Why isn't mercy on the new album
- Thread starter the scuv
- Start date
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purpleoscar
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
Maybe for the future Rick Rubin album.
Moser
Refugee
Well, the direction they were going in the live rendition was not promising -- so I'm not missing it.
powerhour24
ONE love, blood, life
Because it belonged on the Bomb and then they murdered it. Grant it mercy and put it out of its misery. Let it die.
gvox
Ghost of Love
ozeeko
Refugee
Why wasn't Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me on this? Would've been a great opener.
Afliktor
The Fly
Mercy is one of my favourite U2 tracks, but I don't think it would have fit on this album at allll. Maybe Songs of Experience? one can hope...
prbiker15
Blue Crack Addict
Preach.
Reggie Thee Dog
Blue Crack Addict
Oh mercy...
Nick66
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
Ugh. Mercy again.
The day U2 retires, someone will have a thread titled "When will we see "Mercy"??!!!
Mercy is dead. There is no Mercy. The song was never that great to start with. Quite possibly the most overrated U2 song that was never released in history.
The day U2 retires, someone will have a thread titled "When will we see "Mercy"??!!!
Mercy is dead. There is no Mercy. The song was never that great to start with. Quite possibly the most overrated U2 song that was never released in history.
MrPryck2U
ONE love, blood, life
Is Bono Ok? 
Musikwala
War Child
Niceman
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
It belonged on BOMB, and was then released as a single a couple years ago. It's done. It's part of last decade's work, not this.
dan_smee
ONE love, blood, life
So this thread isn't just another bland opinion-fest about how great/awful Mercy is:
I would imagine that thematically it would fit better in the scope of Songs of Experience (given the Blake titling, wouldn't it be great if the album was simply called "...And of Experience"). Given how much songs like Glastonbury evolved to be on this record, Mercy could be totally different to what any of us think of it (if it still exists), and could pop up anywhere. Or not.
I would imagine that thematically it would fit better in the scope of Songs of Experience (given the Blake titling, wouldn't it be great if the album was simply called "...And of Experience"). Given how much songs like Glastonbury evolved to be on this record, Mercy could be totally different to what any of us think of it (if it still exists), and could pop up anywhere. Or not.
lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
I agree with everything but "Let it die". It lives on in my custom Bomb playlist, and is still the best thing they recorded that decade before Moment Of Surrender.
What's mystifying is that it never even appeared as a b-side. Far worse songs have made that cut.
But it certainly doesn't belong on SOI, or No Line for that matter.
Ahh, the reactionary anti-Mercy voice. Assuming that it wasn't great because the band never officially released it.
No. It contains what was sorely missed on ATYCLB and Bomb.
stargift
The Fly
Maybe when they release the cd in October they will release one with bonus tracks and Mercy will be on there(hopefully more like the demo then live version)
powerhour24
ONE love, blood, life
No believe me I'm with you there, it's on my version of the Bomb too, "let it die" just meant stop invoking its ghost every time there's a new release. As you say, it doesn't belong on the subsequent albums. Maybe a reworked one could have worked if there ever was a Songs of Ascent, but certainly not the 2010 version.
Nick66
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
Funny, I always thought some of Mercy's mystique and popularity was because it was never officially released.
Anyway, no, I genuinely just think the song is overheated and don't understand why people love it so much. I kind of have an interesting history with that song, because it surfaced during a period where I really wasn't into U2 that much and not following them closely at all. I didn't like Bomb, and didn't care for the sound of the stuff from that era, so just stopped paying attention. Then somewhere online I stumbled across a bunch of U2 fans raving about Mercy (I think it was at @U2), and I thought, wow this sound pretty cool, I need to check it out (this was LONG after it originally surfaced). So I found the best version of it online I could find and I was decidedly underwhelmed. But I think that's sort of what made me re-engage with U2 on some level and pay attention to what they were doing.
Anyway, yeah, the song just sounds undisciplined and unfinished to me, and I suspect they think they never quite cracked the code on that one. But it is epic and in general I like epic U2, so I get why some people like it. Anyway, like Powerhour24 said above, when I say it's dead, I don't mean any disrespect to the song, I just mean the time for U2 to do anything with it is passed, I think. It's like the long term fan fantasy of them going back and "finishing" Pop...it's something that only will ever happen in fan's wet dreams.
Seriously. Isn't what they did to Every Breaking Wave bad enough?
dan_smee
ONE love, blood, life
I dont know what you mean? The live version was a skeleton - edge just played the arpeggiated chords, and it had no chorus. They wrote one that tied it all together, and put, you know, music around it.
Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference
Niceman
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
That's not what I said. Anyway, it's been 9 years since we first got the song. Then we got the WWIE version. It's had whatever day it's going to have.
doctorwho
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
This.
If they officially release the song that "leaked" as is (or if it must be touched, just tightened up in quality) then that's perfect. But with the dramatic lyrical change, I'm not interested.
Also, I don't think it would flow on this album. "Invisible" does at least musically, if not thematically. But "Mercy" might have fit better on HTDAAB or perhaps on the supposedly upcoming "Songs of Experience".
dan_smee
ONE love, blood, life
angelordevil
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
My prediction: we'll get an intergalactic version of Mercy as the final song on SOE.
Niceman
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
Invisible doesn't fit thematically? A song about asking for his parents' approval to go off and become a rock star doesn't fit on an album about leaving home to become a rock star?
doctorwho
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
I've never really interpreted the song that way. I felt it was more about the struggles of Bono with his father. Music was one way he was able to escape that, but I never viewed the song as "permission" (and, of course, it would be his parent by the time Hype/Feedback were formed).
But your interpretation does indeed suggest that the track would fit in nicely on this album (perhaps why it was, once upon a time, suggested to be the first single).
I have the album as the second track on my playlist of SoI. It fits in very nicely and makes the transition between "Miracle" and EBW incredibly smooth.
Niceman
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
I tried it as track #2 first, but in the end I've settled it in as track #1. IMO it works better and makes more sense, from the perspective of the story.
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