kitchen sink and news from the world stage; if something needs to be sung about then Reg Meuross has a song for it....more
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