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"We always encourage people interested in covering our songs, as long as they're not completely crap." -- Edge |
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"We always encourage people interested in covering our songs, as long as they're not completely crap." -- Edge |
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Like a Song: Mercy
@U2,
December 22, 2007
[Ed. note: This is the twelfth in a series of personal essays by the @U2 staff about songs and/or albums that have had great meaning or impact in our lives.]
 I have to confess, I love the month of December. December is a month full of opportunities to revisit how the year has gone, how relationships have either faded or grown closer, and how you have somehow managed to survive yet another year on this planet. December is also one of the holy months of the year for many around the world who celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or their respective spiritual observance.It's easy to get caught up in the cyclone of gift buying, family get-togethers, television specials starring The Grinch or Santa Claus, and figuring out how to hide the presents from each other in the house until the time is right to open them. Granted, these are all expected things to do during this season, but I grew up knowing that "Jesus was the reason for the season." I grew up in the Catholic church where you'd only see most of the congregation at the annual Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, finishing up a couple hours later very early on Christmas morning. The organ music, the solemn procession of everyone involved, and the songs in Latin were all elements of the ceremony to celebrate the birth of who we believe to be the son of God, Jesus Christ. Fast-forward a few decades, and I'm now attending a Baptist church with my family, and while the church services are slightly different, the celebration is still the same. In my faith, without Jesus, there is no bridge between us and God because of sin. Jesus saved us through his sacrifice on the cross 33 years after his birth, and because of that he has given us the gift of forgiveness from sin and a relationship with God. Faith isn't an easy thing for me to talk about, nor is it something that comes up naturally in conversation where I live. Bono seems to speak of it quite easily in song, and through U2's music, I've been able to open up a bit more about what I believe and share it with others. One song in particular has helped me down that path is "Mercy." "Mercy" is an unreleased track from the How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb sessions, and as it stands now, is only available to those who were fortunate enough to have been a part of the viral network of fans online. Bono is still confused as to how the song leaked, but once it did it spread like wildfire. Bono mentioned in May 2007 that the song will appear on the next U2 album. It should be noted that "Mercy" received the most votes by @U2 readers for the band Zoo Station to perform at the @U2 10th Anniversary Bash in Portland, Oregon in 2005. The song starts off with a nod to receiving communion, "I was drinking some wine and it turned to blood." In the Catholic faith, you are not allowed to receive communion unless you have gone through the act of confession. I was taught that you had to be pure before God in order to receive the holy sacrament of the host and the wine, which represented the body and blood of Jesus Christ as described in the Last Supper prior to Christ's crucifixion. To me, it's as if Bono has opened the song as a confession of sorts as communion would not have been available otherwise. However, in true Bono fashion, the next line says "what's the use of religion if you're any good," as if to throw the idea out there of doubt about needing a higher being if you're a good person. Throughout the first and second verses, he's having a conversation between himself and "you," which could represent anyone. He is speaking in the first verse, and it seems like the second verse is "you" speaking. The chorus and the bridge in the song repairs the relationship between the two, with the last verse celebrating a healing, a re-birth if you will. As fans know, Bono's a clever songwriter as he's able to weave political, spiritual, and relational themes into any song. I see his song writing in "Mercy" to be a forerunner for the song "Window in the Skies," where I believe his reference to "Love" is that of God. The Bible says in 1 John 4:8 "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." (New International Version) Every December, I like to take some quiet time and have a similar conversation with the God I believe in, giving thanks for everything He has given to me and my family because I do not deserve it. I go through a similar conversation and confession as Bono does in "Mercy" giving all of the ways I'm not worthy of the blessings God has poured out because as it says in "Mercy," "You wanted violins and you got Nero." I love that line because in Roman history, Nero played the violin as Rome burned, and I can relate to that with relationships and situations in my life. As I've come to learn over the years, not only does God love me, He shows me a little thing called mercy. Mercy is when you receive compassion when you don't deserve it. Thinking about all of the sermons I've heard in church, there is no way I could receive compassion from God had it not been for the sacrifice of His son, and if there is an event I should be celebrating with every ounce of my body and soul, it needs to be that of Jesus' birth. I guess the pastors and priests were right..."Jesus is the reason for the season." So, this December, I'll still go ahead with all of the baking, television specials, photos with Santa Claus, and the other pop culture things that are fringe benefits of the season, but I'll add "Mercy" to my Christmas music play list on the iPod. To me, it's Bono's most personal song where we eavesdrop on a private confession in the hopes it will turn a life around for eternity. I can confess, it did for me. © Lawrence/@U2, 2007.
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