Mercy

Album: Illuminate (2016)
Charted: 15 15
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Shawn Mendes sings on this brooding power ballad of a girl who has grabbed his heart. However, he is unsure if his feelings are reciprocated and the uncertainty is tearing him apart.
  • I'm a puppet on your string
    And even though you got good intentions
    I need you to set me free


    Shawn wants to be free from this girl's influence over his emotions. The use of a puppet to illustrate how one can be controlled by such intense feelings has been used in pop music since the 1960s when James & Bobby Purify admitted "Darling you've got full control of your puppet" and Elvis Presley described himself as helpless as "a puppet on a string." More recently Daya sung of not wanting to "be the puppet that you're playing on a string."
  • Shawn co-wrote the song with four other songwriters.

    Teddy Geiger and Danny Parker who previously co-penned and co-produced "Stitches" for Mendes along with Daniel "Daylight" Kyriakides.

    Ilsey Juber, who other credits include Major Lazer's "Powerful."

    Robin Weisse who also co-wrote Pitbull & Ne-Yo's "Time Of Our Lives."
  • The video was directed by Jay Martin ("Stitches") and filmed in Toronto. It shows Shawn struggling to escape a sinking car.

Comments: 1

  • Siahara Shyne Carter from United StatesIf you don't have Any feeling and your just using the person for your own ITS BETTER TO LEAVE Than faking a love with someone and
    Playing someone’s feelings is "Not Cool" Thats why I don't any boyfriend since birth heheh,,,,,,, Many wants to be with me but I NEVER GIVE IN lmao besides They are NOT MY TYPE :-D

    Let's just be friends.

    The right person will come in right time No need to hurry!
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Director Mark Pellington ("Jeremy," "Best Of You")

Director Mark Pellington ("Jeremy," "Best Of You")Song Writing

Director Mark Pellington on Pearl Jam's "Jeremy," and music videos he made for U2, Jon Bon Jovi and Imagine Dragons.

Why Does Everybody Hate Nu-Metal? Your Metal Questions Answered

Why Does Everybody Hate Nu-Metal? Your Metal Questions AnsweredSong Writing

10 Questions for the author of Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces

Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake & PalmerSongwriter Interviews

Greg talks about writing songs of "universal truth" for King Crimson and ELP, and tells us about his most memorable stage moment (it involves fireworks).

Paul Williams

Paul WilliamsSongwriter Interviews

He's a singer and an actor, but as a songwriter Paul helped make Kermit a cultured frog, turned a bank commercial into a huge hit and made love both "exciting and new" and "soft as an easy chair."

Harry Wayne Casey of KC and The Sunshine Band

Harry Wayne Casey of KC and The Sunshine BandSongwriter Interviews

Harry Wayne Casey tells the stories behind KC and The Sunshine Band hits like "Get Down Tonight," "That's The Way (I Like It)," and "Give It Up."

Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, Heaven And Hell

Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, Heaven And HellSongwriter Interviews

Guitarist Tony Iommi on the "Iron Man" riff, the definitive Black Sabbath song, and how Ozzy and Dio compared as songwriters.