Song · Duffy
“Mercy” by Duffy
From the album Rockferry (2008)
“Mercy” by Duffy appears on 15 radio countdowns from 10 stations between 2008 and 2026. It was first released in 2008 on the album Rockferry. Its best result is #2 on the WXPN Year in Review: Top 100 Songs of 2008. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #487 alternative song of 2008.
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"Mercy" was the second single from Rockferry, Duffy's 2008 debut album, following its title track, and it's the one that made the Welsh soul singer's name: her first international release, still her signature song and her best-selling single. She wrote it with Steve Booker, who produced, recorded and mixed it and played the bass, guitar and keyboard himself, leaving Duffy to carry both the lead and the backing vocals.
Critics heard Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield and the Supremes in it, and fellow Brit Amy Winehouse too. It hit number one in the UK in February 2008 and stayed there five weeks, finished the year as the country's third-best-selling single with more than 500,000 sold, topped the charts in Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland and several other countries, and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Duffy reckoned it connected because everybody wants to be set free.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 14 | 88Nine Radio Milwaukee Milwaukee, WI | 88Nine Radio Milwaukee Top 100 Songs of 2008 | 100 |
| 2008 | 20 | Lightning 100 Nashville, TN | Lightning 100 Top 100 Songs of 2008 | 100 |
| 2008 | 69 | 102.7 WEQX Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany) | WEQX Top 102.7 of 2008 | 103 |
| 2008 | 23 | 107.1 The Peak Westchester County, NY | WXPK Top 107 Songs of 2008 | 107 |
| 2008 | 2 | WXPN Philadelphia, PA | WXPN Year in Review: Top 100 Songs of 2008 | 100 |
| 2008 | 13 | 103.1 The River Kalispell-Flathead Valley, MT | 103.1 The River Top 103 of 2008 | 103 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 79 | WYEP | WYEP 913 Songs That Matter from the Last Decade | 913 |
| 2009 | 544 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Desert Island Songs (2009) | 885 |
| 2022 | 199 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 2000s | 907 |
| 2022 | 1060 | WYEP | WYEP Countdown to Fall 2022 | 603 |
| 2024 | 209 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Songs of the 21st Century | 1055 |
| 2024 | 813 | WXPN | WXPN The 885 Greatest Songs of the 21st Century (2024) | 885 |
| 2025 | 348 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 21st Century | 909 |
| 2025 | 262 | WYEP | WYEP Best Songs of the 21st Century (So Far) | 714 |
| 2026 | 830 | KXT | KXT 917 Song Countdown | 917 |
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