I Know That Song! The One That's Essentially A Prayer

Hi we're Stacey and Mike and if you're new to our show welcome and thank you for listening! (and reading) Each day at 7:10 we play I Know That Song! It's fun to play along and see if you can guess the song by the clues we give, many facts we all learn together that day! It goes a little something like this...

Today's song was number one in 1985. The title is part of a Greek phrase which means "Lord, have mercy" and is a part of many religious rites in Eastern and Western Christianity. Put simply, the entire song is, essentially, a prayer. 

Very few people listening to Top 40 radio had any idea that they were singing "Lord Have Mercy, Down the Road that I must travel!" The religious significance was mostly lost.

The band was not a Christian band, but their front man Richard Page considered this song a prayer. "I get a lot of power from meditation, from being still and realizing that what I'm doing is insignificant compared to the universe," he said. "That's what the song is all about.

The video’s director was new to America and didn't know that you needed release forms to show anyone's face. This caused a problem when after the video was cut and distributed, he was asked for the releases from the older guys on the beach the band is seen interacting with. Fortunately, these guys were regulars at this spot, so a production assistant was able to track them down and get the signatures. Look for them on our blog, where we have linked the video

The title of the song is also the name of a NBA player for the Brooklyn Nets, so if you google the song you’re going to find a whole lot of this guys basketball shoes for sale. 

This song was written while the band was on tour with Adam Ant and there is a myth that the lead singer wrote this song while lying in a hospital bed after being assaulted. But another band member has stated that he was the one who was assaulted, three years before the song was written, and that the incident has nothing to do with the song.