I've got myself
In a masochistic hold
Why don't you let go
Shake it off
Just to redirect my flow
Come on let's go

Sit up straight
I'm on a double date
I've got to find my way
Into the light, heavy, middle weight
We don't stop rock around the clock
Motor mouthing off
In front of every other road block

Come again and tell me
What you're going thru
Like a girl who only knew
Her child was due

Memories of everything
Of lemon trees on mercury
Come to me with remedies
From five or six of seven seas
You always took me with a smile
When I was down
Memories of everything
That blew thru

Looking up into
A reverse vertigo
What an undertow
Give it up
Another stubborn scorpio
Come on, let's go

Sit up straight
I'm on a double date
I've got to find my way
Into the light, heavy, middle weight
We don't stop rock around the clock
Motor mouthing off
In front of every other road block

Come again and tell me
What you're going thru
Like a girl who only knew
Her child was due
To the moon she gave
Another good review
Turn around and look at me
It's really really you



Lyrics submitted by on_a_plain_11

Track duration: 03:28


On Mercury song meanings
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34 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:By the Way is their greatest album to date! Lyric-wise is phenomenal and the depth of these songs musically is over the top. The song are played with such passion that I haven't been able to find on another rhcp album. I know a lot would argue that Stadium Arcadium is the best one, but I beg to differ. Yes Stadium Arcadium is obviously a masterpiece but it has something missing which is the great lyrics that were featured on By the Way. Now, I'm With You, I believe that is grand on the scale that is so much bigger than anything they ever done. Musically, the album takes you over a wide range of different musical stylings and the way it is composed and arranged would make anyone's heart melt. But call me old fashion, (not really, I'm only 18), By the Way is still one of the greatest piece of music I ever heard.
    Flagged kheartson September 01, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:"Memories of everything
    Of lemon trees on mercury
    Come to me with remedies
    From five or six of seven seas
    You always took me with a smile
    When I was down"
    I don't think these talks about drugs, i think he's just reminiscing, thinking about someone who made him feel well. "memories of everything" (introduces what he remembers)
    "of lemon trees on mercury" Lemon Trees may refer to bad times or to everything that makes you feel bad. "On Mercury" (planet) means that it's far away, so: it means that anything thay could make him feel down was away.
    "come to me with remedies/from five or six of seven seas" the person he's talking about always had something useful to say that coul make him feel better
    "you always took me with a smile/ when i was down" i don't think it needs an explanation...

    about "give it up, another stubborn scorpio": he may be refering to himself. If he is being masochistic, he may say bad things about himself
    Flag naty134on May 30, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I get that this song is probably all about drugs and or sex because, well this is the chillis. However, it's such a happy song and lines like
    "Memories of everything
    Of lemon trees on mercury
    Come to me with remedies
    From five or six of seven seas
    You always took me with a smile
    When I was down"
    make me think of friends and the general reminiscence of "good times". For them it may mean drugs but i think it can be interpreted generally.

    Flag misspollyjaneon September 29, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:this song does have some ska elements. i do hear a ska upstroke and i hear some kind of horns
    Flag zepphead94on May 18, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:the song is about his drug addiction and his relationship with his dad and other persons around him.
    the line "i got myself in a masochistic hold" refers to his drug abouse and hos it actually hurts himself but that he enjoys too much to quit. he tells us about his attempt to "shake it off" and to "redirect" this masochistic energy into his music.

    the next line could refer to his dads dubbel dating with him, if soo you could combine it with "i gotta find my way into the light heavy middle weight" nad get something refering to his uncertainty if he is his dads friend or son.
    Flag mongobearon March 25, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:It definitely has a ska influence to it. Fleas' baseline is like something out of a Sublime song. Great song.
    Flag cooldude4919on December 12, 2007   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:Every time I hear this song, I'm reminded of the cover they did of "Havana Affair"...
    Flag Dysperdison January 18, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i don't care what this song is about because it's just soooo great!! lets all just sit back and enjoy the music! XXX
    Flag yay4musicon October 22, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:double date = speedball?
    Flag driveby40on June 05, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I am sure that torrance21 is right.
    If you read Anthony's autobiography, "Scar Tissue," he discusses the use of lemons, but not the song directly. This is what I put together:
    Anthony writes about Persian heroin and how it is the best type of heroin you can get. Apparently, it is oil-based, which means it is hard to inject because the oil produces some problem. So what you do is take lemon juice to cut the oil, heat it up, then shoot up. I was thinking about the lyrics one day and was exhausting all the possible explanations, when I thought that Mercury could be a street. I looked it up on an LA street map and it turned out to exist. So like torrance21 said, he used the lemons when he shot heroin, but On Mercury literally means the memories he has of shooting up on Mercury Street. Once again, what torrance21 said, just a little more in-depth.
    Flag Nikzadon May 29, 2006   Link

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