Mercy Is

Album: Noah (2014)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Patti Smith recorded this collaborative track with the American string ensemble Kronos Quartet and Clint Mansell for the soundtrack of the Darren Aronofsky movie Noah. Smith had approached the director asking if she could write the lullaby that was referenced in the script and this was the result.
  • Frequent Aronofsky collaborator Mansell, who scored the entire soundtrack, said: "My orchestrator Matt Dunkley and I arranged the music which we roughly laid out alongside Patti's demo, and then we had Kronos and Patti play together in the studio, so it was all done in quite an old school way. This process allowed Patti and Kronos to really express themselves and really find their performance."
  • Patti Smith (from NME): "Darren told me how he wanted a lullaby for Noah to sing to a child. The idea of the song is mercy as a healing wind."
  • This is sung by both Noah and his stepdaughter in the movie. Patti Smith then performs the song over the end credits. "I thought Darren (Aronofsky) would want me to deliver it more like a heavy metal ballad," said Smith. "But he wanted it to maintain its integrity as a lullaby. Even when I sang it with Kronos Quartet, I was still delivering it a little more aria-like, and he asked me if I could step back a bit with it."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Philip Cody

Philip CodySongwriter Interviews

A talented lyricist, Philip helped revive Neil Sedaka's career with the words to "Laughter In The Rain" and "Bad Blood."

Chris Tomlin

Chris TomlinSongwriter Interviews

The king of Christian worship music explains talks about writing songs for troubled times.

John Doe of X

John Doe of XSongwriter Interviews

With his X-wife Exene, John fronts the band X and writes their songs.

Lori McKenna

Lori McKennaSongwriter Interviews

Lori's songs have been recorded by Faith Hill and Sara Evans. She's performed on the CMAs and on Oprah. She also has five kids.

Bible Lyrics

Bible LyricsMusic Quiz

Rockers, rappers and pop stars have been known to quote the Bible in their songs. See if you match the artist to the biblical lyric.

Wherefore Art Thou Romeo Lyric

Wherefore Art Thou Romeo LyricMusic Quiz

In this quiz, spot the artist who put Romeo into a song lyric.