Mercy Street

"Mercy Street" is a song written by the English rock musician Peter Gabriel from his fifth studio album So (1986). A music video was created for "Mercy Street", which was directed by Matt Mahurin and shot in black-and-white.^[1]

The song was inspired by the personal and confessional works of the American poet Anne Sexton, who wrote a play titled Mercy Street and a poem titled "45 Mercy Street".^[2] Gabriel had acquired a collection of Sexton's work titled To Bedlam and Part Way Back at a bookshop in New York City.^[3] During the verses, Gabriel double tracked his vocals by recording one of his parts an octave below the main vocal. Gabriel initially struggled to record the lower vocal part, so audio engineer Kevin Killen suggested that Gabriel stay overnight at the recording studio and attempt a new vocal take the following morning before his voice perked up. This proved to be successful, and Gabriel attained a satisfactory vocal take within an hour.^[2]

The song is based around the forró drum rhythm, which Gabriel recorded in Brazil.^[4] Due to the miles accumulated while on tour with Pan Am, Gabriel had qualified for the Gold Pan Am Travel Anywhere Card, which enabled him to travel for free to Brazil. During his time there, Gabriel met with a percussionist named Djalma Correa, who recorded a series of percussion tracks around the forró.^[3] Originally, the drum rhythm was used in an early incarnation of the song, titled "Don't Break This Rhythm", but he became dissatisfied with it. He then reworked the verses, changed the song to include an English folk melody and strapped on lyrics based on Anne Sexton's work.^[4][5] Once these changes were made, Gabriel determined that there were enough differences to warrant the release of "Don't Break This Rhythm" and "Mercy Street" as two separate songs. "Don't Break This Rhythm" became the B-side to "Sledgehammer" and "Mercy Street" appeared on So.^[6] During one of the recording sessions for "Mercy Street", the Brazilian rhythm was accidentally played back ten percent slower, giving it a grainy quality.^[7]

Both contemporary and retrospective reviewers noted Gabriel's use of Sexton's poetry in the lyrics to "Mercy Street". Jon Pareles of The New York Times highlighted some of the instrumentation, including the triangle and the flute-like textures.^[8] Writing for Rolling Stone, Tim Holmes thought that "Mercy Street" was a "wistful and melanchol[ic]" dedication to Sexton.^[9] PopMatters commended Gabriel's use of Sexton's material to create "something haunting and beautiful from an idea so dark and lonely."^[1]

NME listed the song as one of the "10 Most Depressing Songs Ever", describing it as a "beautifully produced number" featuring Gabriel's "usual sensitivity". They concluded that "it isn't until you're a few listens in that you understand how devastating the whole thing is."^[10]

• Djalma Correa – surdo, congas, triangle
• Larry Klein – bass guitar
• Richard Tee – piano
• Mark Rivera – processed saxophone
• Peter Gabriel – vocals, CMI, Prophet, piano, CS-80

"Mercy Street" was released (remixed by William Orbit) on Gabriel's 1992 CD-single "Blood of Eden" and a live version from the 1993 Secret World Tour was released on Gabriel's live album's Secret World Live's companion EP, SW Live EP (1994).^[11] It was also reinterpreted by Gabriel on his 2011 orchestral album New Blood.^[12]

Fever Ray released this song as a single August 2010.^[13] Elbow have also released a version of the song on the album And I'll Scratch Yours. The studio album features Peter Gabriel songs from artists he covered on the companion album Scratch My Back.^[14]

Pianist Herbie Hancock included an interpretation of "Mercy Street" on The New Standard, a 1996 collection of pop songs treated as though they were jazz standards.^[15]

• Anne Sexton's poems at Poetry Foundation