Mercy Street - Remastered

This is based on the book of poems of the same name by Anne Sexton. An American mental patient, she wrote as a form of therapy. Gabriel was impressed that she wrote entirely for herself rather than an audience. Sexton made five suicide attempts, the fifth being successful: She died of carbon monoxide poisoning in 1974.

The title came from Anne Sexton's 1969 play Mercy Street. She was also working on a poem similarly titled "45 Mercy Street" at the time of her death. Gabriel could relate to Sexton as a deep thinker with a troubling depression who searches for meaning through her art. He used the image of darkness on Mercy Street to signal her depression.

The end of this song was very intense when Gabriel performed it during live shows, where he used a high-pitched wail to simulate Sexton's death.