Rate the Song: Mercy

[digitize]

Wow… now we begin the very final round of this rate the song series, the last round of 2000s non-album songs. The full list of such songs is:

Stateless
Summer Rain
Always
Levitate
Love You Like Mad
Smile
Flower Child
Big Girls Are Best
Electrical Storm
The Hands That Built America
Native Son
Xanax and Wine
Are You Gonna Wait Forever?
Window in the Skies
Soon
Winter
Mercy

Today's round will cover the last five songs, from Are You Gonna Wait Forever? to Mercy.

Please rate Mercy on a scale from 0 to 10, using whatever criteria you feel allows you to best evaluate the song as a whole. I will not set criteria for people to based on, but if you feel like your best evaluation of the merits of a song comes from voting only based on, say, the studio version, go right ahead and vote that way. Full information on the Rate The Song series may be found in this thread.

A short while after this round closes, I will post results for only 2000s songs, as usual. (Hopefully) a short while after that, I will post full results in a new thread, with a link to a PDF file filled with the full statistical nonsense. I will do my best to make both come out as soon as possible - thank God, these polls close on Saturday, the first day of my Spring Break, so I should have plenty of time with which to work on everything.

I would also like to thank everyone for participating. There have been some skirmishes, but overall, I think this has been a fun experience, and I'm really glad to have run it.

Have fun! This poll will close in 96 hours.

For some reason, it feels really fitting that they very last song I post a poll for is Mercy.

 

[mikal]

As a proud member of The Hive, I give this song a 9.

 

[djerdap]

The Hive Syndrome at its worst.

5

 

[mikal]

wait, is there a crack in The Hive's armor already?

 

[gvox]

Much as I like the music and some of the lyrics, it's about as patently a "U2 by the numbers" song as they come. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but imo nothing special to hear here. Probably a good idea they left it alone (without major overhaul, that is)

 

[ryancoke71]

^kicked out of the hive. Buzz off!

I love this song! 9

 

[Nick66]

I remember when I first heard rumblings on the internet about Mercy, I didn't think much about it. My first instinct was that it was probably just another over-hyped song merely because it was never officially released, and that if U2 thought the song was that good…any good…they would have put it out. So I didn't really bother w/it.

But then I thought, well, so many people seem to love it and rave about it, maybe I'm wrong, and I should check it out. So I downloaded and listened to it.

And immediately realised my first instinct was correct.

Both the "studio" and live versions contain inept lyrics featuring some of the most cliched Bonoisms to date. I didn't think it was possible to sink lower than "Always wear your safety belt" until I heard this song. There are just too many embarrassing moments to mention. Musically it's uninteresting, and nothing here comes close to justifying its epic length. An overall mess and it's pretty clear why it was never officially released (in a studio version) or stuck with live.

I'll give it a 5, just because I tend to rate all of these 00's non-album tracks against each other, and this one isn't really any more or less offensive than any of the others.

 

[djerdap]

I remember when I first heard rumblings on the internet about Mercy, I didn't think much of it. My first instinct was that it was just another over-hyped song merely because it was never officially released, and that if U2 thought the song was that good…any good…they would have put it out. So I didn't really bother w/it.

But then I thought, well, so many people seem to love it and rave about it, maybe I'm wrong, and should check it out. So I downloaded and listened to it.

And immediately realised my first instinctct was correct.

Both the "studio" and live versions contain inept lyrics featuring some of the most cliched Bonoisms to day. I didn't think it was possible to sink lower than "Always wear your safety belt" until I heard this song. There are just too many embarrassing moments to mention. Musically it's uninteresting, and nothing here comes close to justifying its epic length. An overall mess and it's pretty clear why it was never officially released or stuck with live.

I'll give it a 5, just because I tend to rate all of these 00's non-album tracks against each other, and this one isn't really any more or less offensive than any of the others.

Spot on, except for the usual "over-hyped song because it was never released" bullshit. Technically, it was officially released. Not that that would make any difference. There are lots of unreleased songs from many bands that are excellent. Radiohead's Lift

And I'm just listening to the Wide Awake in Europe version, and this could just be the corniest thing they have ever released. Most of you know that, from 2000 onwards, there's tons of competition in that department.

 

[Galeongirl]

As a proud member of The Hive, I give this song a 9.

Yeah, can't help but to vote a 10. Have to disagree with the hive somehow, and an 8 is out of the question.

But seriously, the original is already pretty damn awesome, and the version live? Pretty good, definitely sounds more worked on, but I really miss the "Ripping the stitches" part. A combination of the two would be perfect.

 

[lazarus]

Without "ripping the stitches" the song loses almost half of its brilliance.

Plus the original chorus was better. "You wanna kill me and I wanna die" = idiotic.

10.

 

[trevgreg]

Eh.... I've never listened to this one a whole lot. I'm sure I'd like it a lot more if I did, and it's not bad by any means. A lot better than some of the stuff they've released in recent years too probably. But still a 6 from me (for now).

 

[nielsgov]

This would be a U2 classic had they released it in its original form. 10 The new one would probably get a 7. It's not that bad.

 

[LemonMelon]

Plus the original chorus was better. "You wanna kill me and I wanna die" = idiotic.

Hahahaha this was so fucking awful, I laughed so damn hard I cried. And because they thoroughly stripped one of their great unreleased works of its mystique and stuffed it with embarrassing, lazy imagery designed to increase accessibility. It turned me off.

9 for the original.

 

[djerdap]

"You wanna kill me and I wanna die" is awful, no doubt about it, but is "LOVE. IS. WHERE I LIE. LOVE PUTS THE BLUE BACK IN MY EYE" that much better? I thinks not.

 

[LemonMelon]

I've never heard Hawthorne Heights sing the latter

 

[corianderstem]

I like both versions.

 

[U2DMfan]

The 2004 version is one of the 5 best U2 songs since the end of ZooTv. Period.

Still I can't give it a 10. But a 9 from me is high praise.

 

[gareth brown]

When I first heard the original version sometime in 2005 I immediately thought it was better than half of HTDAAB - I know I'm not alone and Mercy definitely should have been left on the album, with a couple of crap songs left off to make room and keep the album at a good length.

I realise people think it's massively overrated and classic U2 in the worst possible way, but I love it. Great music and some very good lyrics. One or two latter-day Bono clangers but not many U2 songs get away clean these days...and Miracle Drug let the newborn baby's head line finally escape into the public so let's get our priorities right

but seriously, I think this is one of the best songs U2 did in the last decade. Huge shame it got left off the album and ruined years later. I love that song and I was GUTTED when I heard the 360 version. They took it and just ripped it apart...AWFUL fucking version with a terrible new chorus, with some terrible parts that stink of trying to make it more radio/stadium friendly...glad they'd dropped it by glastonbury

 

[theedgeu2]

10 and one of their best tracks this past decade. I aas stunned it hadn't been released once I found out about it. The live version was pretty nice but nothing beats the studio track. This song somehow manages to bring out emotions other U2 songs can't.

 

[cobl04]

Original is one of my favourite thins they've ever done. The music feels classic, I love the lyrics, and Bono delivers them with such passion.

Even though the 2010 version dropped the "stitches" part and inexplicably changed the chorus, making it jaw-droppingly bad, I was still pretty floored to hear it live in concert.

wait, is there a crack in The Hive's armor already?

Good thing you didn't say "chink" in the armour...

 

[flybabe]

A passionate song to say the least. I've never listened to this one much, but now that I have I'm amazed at how beautiful this is. I don't get the entire HTDAAB vibe from this one, though. 8.

 

[trojanchick99]

Bzzzzzz. 9.

The original is much better. Ripping the stitches of course and I loved the "you wanted violins you got Nero" line. But I did enjoy hearing it live in 2010.

 

[dazzledbylight]

def prefer version 1

cool that those in 2010 did hear it liv e tho!

 

[BlueSilkenSky]

9. I used to think the song was perfect- now I think it's a little too long, but the lyrics are great.

 

[lazarus]

The length is what allows them to actually GO somewhere with the song. And of course you have that late breakdown with "I can't escape myself/I hear you caaalllll/feel nothin/WOO-HOO" and then that guitar again and it's like lift-off time.

A shame they don't do epic more often.

Also major props to Adam's galloping bass.

 

[lazarus]

"You wanna kill me and I wanna die" is awful, no doubt about it, but is "LOVE. IS. WHERE I LIE. LOVE PUTS THE BLUE BACK IN MY EYE" that much better? I thinks not.

The latter is at least impressionistic instead of emo. And it reminds me of old New Order, as does the music itself (part of why I love it so much).

But who cares, when you have a line as brilliant as that Nero one? No modern Bono lyric is perfect.

 

[djerdap]

The latter is at least impressionistic instead of emo. And it reminds me of old New Order, as does the music itself (part of why I love it so much).

But who cares, when you have a line as brilliant as that Nero one? No modern Bono lyric is perfect.

I'm not hearing New Order that much musically (big fan), and calling it "impressionistic" is a bit of an insult to impressionism, but you might be onto something there, since New Order - as great as they are - are consistent in their mostly terrible lyrical output. Bernard Sumner has all but admitted that. But who cares since his playing more than makes up for it.

 

[FitzChivalry]

This song so divides and polarizes U2 fans.

I'm in the category. (The original, not the mutilated live version.)

 

[Babydoll]

(The original, not the mutilated live version.)

This made me laugh out loud

I agree

 

[Niceman]

9 for the leaked demo. 8 for the live.