Now Running from Mercy is you

Rickie Lee Jones’ Traffic from Paradise is a deeply atmospheric album, rich with layered instrumentation and poetic introspection. Among its standout moments, “Running from Mercy” emerges as a song that transcends the rest of the record. While much of the album leans into impressionistic storytelling and sonic textures, this track carries an emotional gravity that recalls the sweeping narrative ambition of Pirates.

Lyrically, “Running from Mercy” feels like a spiritual successor to Pirates, encapsulating themes of longing, redemption, and a restless search for grace. Jones, alongside Leo Kottke, crafts a song that explores the complexity of human frailty and the paradox of running from the very salvation one seeks. The lyrics oscillate between resignation and hope, evoking the transient nature of relationships, much like the tales of love, loss, and reinvention that define Pirates.

The song’s imagery—of wandering souls, unspoken prayers, and the weight of past mistakes—echoes the emotional turbulence of *Pirates’ “We Belong Together” or “Living It Up.” But where those songs unfolded in a world of cinematic drama, “Running from Mercy” is more introspective, tinged with an almost mythic quality. The arrangement, with its hypnotic blend of acoustic guitar and atmospheric production, amplifies this feeling of drifting between past and present, searching for absolution in the spaces between.

What sets this track apart from others on Traffic from Paradise is its fusion of folk storytelling with gospel-like yearning. Many songs on the album embrace an observational, almost dreamlike quality—pieces like “Pink Flamingos” and “Beat Angels” paint vivid vignettes of characters and fleeting moments. “Running from Mercy,” by contrast, feels timeless in its plea for grace, making it one of Jones’ most affecting compositions. It stands as a bridge between the poetic realism of her early work and the impressionistic style that defines much of Traffic from Paradise, proving once again that Jones is an artist unafraid to mine the depths of human experience for something raw, resonant, and profoundly moving.