Mercy

The song is about about having a feeling towards someone, whether it’s a romantic feeling or just some chemistry that you don’t want, and you desperately want to be released from that feeling. In an interview with Mojo, Duffy explained how she wrote this song, she said: “I’d already written the lyrics to Mercy, it was like this melodic poem in my mind, which I just had to get out, and I knew exactly what I wanted it to sound like. Steve was very patient. He sat at the piano and put chords underneath it and we built the song from the bottom up. It’s very important that my songs start from an organic source, rather than a drum loop. You can dress it up how you like but at the end it’s about the strength of the song, the melody and the words. The lyrics were about having a feeling towards someone, whether it’s a romantic feeling or just some chemistry that you don’t want, and you desperately want to be released from that feeling. I’m very cautious about saying what a song is about, it’s my issues and baggage and when someone else listens to the song it isn’t about my baggage anymore it’s about their baggage. I don’t want ‘Mercy’ to become more about the situation that inspired it than the song. The song does the talking.”

Release Date: February 11, 2008

Songwriter/s: Aimee Ann Duffy – Steve Booker

Label: A&M (UK) – Mercury (US)

Chart Rankings:
UK – 1
US – 27
Germany – 1
In the UK, ‘Mercy’ peaked at number 1 on the UK Singles Charts. The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) certified it Platinum for sales over 600.000 copies. In the US, it peaked at number 27 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached number 22 on the Mainstream Top 40 charts. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified it Platinum for sales over 1 million copies. The song topped the charts in several countries including Austria, Netherlands, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Norway and Switzerland. “Mercy’ achieved success around the world and was within the top 10 charts in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Romania, Spain and Sweden. It was certified Platinum in Australia, Belgium and Switzerland. In Spain it was certified Triple Platinum and in Denmark it was Double Platinum.

Artist’s age on Release Date: Amie Ann Duffy was 24 years old when she released this song.

Cover Versions: OneRepublic – The Fratellis – The Third Degree – John Mayer – Glee – Sylvia Ratonel (Singapore Idol) – Team Compromise – Lloyd – Judy Mordache (The Voice Lebanon) – Girls’ Generation – Triggerfinger & Selah Sue – Fatin Shidqia (The X Factor Indonesia) – Isabela Moner – Black Fox – Jasmine Clarke – Shiane Hawke (The X Factor Australia – Daeho – Rubyfruit ACapella – Rachel Crow (The X Factor USA) – Allison Ivy – Amateur artists covered this song on Youtube.