# 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.

## Background and recording

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". Gabriel had acquired a collection of Sexton's work titled To Bedlam and Part Way Back at a bookshop in New York City.
Gabriel had qualified for the Gold Pan Am Travel Anywhere Card due to the miles he accumulated on tour while flying on Pan Am, which enabled him to travel for free to any Pam Am Destination of his choosing. Gabriel selected Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as one of his destinations to explore different rhythms and meet with different percussionists. While in Rio in the summer of 1984, he met with Djalma Correa, who recorded a series of percussion tracks around the forró rhythm.
Originally, Gabriel used the forró on an early incarnation of the song, titled "Don't Break This Rhythm". He experimented with a triangle track that Corrêa had recorded, but he was not fully satisfied with the song. He then reworked the verses, changed the song to include an English folk melody and strapped on lyrics based on Anne Sexton's work. 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.
After Gabriel incorporated Corrêa's percussion into "Mercy Street", Richard Tee overdubbed some piano. Gabriel later removed these additions as he believed that they made the arrangement "too complex". Gabriel began to work out some ideas on the Fairlight CMI at his home studio, opting to play the parts manually to achieve some of inconsistencies and inaccuracies that the instrument's Page R feature was unable to provide.
During one of the recording sessions for "Mercy Street", the Brazilian rhythm was accidentally played back ten percent slower, giving it a grainy quality. For 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.

## Critical reception

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. Writing for Rolling Stone, Tim Holmes thought that "Mercy Street" was a "wistful and melanchol[ic]" dedication to Sexton.
Eric Harvey of Pitchfork noted the song's "misty synths" and Correa's "ululating percussion" and thought that the song offered an interpretation of Sexton's poetry that "expands her narrative universe, ending with the poet peacefully sailing on the ocean with her father." PopMatters commended Gabriel's use of Sexton's material to create "something haunting and beautiful from an idea so dark and lonely."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."

## Personnel

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

## Release details and cover versions

"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). It was also reinterpreted by Gabriel on his 2011 orchestral album New Blood.
Fever Ray released this song as a single August 2010. 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.
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.