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

Stand By Me: The Perfect Song-Movie Combination

Stand By Me: The Perfect Song-Movie CombinationSong Writing

In 1986, a Stephen King novella was made into a movie, with a classic song serving as title, soundtrack and tone.

Modern A Cappella with Peder Karlsson of The Real Group

Modern A Cappella with Peder Karlsson of The Real GroupSong Writing

The leader of the Modern A Cappella movement talks about the genre.

Jeff Trott

Jeff TrottSongwriter Interviews

Sheryl Crow's longtime songwriting partner/guitarist Jeff Trott reveals the stories behind many of the singer's hits, and what its like to be a producer for Leighton Meester and Max Gomez.

Michael Schenker

Michael SchenkerSongwriter Interviews

The Scorpions and UFO guitarist is also a very prolific songwriter - he explains how he writes with his various groups, and why he was so keen to get out of Germany and into England.

Loudon Wainwright III

Loudon Wainwright IIISongwriter Interviews

"Dead Skunk" became a stinker for Loudon when he felt pressure to make another hit - his latest songs deal with mortality, his son Rufus, and picking up poop.

Little Big Town

Little Big TownSongwriter Interviews

"When seeds that you sow grow by the wicked moon/Be sure your sins will find you out/Your past will hunt you down and turn to tell on you."