How Mercy Looks From Here

Album: How Mercy Looks From Here (2013)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song finds Amy singing of God's mercy being there through the storms of life. "It's not about arriving at the destination, it is the journey," Grant told The Boot. "Vince [Gill] and I will sometimes be in the mood to reminisce and he'll say, 'It's funny when you look back on the really ritzy times in the journey of a music career. Some of the strongest memories are packing up the van and driving all night to the next gig. It's not the Prevost [bus] with the hired driver and everyone having their own bunk. It's really the times that you're hoping will end quickly that make you [realize] the grind is what made the rest of it really special."
  • The song is the title track of Amy Grant's 23rd album, which was produced by Marshall Altman (Natasha Bedingfield, Matt Nathanson), The record was propelled by a new energy the singer found after her mom died in 2011. "I never stopped being creative, but I didn't have the drive to get in the studio and work in a focused way, and that had a lot to do with my parents' health," Grant told Billboard magazine. "After Mom died, after that first wave of debilitating grief, I found an incredible amount of energy. That energy was the driving force for this record."
  • In our interview with Amy Grant, she compared the way that she and Marshall Altman made the record with her making a pot of homemade soup. "I love to cook," she explained, "and what I love most is what I call living off the land, and that's digging in the refrigerator, digging in the freezer, looking in the pantry, and going, 'Oh, yeah, I forgot about that,' and just throwing, throwing, throwing and seasoning. And it wasn't until the last couple of months of a long year of work that was enjoyable every single day that Marshall and I looked at each other and said, 'This is coming together in a way that's very special.' And it is a lot deeper in some ways than he and I realized. But it felt so joyful to us in a clumsy way.

    "In the same way," Amy continued, "that when you go to the funeral of someone who has lived a very full life and you hear people talk about it. I don't know about you, but I come out of a funeral like that breathing more deeply, going, Life is such a gift, and I feel re-energized to live my life more fully."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Chris Fehn of Slipknot

Chris Fehn of SlipknotSongwriter Interviews

A drummer for one of the most successful metal bands of the last decade, Chris talks about what it's like writing and performing with Slipknot. Metal-neck is a factor.

Todd Rundgren

Todd RundgrenSongwriter Interviews

Todd Rundgren explains why he avoids "Hello It's Me," and what it was like producing Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell album.

Steve Cropper (Booker T & the MG's, Blues Brothers)

Steve Cropper (Booker T & the MG's, Blues Brothers)Songwriter Interviews

Steve Cropper on the making of "In the Midnight Hour," the chicken-wire scene in The Blues Brothers, and his 2021 album, Fire It Up.

Corey Hart

Corey HartSongwriter Interviews

The Canadian superstar talks about his sudden rise to fame, and tells the stories behind his hits "Sunglasses At Night," "Boy In The Box" and "Never Surrender."

Have Mercy! It's Wolfman Jack

Have Mercy! It's Wolfman JackSong Writing

The story of the legendary lupine DJ through the songs he inspired.

Producer Ron Nevison

Producer Ron NevisonSong Writing

Ron Nevison explains in very clear terms the Quadrophenia concept and how Heart staged their resurgence after being dropped by their record company.