Songfacts®:

• "Give Me Mercy" originated with a piece of music The Cult guitarist Billy Suffy had written. As the notes echoed through the studio, singer Ian Astbury's eyes lit up, recognizing that the music perfectly captured the thoughts he'd been having about our society's need to break free from the shackles of duality.
  
  Enamored with the sound, Astbury penned lyrics that speak of the need for a new language, one that could express the complex ideas and emotions that lay beyond the reach of words.
• Give me mercy
  Love will find you
  Give me mercy
  A new language
  
  Astbury urges us to shift from the old assumptions of right and wrong, and good and evil, to a deeper understanding of the interconnectedness of all things. "The way we communicate needs to be recalibrated," Astbury told Apple Music. "'Give me mercy in a new language,' the song is saying."
  
  "You have certain events in your life that blow the doors off - a relationship breaks or there is death around you - and we're not well-equipped to deal with that in the West," Astbury continued. "We like an easy fix, a pill or something. But ultimately, you've got to sit in it and practice radical acceptance. And that takes some training, a little bit of effort. That's taken a lot of discipline over the years, and it's an ongoing process."
• The Cult recorded the song for Under The Midnight Sun with producer Tom Dalgety at Rockfield Studios. It was the last song Astbury sang for the album.
  
  "I knew that was gonna be a good one, from the moment I came up with a riff," Duffy told Mojo magazine. "The issue, musically, was to get the right nuance from the guitar, make it not '80s rock. In the end I tried to channel Mike Campbell from the Heartbreakers. I always look to guys like him who are not 'show off' guitar players, they play. But Ian kept me waiting, consciously put that one off. I was ringing Dalghety - 'Has he sang it yet? What's he got?'"
• According to Astbury, much of Under The Midnight Sun was inspired by the Finnish festival Provinssirock, where they performed in 1986. The festival, held over two or three days in the city of Seinäjoki, is known for its electrifying atmosphere and diverse musical offerings.
  
  Astbury was particularly struck by the unique experience of performing under the midnight sun, where the sun stubbornly refused to set until the early hours of the morning. The endless daylight infused the festival with a sense of boundless energy and possibility, leaving an indelible impression on Astbury's creative psyche.