Time to vote! Should Mercy be on the next album?

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Should Mercy be included on the next album?

  • Yes, definitely!

    Votes: 191 65.2%
  • No, never!

    Votes: 29 9.9%
  • No but maybe as a Bonus track!

    Votes: 27 9.2%
  • No but maybe as a B-side!

    Votes: 46 15.7%

  • Total voters
    293

Zoots

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Hooray!!! Yet another Mercy thread! :happy:

But no need to get mad, my beloved Mercy-haters! Cos this time, it is simply a poll!

Please vote seriously... after digging deep into your hearts and truly finding out if you like the song or not! :|
 
first vote:wink:

in album, yes, but no release of any kind (single)
 
It should be on the album as maybe a 3rd or 4th single. I didn't really like the song at first but it has grown on me a lot. Unfortunately I don't think it will grow on radio stations all that well...

I don't know I could be wrong :confused:
 
It belongs in one place, and that's Headache's ass.

I would support throwing it on a single as a B-side to get people to STFU about it (and also to take up a spot that would otherwise be used to inflict a shitty remix on us; even "Mercy" isn't as bad as another "Vertigo" remix).
 
still listen to this, smile and think that it's probably the best thing they've written in around 12-13 years! :D was listening to it yesterday and the way the bass goes with the opening distorted guitar loop is absolutely fantastic! keep hearing things in a different way each time i listen to it.

should end side one of the next record. :up:
 
You think Mercy is better than everything on Zooropa, Passengers, Pop, All That You Can't Leave Behind, How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb and any and all soundtracks, b-sides etc????? Have I completely and entirely missed something with this song? Are we listening to the same thing? Is it the one with Bono spurting some crap about love putting the blue back in his eye???
 
Perhaps as a B-Side. It's too late to get this song into an album now, they should've done it, they didn't..........................it has no sense anymore to think to put mercy on the next record
 
When I get a new U2 album I don't think I'd want one of it's main tracks to be something I heard two or three years previously.

I'd be happy to have it as a bonus track though (as ground beneath her feet was on atyclb)

oh - and it needs reworking too.
 
Ellay said:
When I get a new U2 album I don't think I'd want one of it's main tracks to be something I heard two or three years previously.

I'd be happy to have it as a bonus track though (as ground beneath her feet was on atyclb)

oh - and it needs reworking too.

:up:

:up:

and
:up:

It'd be fun to see it as a bonus track---kind of a nod to the fans, acknowledging that we've all got it, but that the band likes it anyway.

At the same time, I wouldn't mind seeing a second bonus track---it was nice having such a fun, different song in Fast Cars.
 
Its a brilliant song, so I'd have it in there, but only if it fits with the other songs they have (I hope Mercy is sort of a hint of the overall sound of the album).
 
Earnie Shavers said:
You think Mercy is better than everything on Zooropa, Passengers, Pop, All That You Can't Leave Behind, How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb and any and all soundtracks, b-sides etc????? Have I completely and entirely missed something with this song? Are we listening to the same thing? Is it the one with Bono spurting some crap about love putting the blue back in his eye???

note I said 12-13 years, knocking Zooropa out of the running! :wink: Their two best songs are on that album, Zooropa and Lemon! You're just a bit hostile towards differing opinions. :wink:
 
:hmm: it seems so far the Mercy lovers outnumber the naysayers considerably...

as for me, well, boomcha. that's all I have to say about that.
 
I'd rather see a more experimental album without Mercy than a "Bomb 2" with Mercy.
Sorry.
 
I WIPE MY ASS WITH MERCY. © Headache in a Suitcase

In all seriousness, maybe I'd enjoy a re-worked version of Mercy. One with better lyrics, at least.
 
I think the song is pretty mediocre (I like the lyrics, but I just can't get the melody. Maybe I don't have a good ear?)

BUT, I do think that there are some advantages of having it on the next album....people will look at it as a real album track as opposed to an undiscovered gem and therefore be able to judge it better. Or maybe the band could really overhall it and make it into something great. :wink:
 
Headache, I'm glad to see that Mercy now comes with Aloe Vera. :yes:
 
Come to think of it, I'm not sure about this myself! :huh:

I mean.. I love the song to death, I think it's the best one they've done in the last 5 years.. topping both atyclb and htdaab for me! But since we've all heard it, I'm not sure if it's such a good idea to put it on a new album. :hmm:

Probably a reworked version. :yes: Okay, then it's yes for me.
 
The song doesn't really excite me all that much. Initially, I was thrilled by it because the copy we all have has that raw, unproduced, natural sound to it that stands in such contrast to the way the last two records, especially Bomb, sound - which is overcooked and overproduced. But once I got past that aspect of it, I didn't think the song was that great. I know and understand why a lot of you adore the song so much and are so excited by it, and I know I myself at one time thought that it sounded like it was in the same vein as the MDH songs - that is to say, it had some 'otherness' to it. But after gaining some perspective, I think that's what most of us are primarily attracted to in the song: It doesn't sound like anything on ATYCLB or Bomb. I think if U2's recent records sounded like that and not like they did, none of us would rate Mercy so highly. Think of it like this: If you are stranded on an island and are eating bugs to survive, a McDonald's hamburger is going to taste like heaven to you, but if you eat gourmet hamburgers on a regular basis, a McDonald's hamburger isn't going to do much for you. In this case, the people who love Mercy are the people who have been eating bugs(those who didn't like the last two records) and really want to hear something different from the band. But it's not good if you're putting all your faith and hopes on one song - in a way, I think that symbolizes a sort of lack of confidence in the band.

Rather than see THIS song on the next record, I want to see multiple songs with the same attitude - atmospherics, ambiance, not trying so hard to be the biggest band, etc - as Mercy, but I want them to be stronger actual songs. I want to see all of the tracks inherit that grainy, not-overcooked, not-overproduced feel to them(bad description, I know). What Mercy represents to a lot of us, I think, is a glimmer of hope that U2 can still have that 'otherness' about them. If they do, I don't want it to be limited to one song. That to me would be more of a failure - "Ok, here's our album of songs designed for FM Radio, with the exception of our one token 'otherness' song for the diehards". I don't want that.
 
Last edited:
namkcuR said:

Rather than see THIS song on the next record, I want to see multiple songs with the same attitude - atmospherics, ambiance, not trying so hard to be the biggest band, etc - as Mercy, but I want them to be stronger actual songs. I want to see all of the tracks inherit that grainy, not-overcooked, not-overproduced feel to them(bad description, I know). What Mercy represents to a lot of us, I think, is a glimmer of hope that U2 can still have that 'otherness' about them. If they do, I don't want it to be limited to one song. That to me would be more of a failure - "Ok, here's our album of songs designed for GM Radio, with the exception of our one token 'otherness' song for the diehards". I don't want that.

:up:
 
Mercy is a difficult song to analyze. I love some things about but I don't care for other things. I like the atmosphere created by the song and the melody has grown on me a lot. As far as being on the next album after reading the other posts on this thread I can definately agree with a reworked version. The version that we have right now is pretty bad quality. I would like the chorus to be a little more "sing along friendly", something that sticks in your head more than the present version. I think the vocals are very "real" and down to earth, which I like and it's probably best if they are kept that way. If Mercy is indeed a window into what the next album will be like, it is good and bad. Mercy is a 6 1/2 minute all out U2fest, while I would like them to go with a little different style on the next album. I agree 100% with namkcuR that I don't want that "otherness" to just be one song thrown into a bunch of different sounding songs. U2 needs to come out with more of a "theme album", one that has a uniform feel to it, which is why the next one should experiment more with atmospherics and how the songs on it work to compliment eachother and give you a certain feeling after listeing to the entire album. Will Mercy fit into that plan? Hopefully, but it could go either way. I think U2 needs to tweak it a little, changing some lyrics and sound but I think it is some of the best songwriting they've come out with in a while.
 
cjboog said:
Mercy is a 6 1/2 minute all out U2fest, while I would like them to go with a little different style on the next album. I agree 100% with namkcuR that I don't want that "otherness" to just be one song thrown into a bunch of different sounding songs. U2 needs to come out with more of a "theme album", one that has a uniform feel to it, which is why the next one should experiment more with atmospherics and how the songs on it work to compliment eachother and give you a certain feeling after listeing to the entire album. Will Mercy fit into that plan? Hopefully, but it could go either way. I think U2 needs to tweak it a little, changing some lyrics and sound but I think it is some of the best songwriting they've come out with in a while.

:up: I agree. I guess part of what makes Mercy so great is it shows U2 is still capable of creating that other worldly sound which some were beginning to doubt was left in them. But really, I love Mercy because I think it's a fucking brilliant song. It's one of the most listened to songs on my iPod and for good reason. I think it has some fantastic lyrics ("i was drinking some wine and it turned to blood/what's the use of religion is you're any good...what a way to start a song!) with a couple clunkers thrown in ("i know i'm weed killer honey and you're sugar"?) - Mofo, anyone? (come on, "got the straw in lemonade" isn't the greatest line ever, but I love most of Mofo's lyrics). I love the way it builds up. I love the looped guitar that creates that atmospheric effect. I love that it's one of Bono's best vocal performances since the Achtung days (recorded, not live). I love that it's so U2. More than anything on the last two albums (except possibly Beautiful Day), this sums up what U2 is all about. When I listen to Mercy and close my eyes it takes me to another place, which is what the best of U2's songs do to me. But that's just me. I could understand if someone thought it was boring, or that the lyrics sucked, or whatever, because a song is heard differently by everyone. As long as it's understood that it's your opinion that the song is garbage, and not a fact, I don't care if you don't like it. Similarly, I will not say it is a fact that it's one of U2's best songs. But I think it is.
 
AtomicBono said:

When I listen to Mercy and close my eyes it takes me to another place, which is what the best of U2's songs do to me. But that's just me. I could understand if someone thought it was boring, or that the lyrics sucked, or whatever, because a song is heard differently by everyone. As long as it's understood that it's your opinion that the song is garbage, and not a fact, I don't care if you don't like it. Similarly, I will not say it is a fact that it's one of U2's best songs. But I think it is.

I like your writing style. :up:

And I agree completely about this song. It is a class apart!
 
No but maybe as a B-side!


I think its a great song and everything but I just don't want it on the album. I've heard it alot so far and I think it would be cool to have this rare song stay rare.
 
I voted b-side. It's an okay song, but I don't get the obsessive love for it. :huh:

On another note, this is the first time in a year I've even looked at this subforum. It's like a whole other world for me to discover. :happy:
 
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