Speechless...

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Am I the only one who thinks Mercy is probably the most over-hyped U2 song on this forum?

I'm sure people are going to say I "just don't get it," but it sounds like a bunch of lyrics that just kind of got cobbled together without ever really being fleshed out. The music doesn't seem to go anywhere. The lyrics are inconsistent both thematically and in how effective they are - one line might be quite clever and strong, the next line awkward and not related to the previous line at all. It get's a little more consistent about halfway through, but it's almost as if Bono is just throwing together lines that weren't used in any of the other songs, and then tagging on an overriding theme for the chorus.

I dunno, I just don't see the "genius" of it. The overall theme is nice and all, but.... meh.

Flame away.

WITS, on the other hand, I love. Perfectly crafted little pop song.

you are not alone, my friend.

there are others..

i think mercy would have been much better if they included more battlestar galactica references.

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

you are not alone, my friend.

there are others..

i think mercy would have been much better if they included more battlestar galactica references.

I am in this camp as well (Battlestar ftw...) I kept hearing all this talk about Mercy this and Mercy that and when I finally downloaded it and listened to it: meh....

 

[Salome]

mehrcy indeed

 

[bram]

I'm not sure I understand what you mean...the very fact that it was dropped, regardless of any time frame, makes it unfinished in one way or another...

and yes, i agree, the fact that it is not a bside does suggest other plans

There's a big difference between a finished song being dropped because it doesn't fit into this album (these usually become B-sides), and song that is dropped at a stage before it is in its finished, fully-recorded and produced form.

Now, all indications (based on the story of its surfacing and Bono's comments) point to Mercy belonging to the former category--so it's a finished song that did not make the album for one reason or another (in this case album pacing--but NOT because there wasn't a fully recorded, produced version). It is popular opinion on this forum that Mercy is great and would be even better if it was "finished". However, the song is not in a "rough", unfinished form despite being available only in poorer quality.

That's the difference.

So if they release another version of Mercy, it will be just another version from the one we know (despite the fact that our version is technically "unreleased"). Just like when they released the single version (or the hallelujah version) of Walk On. The re-recording of this song does not mean the album version of Walk On was unfinished. It's just a different version.

 

[Rob33]

There's a big difference between a finished song being dropped because it doesn't fit into this album (these usually become B-sides), and song that is dropped at a stage before it is in its finished, fully-recorded and produced form.

Now, all indications (based on the story of its surfacing and Bono's comments) point to Mercy belonging to the former category--so it's a finished song that did not make the album for one reason or another (in this case album pacing--but NOT because there wasn't a fully recorded, produced version). It is popular opinion on this forum that Mercy is great and would be even better if it was "finished". However, the song is not in a "rough", unfinished form despite being available only in poorer quality.

That's the difference.

So if they release another version of Mercy, it will be just another version from the one we know (despite the fact that our version is technically "unreleased"). Just like when they released the single version (or the hallelujah version) of Walk On. The re-recording of this song does not mean the album version of Walk On was unfinished. It's just a different version.

Alright....then explain this quote to me from the Edge:

"Yes, not finished there are still some parts of it we are working on."

hmmmmm....kinda sounds like it's not finished, finished in the sense that they actually don't have a final recording of the song...

 

[bram]

Yes, that still fits in with what I've said. It really depends on the term "finished" which can mean two different things.

They had a produced version that was ready to go onto the album. In that sense it was finished, just like "Native Son" was finished. However, U2 decided Native Son wasn't finished so they changed it into Vertigo. This does not change the fact that Native Son is a completed song, as is Yahweh alernate, Always, Lady with the Spinning Head, and others that U2 have changed into their "finished" versions.

But Lady with the Spinning Head is no less "finished" because it morphed into Ultraviolet and Until the End of the World...etc.

So will another version of Mercy come out? Probably. Was the version we heard a demo? No. It was a finished version that they didn't fit in quite right with the album...or it's pacing wasn't right with those songs, etc.

 

[ramblin rose]

With all this talk about Mercy I decided to go and reread what Bono had said to u2sj when she met him and he mentioned "Mercy".

It's so wierd because it was right after the Apple presentation where they announced the u2 ipod and Bono says to her:

"Darling, watch out for Mercy, you will love it, its one of my favorites"

Now this is October 26th, 2004, how could he not know at that point that it wasn't on the album? Did he think it would be released as a b side at that point but then they decided against it?

It's just very strange.

 

[Rob33]

ok, I'll repeat Edges quote again:

"Yes, not finished there are still some parts of it we are working on."

The key phrase is "still some parts of it we are working on," which implies that the unofficially released version that we're listening to is incomplete and recording is not over..right? If they are still working on "parts of it," then it is technically not finished, and the actual song structure is going to be played with. Regardless of whether or not it fit into HTDAAB, the song itself is yet to be ready for release on any album, and they are by no means fitting an entire album around the song. So it will be tinkered with to fit the new album if indeed it is going on the new album, but we really have no idea though to what extent they will play with it because we don't really know the direction U2 are taking musically with the new album.

 

[Diemen]

i think mercy would have been much better if they included more battlestar galactica references.

Rock on, my friend, rock on.

 

[Rachel D.]

Am I the only one who thinks Mercy is probably the most over-hyped U2 song on this forum?

I'm sure people are going to say I "just don't get it," but it sounds like a bunch of lyrics that just kind of got cobbled together without ever really being fleshed out. The music doesn't seem to go anywhere. The lyrics are inconsistent both thematically and in how effective they are - one line might be quite clever and strong, the next line awkward and not related to the previous line at all. It get's a little more consistent about halfway through, but it's almost as if Bono is just throwing together lines that weren't used in any of the other songs, and then tagging on an overriding theme for the chorus.

I dunno, I just don't see the "genius" of it. The overall theme is nice and all, but.... meh.

Flame away.

WITS, on the other hand, I love. Perfectly crafted little pop song.

I disagree. I always thought this song seems to be about a conversation between two lovers or God and a person (or both, as many U2 songs are). There does seem to be a structure: It goes from expectation - "Love will come again / I'll be gone again" - to arrival at a goal - "Love is come again / I am gone again."

And, of course, this song abounds in Biblical references (being "born again," for instance). Bono says that he believes that "God is love," so one could say that Bono is talking about God in this song. One line, "Love's got to be with the weak," actually coincides with "God is with the poor," which Bono has stated on several occasions.

Sorry, I seem to be going on a lot. If I ever have to analyze a poem for an English class, I am so doing this song.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

Am I the only one who thinks Mercy is probably the most over-hyped U2 song on this forum?

you're not alone

 

[phillyfan26]

I heard it once a while ago and wasn't impressed, so I listened again to the YouTube version. Still not all that impressed. I mean, it's better than most of HTDAAB or ATYCLB, but it's definitely not finished.

 

[Diemen]

I disagree. I always thought this song seems to be about a conversation between two lovers or God and a person (or both, as many U2 songs are). There does seem to be a structure: It goes from expectation - "Love will come again / I'll be gone again" - to arrival at a goal - "Love is come again / I am gone again."

And, of course, this song abounds in Biblical references (being "born again," for instance). Bono says that he believes that "God is love," so one could say that Bono is talking about God in this song. One line, "Love's got to be with the weak," actually coincides with "God is with the poor," which Bono has stated on several occasions.

Sorry, I seem to be going on a lot. If I ever have to analyze a poem for an English class, I am so doing this song.

I understand the biblical references and the overall theme. I just don't think it's executed particularly well.