Songfacts®:

• This is the first single from Away From The World, the eighth studio album from Dave Matthews Band. The group performed the song for the time on TV during the April 24, 2012 episode of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. "Mercy" was released on July 16, 2012.
• Producer Steve Lillywhite lent his skills to Away From The World after contributing to the success of DMB's first three albums. Lillywhite hadn't worked with the band since a series of unreleased recordings in 2000, which led to the leaked Lillywhite Sessions.
• Away From The World is a record about all the different aspects of love. "At first, love was tied with the way the cave person next to you smelled," Matthews told Billboard magazine. "I could be in the most spiritual moment of my life and then I smell my wife going past me, and I will redirect my spirituality. It changes the shape of my jaw. But when we were putting the album in order it was very funny to go from ['Belly Belly Nice'] to 'Mercy,' which is about love of the world and merciful love."
• Dave Matthews Band made Billboard history when Away From The World landed at #1 on the Billboard 200. It meant that they became the first band to have six consecutive albums debut at the peak position on the album chart.