#Natalie Merchant

[clover-blossom]

"I want you to remember me that way"

-Natalie Merchant (Frozen Charlotte)

[teathattast]

You've been so kind and generous

I don't know how you keep on giving

For your kindness, I'm in debt to you

For your selflessness, my admiration

For everything you've done, you know I'm bound

I'm bound to thank you for it

[thekylemeredith]

Tonight, I'll be hanging with my birthday twin, who just starred in #BeetlejuiceBeetlejuice, the great #MonicaBellucci!

Natalie Merchant will also drop in, I'll dig into the archive for an interview with DJ Shadow, & we'll Meet The #Flintstones for TV In The Radio

6p ET on 91.9 WFPK

[rolloroberson]

Natalie Merchant

[slackville-records]

Natalie Merchant - Giving Up Everything

"Giving Up Everything"

Giving up everything,

my hungry ghost of hopefulness.

Giving up everything,

not haunted by wanting this.

Giving up everything,

the fortune I was saving.

Giving up everything,

I mercy-killed my craving.

Giving up everything,

I’ve opened up my eyes for this.

Giving up everything,

see the whole magnificent emptiness.

Gave what I want for how it is,

for the stone inside and the bitterness,

for the sweetness at the core of it.

Giving up everything,

the master plan, the scheming.

Giving up everything,

my cursed search for meaning.

Giving up everything,

the compass and the map I was reading.

The hinterlands I’m leaving,

I’m finally leaving behind.

Giving up everything,

the big to-do, the hullabaloo,

the tug-of-war for some twisted truth.

For the everlasting ache of it,

no longer slave, not chained to it,

no gate, no guard, no keeper,

no guru, master, teacher.

See the slow-receding faces

dissolve to black, no traces.

[sowhatifiliveinfukuoka]

Natalie Merchant

Carnival (1995)

[doyourememberrocknrollradio]

10,000 Maniacs - These Are Days

[davidhudson]

Happy 60th, Natalie Merchant.

[musicwithoutborders]

Natalie Merchant, My Skin I Ophelia, 1998

[quitecontraryy]

Natalie Merchant photographed by Rick McGinnis, Toronto, 1998.

[reelaroundthedavekan]

Union Song

Which Side Are You On? - Natalie Merchant

Come all you good workers Good news to you I'll tell Of how the good old union Has come in here to dwell

Which side are you on boys? Which side are you on?

My daddy was a miner He's now in the air and sun He'll be with you fellow workers Until the battle's won

Which side are you on boys? Which side are you on?

They say in Harlan County There are no neutrals there You'll either be a union man Or a thug for J. H. Claire

Which side are you on boys? Which side are you on?

Oh workers can you stand it? Oh tell me how you can Will you be a lousy scab Or will you be a man?

Which side are you on boys? Which side are you on?

Don't scab for the bosses Don't listen to their lies Poor folks ain't got a chance Unless they organise

Which side are you on boys? Which side are you on? Which side are you on boys? Which side are you on? Which side? Which side are you on boys? Which side are you on? Which side are you on boys? Which side? Which side? Which side are you on boys? Which side are you on? Which side are you on boys? Which side? Which side? Which side are you on boys? Which side are you on? Which side are you on boys? Which side? Which side? Which side are you on boys? Which side are you on? Which side are you on boys? Which side Are you on?

[teathattast]

Got her tangled in his arms

She's a lusting, trusting fool

"No man born can rule me

That I've sworn

But stranger if you do

I'll belong to you"

[thesobsister]

Natalie Merchant, Michael Stipe, "To Sir with Love," "Candy Everybody Wants"

It's the briefest of episodes in American history, and at its start, Natalie Merchant twirls joyous and radiant in the perfect dress.

Shot at the MTV Inaugural Ball in January 1993, she and Michael Stipe, both at the apex of their trajectories, the cool king and queen of the prom, sing and dance like champagne was in their veins, making even the acerbic "Candy" sound like an effervescent love song.

It was in the air. I was in D.C. at that time, and the city could not have been more ebullient. The election of Bill Clinton brought 12 ruinous years of Reagan-Bush to an end, and everyone was so very happy for the future. Two young couples—the first Boomers, before that became a slam, to occupy the highest positions in the nation—who brought fresh air into government and the country. The "America's Reunion on the Mall" pre-inaugural concerts had tents featuring all kinds of music. The biggest names in music came to D.C. to celebrate Clinton's victory. Michael Jackson performed. Fleetwood Mac reunited just to sing "Don't Stop," the Clinton-Gore campaign song.

We were all so optimistic.

Then, two years later, the "Republican Revolution" in the midterm elections flipped the House to the GOP—and, really, the worst elements of the GOP, as moderate Republicans ran to the exits soon thereafter—and ensured that Clinton would face the no-compromise politics that would come to mark GOP intransigence for the next 30 years and counting. And then Clinton shot himself in both feet by preying on Monica Lewinsky and lying about it with the most weaselworded legalistic doublespeak I'd ever heard a president utter.

And that was that.

Galvanized "values voters" turned out en masse for Dubya in '00 and made what should've been a slam dunk for Al Gore the tight race that was finally called in Bush v. Gore, setting up everything that ensued from January 2001 forward in the de facto Cheney administration.

So, watch the video above as that evanescent soap-bubble moment when Hope, Clinton's hometown in Arkansas, was very much an apt name for the mood in this country.

[rolloroberson]

Natalie Merchant

[sowhatifiliveinfukuoka]

Natalie Merchant (10,000 Maniacs) (1989)

© Jon Ragel