“I Slept Through The War” - Mercy Club
Mercy club rocks. I’ve seen them live and can’t recommend them enough. They cohesively play with joy; their songs include interesting stories and vocal harmonies; and the instrumentation has great intuitive songwriting feel.
Song Review: “I Slept Through the War”
Mercy Club played “I Slept Through The War,” and it’s so hook-y. I was singing it for weeks without first listening to the recorded version.
Each layer of this song draws me in. The drums, bass, and mandolin find an early groove, and keys feel like they’re just walking down the street, driving the narrator’s feelings, and layer anxious notes on top (but in a good way). And it all compliments a solid story following a hungover narrator who wants to get the fuck out of dodge after sleeping through a war after a night of drinking, "cigarette burning in [their] hand,” as the “neighborhood [burned] around [them].” The vocalists’ tone and vibrato-use are fantastic and first verse ends with a great transition line to a music break: “I was just hanging out. Someone else is goin’ have to decide who will live or die.” And on queue, the music break hits, and the keys turn from walking down the street to manifesting feelings of stressful excitement and self-pity.
The narrator then finds themself “chained to a stake in a basement” (but not in a good way) “blood was coming out of my eyes.” The narrator laments “what did I do to deserve this. Dear God, I don’t want to die!” I can’t get enough of the vocalists’ harmonies for the last three words and the picture they paint; the narrator’s conflict is filled with tense-feeling rhythms and melodies to set up a perfect ending that felt to me like the star hook of the song.
I got to get out of here.
Got to get out of here.
Got to get out of here.
Got to go, go, go-go-go.
The vocalists’ harmonies are top notch, I love the minor chords getting used, the drums speeding up, and the whole thing sounds like a harmonic masterpiece. The first time I played it for my wife in the car, I had this song turned up loud at the end, and she legitimately felt her heart rate speed up. Also, as brief note on phonetics, I like Mercy Club’s choice to forgo proper grammar and not including an extra syllable “have” before any “got” — and is the classic example of when excellent songwriting and oration does not need (nor should) utilize correct grammar. And after it ends, I can’t help but immediately hum this ending and sing it under my breath at work when I’m walking around my office. It’s infectious like the rest of the song. As surefooted and addicting as our narrator was fucked.
Overall, I think Mercy Club gives a unique folk twist with new-feeling harmonies. The vocalists’ tones are so complementary, I imagine they’ve been singing together for decades, and the surrounding instrumentation feels professional, precise, and constantly driving the songs to their next measure or vocal line. Mercy Club has a big catalog of music, and I can’t wait to listen to it all and ignore (sleep) through some serious responsibilities.
Follow and find their music here: mercyclubmusic.com