"Mercy" is a song written by Brett Young and Sean McConnell, and recorded by Young for his eponymous debut studio album (2017). It was released to country radio February 20, 2018 as the album's fourth and final single. The song has peaked at numbers two and one on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

and

Country Airplay Country Airplay is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States since January 20, 1990. This chart lists the 60 most-listened-to records played on 150 mainstream country radio stations across the country as monitored ...

charts, respectively. In Canada, the song reached number eight on the Canada Country airplay chart. An accompanying music video was directed by Seth Kupersmith and co-stars Tiffany Brouwer. "Mercy" has been certified triple Platinum by the RIAA, and has sold 489,000 copies in the United States as of April 2019.

Critical reception

Sterling Whitaker of '' Taste of Country'' wrote that Young is "at his vulnerable best" on "Mercy" and described the song's production as a "model of restraint." In a review of ''Brett Young'', Matt Bjorke of ''Roughstock'' wrote that every song on the album "showcase Brett Young as a potential superstar and perhaps no song does that better than the Adele-like "Mercy."

Chart performance

"Mercy" debuted at number 49 on the

chart dated July 15, 2017 as an album track. Following its release as a single, the song re-entered at the same position on the chart dated February 17, 2018. It has since reached a peak position of 10. "Mercy" debuted at number 56 on the

chart dated February 17, 2018, and has peaked at number 1 for two weeks. In May 2018, "Mercy" entered the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

at number 97. In Canada, "Mercy" has reached a peak position of 27 on the Canada Country chart. On March 25, 2019, the single was certified double platinum by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA) for combined sales and streaming data of over two million units in the United States. The single has sold 498,000 copies in the United States as of April 2019.

Music video

An accompanying music video for "Mercy" was directed by Seth Kupersmith and was filmed over two days in Encino, Los Angeles and at the

White Sands National Monument White Sands National Park is an American national park located in the state of New Mexico and completely surrounded by the White Sands Missile Range. The park covers in the Tularosa Basin, including the southern 41% of a field of white sand d ...

in New Mexico. Tiffany Brouwer plays Young's estranged love interest in the video. The video premiered March 9, 2018 through Apple Music and became widely available on March 12. Alternating between shots of the couple in love and walking alone in a desert, the video was intended to be "dream-like."

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2017 songs 2018 singles Brett Young (singer) songs Big Machine Records singles Songs written by Sean McConnell Songs written by Brett Young (singer) Song recordings produced by Dann Huff Country ballads