Are we sure the so called Mercy isn't from 1987?

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U2_Guy

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Bono's voice (crystal clear) and singing style (both crooning and soaring) sound like this song is from 87.

It reminds me of Deep in the heart too somehow...

Are we sure this song isn't some demo from the past?
 
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i am beginning to think you are right. it doesn't sound at all like U2 from current days.
 
except Bono's voice isn't crystal clear in this song. Sure he has its moments, but there are definitely parts where he sounds like the "current" Bono.
 
This sounds current.

I just don't know how we know for sure that it's Mercy. He doesn't say "Mercy" in the song.
 
I was wondering this myself, that it might be from '93 or '87, but then I heard a little of Bono's current-day hoarseness creeping into the song, so I'd say it was a new song, with far superior vocals to ATYCLB.
 
It's definitely a recent song. Bono's vocals are fantastic, but parts of it really sound ATYCLB-ish. Just listen to the 5:10 mark, that "OOooo" is definitely a modern-Bono voice.
 
Someone earlier was saying they think it's an Salome/AB era outtake called "Again". I don't have anything called Again on my Salome CDs though. :shrug: I don't know, it really sounds current to me because of his voice.

I don't know how we know it's called Mercy either. :lol:
 
neutral said:
Someone earlier was saying they think it's an Salome/AB era outtake called "Again". I don't have anything called Again on my Salome CDs though. :shrug: I don't know, it really sounds current to me because of his voice.

I don't know how we know it's called Mercy either. :lol:

the Blender article described a song, Mercy, that this track we have hear fits perfectly.
 
I think we're pretty sure it's Mercy for a two major reasons:

1. Blender Magazine quoted as saying … "Mercy", a six and a half minute outpouring of U2 at its most uninhibitedly U2-ish.….becomes what Bono immediately anoints “the best B-side you’ve ever heard.”
2. BLENDER also quoted Bono talking to Edge and said he was quoting a line from a new song by saying, "Hey Edge, I've been born again and again and again..."

New song. ‘Born again and again”. 6 ½ minutes.
Ergo…it is ‘Mercy’.
Thank you. Good night. Don’t forget to tip your waitress.

Now with that said, Bono's voice does sound a lot different than the other tracks which leads me to believe this is something from the Achtung era - based on the guitars and effects used on the vocals. It's very, very Hansa studios sounding.
 
43 seconds in - he sings "blood" - that is simply not Bono's current voice. Long time listeners will know what I mean.
 
i agree. it sounds like it was from long, long ago. and it's a bit sprawling and messy at points. i think it might be "mercy," but i think "mercy" might have been recorded in 1991. this is not his current voice.
 
yes I know what you mean. But I also know that Bono's incredible high singing in AMAAW is not his current voice either. It seems his voice has changed (for the better?) since All that you can't leave behind.
 
can't speak for the rest of the album, i'm still holding out! maybe that is it.

his singing on "mercy" is awesome. i do wish they'd do a quick-and-dirty album like this, with long, dark songs that are unpolished and not quite as ambitious and polished as that gorgeous piece of sheer wonderfulness that we call "original of the species."
 
Irvine511 said:
can't speak for the rest of the album, i'm still holding out! maybe that is it.

his singing on "mercy" is awesome. i do wish they'd do a quick-and-dirty album like this, with long, dark songs that are unpolished and not quite as ambitious and polished as that gorgeous piece of sheer wonderfulness that we call "original of the species."

I strongly agree. HTDAAB is U2's "first album," (took em a quarter of a century to make it :p) so their follow-up should be a quick-and-dirty raw rock 'n roll album, ala The Velvet Underground and Nico to White Light White Heat.

As for Mercy being recored back in '91, I find that theory somewhat ridiculous. It does have a very 90's feel and Bono's voice is in top form, but other than that it makes no logical sense. Why would U2 use a recording from 1991 as a potential album track? If a version of the song was actually recorded back then, why have we not heard of it before? No mention of it from the band, not in the outtakes...speaking of which, where the hell does one GET these outtakes? I'm immensely curious. I have no U2 bootlegs, except TOTP and iPod performance.

The more I listen to this song the more I think it should have been on the album.
 
Rafiennes said:
I think we're pretty sure it's Mercy for a two major reasons:

1. Blender Magazine quoted as saying … "Mercy", a six and a half minute outpouring of U2 at its most uninhibitedly U2-ish.….becomes what Bono immediately anoints “the best B-side you’ve ever heard.”
2. BLENDER also quoted Bono talking to Edge and said he was quoting a line from a new song by saying, "Hey Edge, I've been born again and again and again..."

New song. ‘Born again and again”. 6 ½ minutes.
Ergo…it is ‘Mercy’.
Thank you. Good night. Don’t forget to tip your waitress.



:yes: Yes, seriously now...'nuff said.
 
Irvine511 said:
can't speak for the rest of the album, i'm still holding out! maybe that is it.

his singing on "mercy" is awesome. i do wish they'd do a quick-and-dirty album like this, with long, dark songs that are unpolished and not quite as ambitious and polished as that gorgeous piece of sheer wonderfulness that we call "original of the species."


:yes:


Well I hadn't read my Blender yet, that explains the title, thanks. :wink: I still think his voice sounds a little strained in spots (which I like actually). Hmm I'm gonna go put on some of the Salome stuff. :hmm:
 
i think that this song was originally xanax and wine from the lyrics. great song off of open arms, too bad they couldnt finish it for this album though. a good bside to htdaab.
 
I also think that it shouldn't go without noting that the drums are unquestionably a current Larry Mullen sound and style.

And I agree that the song is the one referenced in Blender.

james
 
It's always possable this was a All That You Cant Leave Behind song that got reworked ? It just has that sound to me......... And on Older songs its always possable to rework a song if it fits the mood of the new album.
 
No matter when it was made let's still try and correct the lyrics. I believe some are still incorrect. I look at it from a lyricists viewpoint. Obviously since i don't think like bono or am i making millions writing lyrics like his i'm handicapped. For intance i would probably just say 'poison' instead of weedkiller, but i guess that is what seperates the greats from those you'll never hear of.
Taking all that into consideration lyrically it would make more sense to say 'i'm digging the ditches of someone else's love"
also' 'love hears when i lie' makes better sense then 'love is when i lie'. i could be way off maybe someone out there will unravel the mystery of mercy.
Mercy

Version: Studio (6:31) First Appears On: Unknown, 2004
Written By: U2 / Bono Performed By: U2

I was drinking some wine... and it turned to blood
What's the use of religion... if you're any good
I know I'm weedkiller honey... and you're sugar
If you're the prosecution... I get away with murder
If you were ice... I'm water
And with your telescope... I can see further
We're binary code... a one and a zero
You wanted violins... and you got Nero
You're gravity... searching for the ground
You're silence... searching for a sound
Your heart is aching... your heart is my home
It's fascinating... I know I'll never be alone

I'm rippin' the stitches
You got two hands to rub
I'm in the ditches
Of someone else's love

Love is when I lie
Love puts the blue back in my eye
Love will come again
I'll be gone again... again

If you're hunger... baby let me feed it
If your heart is full... baby let me bleed it
And happiness is for... those who don't really need it
You love me... too much
You always loved me... too much

When I was rippin' the stitches
You got two fists to rub
I'm in the ditches
Of someone else's luck

Love is when I lie
Love puts the blue back in my eye
Love has come again
I am gone again

Love's got to be with a wink
Only then love gets a chance to speak
Love will come again
I'll be gone again... again

I... I can't escape myself
I hear you talk
Feeling nothing
I fear nothing
Feel....

I can hear so much
Fear nothing
I feel so much
Fear... nothing

Love has come again
I am gone again
Love is the end of history
The enemy of misery
Love has come again
I am gone again

Love is justice, a charity
Love brings with it a clarity
Love has come again
I'm alive again
Alive...

I am alive, baby I'm born again and again
And again, and again and again and again
Again
 
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