Brett Young Says ‘Mercy’ Can Be Anyone’s Heartbreak Story

“The reason I like ‘Mercy’ so much is I didn't live that, exactly, but I've lived multiple versions of that and I think that's why people are gonna be able to relate to the song so well," Young said.

Written by Kelly Brickey
Brett Young Says ‘Mercy’ Can Be Anyone’s Heartbreak Story
Brett Young; Photo courtesy Greenroom PR

From the first heartbreaking note of “Mercy,” Brett Young knew the break-up ballad would become a relatable song for his fans to grab onto.

Sending the track to radio as his fourth single off of his self-titled debut, the singer wanted to differentiate his catchy love songs he established himself with from the painful and emotional toll of “Mercy.” Showing yet another side to his already diverse repertoire, Young experienced enough of his own heartache to channel into the moving lyric.

“The reason I like ‘Mercy’ so much is I didn’t live that, exactly, but I’ve lived multiple versions of that and I think that’s why people are gonna be able to relate to the song so well. Just like I think that’s why ‘Like I Loved You’ connected, ’cause it’s like… there are so many different variations and versions of that kind of heartbreak and break up that I think people have experienced and if you do a good enough job of telling the story but keeping it vague enough that it can be anybody’s story,” the California native explained to Sounds Like Nashville and other Nashville media recently.

The vulnerability within the desperate words through “Mercy” also tugged on the heartstrings of Young enough to make its way to his album’s tracklist, even when the final cuts had been made.

“That song made the 11th hour. We got we were gonna stop with 11 songs and then we found out iTunes needed us to have 12 and I went, ‘Well, I know which one it’s gonna be.’ It’s interesting that the first two singles off the record were happy love songs and then me and Jesse [Lee] came out with this angry breakup song [“Like I Loved You”] and now ‘Mercy’ is gonna be another one of those really dark…but I think those, like I said…there are way more stories about it not working out than happily ever after and those songs seem to connect pretty well,” said Young.

Young’s next single, “Mercy,” can be heard on country radio now.