Mercy (Madame Monsieur song)

"Mercy" is a song written and performed by French duo Madame Monsieur made up of Émilie Satt and Jean-Karl Lucas. The song was released as a digital download on 20 January 2018 through Low Wood and Play Two as the lead single from Madame Monsieur's second studio album Vu d'ici (2018). It represented France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal finishing 13th with a total of 173 votes.

"Mercy"
Single by Madame Monsieur
from the album Vu d'ici
Released20 January 2018
Genre
Length3:58
Label
  • Low Wood
  • Play Two
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Émilie Satt
  • Jean-Karl Lucas
Madame Monsieur singles chronology
"Tournera"
(2016)		 "Mercy"
(2018)		 "Comme une reine"
(2018)
Audio sample
  • file
  • help
Music video
"Mercy" on YouTube
Eurovision Song Contest 2018 entry
Country
Artist(s)
Language
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)
  • Émilie Satt
  • Jean-Karl Lucas
Finals performance
Final result
13th
Final points
173
Entry chronology
◄ "Requiem" (2017)   
"Roi" (2019) ►

Composition

"Mercy" was written and produced by Émilie Satt and Jean-Karl Lucas. The song is about a girl named Mercy who was born to Nigerian refugees on a boat on the Mediterranean Sea in the midst of the European migrant crisis.[1][2][3][4][5]

A Nigerian refugee woman named Taiwo Yussif went into labor while on board of the immigration rescue ship L'Aquarius operated by the humanitarian organization SOS Méditerranée. As the boat made its way to the port of Catania, in Sicily, Yussif delivered an eight-pound baby girl on March 21, 2017, and she named her Mercy. "Those people were so kind to me," she'd later say of the crew on board the ship. "I saw a lot of people dying in the sea, it was so difficult for me. I thank God to be alive with Mercy."[6] On that same day, and Madame Monsieur were in a Paris recording studio working on their debut album. "We were just chilling on Twitter and we found this picture of this baby born fifteen minutes earlier," said vocalist Émilie Satt. "It came so hard and so strong into our hearts that after a few minutes we thought maybe we should try to translate this emotion into a song."[6]

The song is a play with words using the French word "merci" meaning "thanks" but also "mercy" like the English word and first name.

Eurovision Song Contest
Main article: France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018

On 1 January 2018, Madame Monsieur were confirmed as one of the 18 participants in Destination Eurovision with the song "Mercy".[7][8][9] They advanced from the second semi-final on 20 January, after placing first with the international jury and tying for first with the Francophone jury.[10][11][12] They went on to compete in the final on 27 January, placing third with the international juries but winning a landslide share of the vote from the French public, amassing enough points to win the competition.[13]

As France is a member of the "Big Five", the song automatically advanced to the final, held on 12 May 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal.[14][15]

At the Eurovision Grand Final, they won the Press Marcel Bezençon Award, by being voted the best entry by the accredited media and press at the event. They finished 13th overall out of 43 participating countries.

Commercial performance

The single started at number 8 on top singles sales in France.[16] The next week, it peaked at number 3.[17] After the Grand Final, the song rose to number 2.[18]

Mercy. Zo heet ik / Je m'appelle Mercy

There was a follow up children's book entitled Je m'appelle Mercy (I am called Mercy). The performers Madame Monsieur had expressed their desire to publish an illustrated book telling the story of Mercy with the song lyrics. Almost simultaneously, the Dutch artist Saskia Halfmouw, inspired by the song "Mercy" had already created some illustrated artwork for the site Eurostory about the story.[19] In 2019, the book was released by the Dutch publishing house De Eenhoorn as Mercy. Zo heet ik and in June 2020 as Je m'appelle Mercy by the French publishing house Steinkis.

In addition to the lyrics, the book contains an epilogue where Émilie Satt explains the real life of Mercy and her family also revealing that she and Jean-Karl Lucas still kept in touch with the baby and her mother. The proceeds from the sale of the book will go to Mercy and her family.

Mother and daughter Mercy ended up first in a large migrant camp in Mineo, Sicilia. They stayed there for more than a year. With help of lawyers, an NGO, and the discreet support and attention of Madame Monsieur, the small family was given the official status of refugee and was transferred to a far smaller refuge, part of a small residential building in a village in the south of Sicily.[20][21]

Track listing
Digital download[22]
No.TitleLength
1."Mercy"3:58
CD single
No.TitleLength
1."Mercy"3:58
2."Mercy (Eurovision version)"3:04
3."Mercy (English version)"3:58
4."Mercy (Spanish version)"3:58
5."Mercy (French remix)"3:06
6."Mercy (English remix)"3:06

Charts
Chart (2018) Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratip Flanders)[23] 36
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[24] 10
France (SNEP)[25] 2
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[26] 90

Release history
Region Date Format Label
Worldwide 20 January 2018 Digital download
  • Low Wood
  • Play Two
gollark: You may not take any action which may result in the loss of the Constuituonon from your inventory or be blacklisted in law enforcement.
gollark: It is vital to the security of Keansia.
gollark: You may NOT intentionally destroy the constitution in ANY WAY.
gollark: No.
gollark: You can burn heretical books, right?

References
  1. Lee Adams, William (1 January 2018). "HAVE "MERCY"! MADAME MONSIEUR CONFIRMED FOR FRANCE'S DESTINATION EUROVISION". wiwibloggs.com.
  2. "RECAP - Destination Eurovision (France 2) : un ancien de The Voice et une chanson "humaniste" en finale". www.programme-television.org. 21 January 2018.
  3. Dearden, Lizzie (21 March 2017). "Woman gives birth to baby girl on refugee rescue boat as charities brace for spring surge". theindependent.co.uk. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
  4. Migrants, Info (8 January 2018). "Mercy, the migrant baby who inspired a song for the Eurovision Song Contest". infomigrants.net. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
  5. "First reaction of Madame Monsieur after winning Destination Eurovision". YouTube. 28 January 2018.
  6. William Lee Adams (26 April 2018). "Madame Monsieur's 'Mercy': How a Newborn Refugee Inspired France's Eurovision Song Entry". Billboard magazine. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
  7. Herbert, Emily (29 December 2017). "France: Malo Confirmed as First Act For Destination Eurovision". Eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  8. Adams, William Lee (30 December 2017). "DESTINATION EUROVISION: WILL JUNE THE GIRL BE FRANCE'S SINGER IN MAY?". Wiwibloggs.com. Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  9. Weaver, Jessica (7 January 2018). "France: Last 9 Destination Eurovision 2018 acts unveiled". Esctoday.com. Esctoday. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  10. Senkishev, Georgi (20 January 2018). "France: Results of the second semi-final of Destination Eurovision 2018". ESCToday.
  11. Granger, Anthony (21 January 2018). "France: Destination Eurovision Viewing Figures Fall By 400,000". eurovoix.com.
  12. Tas, Robin (21 January 2018). "Madame Monsieur wins and joins Malo' in French Destination Eurovision final". escdaily.com.
  13. Savage, William (27 January 2018). "Madame Monsieur win Destination Eurovision". EuroVisionary.com. EuroVisionary. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  14. "Lisbon revealed as Host City of the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest!". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  15. Jordan, Paul (12 January 2018). "All Aboard for the Semi-Final Allocation Draw". eurovision.tv. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  16. "Le Top de la semaine : Top Singles Téléchargés - SNEP". SNEP (in French). 2014-01-25. Retrieved 2018-02-06.
  17. "Le Top de la semaine : Top Singles Téléchargés - SNEP". SNEP (in French). 2014-01-25. Archived from the original on 2018-06-02. Retrieved 2018-02-06.
  18. "Meilleures ventes de Singles et Titres en France (Top Singles)". www.chartsinfrance.net. Retrieved 2018-05-18.
  19. Nice Matin: La chanson Mercy de Madame Monsieur adaptée en livre aux Pays-Bas (in French)
  20. William Lee Adams (7 September 2018). "Bonjour, bébé! Madame Monsieur share touching video of first meeting with Mercy and her mother Taiwo". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
  21. ESC Xtra: Madame Monsieur have finally met Mercy
  22. "Mercy - Single". iTunes. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  23. "Ultratop.be – Madame Monsieur – Mercy" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  24. "Ultratop.be – Madame Monsieur – Mercy" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  25. "Lescharts.com – Madame Monsieur – Mercy" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  26. "Sverigetopplistan – Sveriges Officiella Topplista". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
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