Natalie Merchant Quotations

Natalie Merchant American singer, song-writer, musician and poet who first gained fame in the group 10,000 Maniacs which she co-founded in 1981.

Sourced

There is one tradition in America I am proud to inherit. It is our first freedom and the truest expression of our Americanism: the ability to dissent without fear. It is our right to utter the words, "I disagree." We must feel at liberty to speak those words to our neighbors, our clergy, our educators, our news media, our lawmakers and, above all, to the one among us we elect President.
- The Nation (15 July 1991)

I grew up as a TV baby, with my TV babysitter, up until I was about 10. Then my mother just ripped the thing out of the wall and put it in a closet, and we didn't watch it. I have that sort of ability to become addicted to it. And I'm just so fascinated by it once I turn it on, I'm not even that aware what's there. I'm just watching it. So I don't ever turn it on. I get my news from the newspaper. I don't want to watch the Hollywood news product on TV... There's no other piece of furniture in my home I'd stare at for three hours at a time, so I try not to do it to the TV.
- Orlando Sentinel (6 November 1992)

My drug period was between the age of 17 and 18. That was a time when I was experimenting with a lot of things, I was experimenting with sleep deprivation, fasting. The longest fast I ever did was 12 days. You go that long without food and you hallucinate. I would take this powder made out of guarana seed, my friend Mary would bake it up like cocoa in muffins and leave them on my doorstep. My drinking period was when I was 13, 14. Drugs fascinated me for a short period of time but not any more. A glass of wine puts me in a weird enough state.
- NME (1 July 1995)

The Wishing Chair (1985)

if I could calm or restrain you
for the sake of pity
save the pistol
save the cynic's tongue
save the cool white stare
treat me to an honest face sometime
- "Scorpio Rising"

What's The Matter Here?

I'm tired of the excuses everybody uses
he's their kid I stay out of it,
but who gave you the right to do this?

threats like, "if you don't mind I will beat on your behind"
"slap you, slap you silly" made me say,
"o, what's the matter here?"

City of Angels

heaven, is this heaven where we are?

see them walking, if you dare
if you call that walking
stumble, stagger, fall and drag themselves
along the streets of heaven

where is the halo
that should glow 'round your face
and where are the wings that
should grow from your shoulder blades?

these sobering sights I've seen
in the City of Angels
have all been one rude awakening
that was due to me
in this city of fallen angels

Like The Weather

the color of the sky as far as I can see is coal gray
lift my head from the pillow and then fall again
with a shiver in my bones just thinking about the weather
a quiver in my lips as if I might cry

what a cold and rainy day
where on earth is the sun hid away?

Don't Talk

don't talk, I will listen
don't talk, you keep your distance
I'd rather hear some truth tonight
than entertain your lies

talk, talk, talk about it
you talk as if you care
but when your talk is over
tilt that bottle in the air
tossing back more than your share

Hey Jack Kerouac

hey Jack Kerouac
I think of your mother
and the tears she cried, she cried for none other
than her little boy lost in our little world that hated
and that dared to drag him down
her little boy courageous
who chose his words from mouths of
babes got lost in the wood
hip flask slinging madman, steaming cafe flirts
they all spoke through you

hey Jack
now for the tricky part
when you were the brightest star
who were the shadows?
of the San Francisco beat boys
you were the favorite
now they sit and rattle their bones
and think of their blood stoned days

Blind Man's Zoo (1989)

Trouble Me

trouble me
disturb me with all your cares and you worries
trouble me
on the days when you feel spent

speak to me
don't mislead me, the calm I feel means a storm is swelling
there's no telling where it starts or how it ends

let me
have a look inside these eyes while I'm learning
please don't hide them just because of tears

These Are Days

these are days you'll remember

you'll know it's true, that you are blessed and lucky
it's true, that you are touched by something
that will grow and bloom in you

these days you might feel a shaft of light
make its way across your face
and when you do
you'll know how it was meant to be
see the signs and know their meaning

Carnival

I've walked these streets
in the mad house asylum
they can be
where a wild eyed misfit prophet
on a traffic island stopped
and he raved of saving me

have I been blind
have I been lost
inside myself and
my own mind
hypnotized
mesmerized
by what my eyes have seen?

Wonder

doctors have come from distant cities
just to see me
stand over my bed
disbelieving what they're seeing
they say I must be one of the wonders
of god's own creation
and as far as they can see they can offer
no explanation

newspapers ask intimate questions
want confessions
they reach into my head
to steal the glory of my story

people see me
I'm a challenge to your balance
I'm over your heads
how I confound you and astound you

o, I believe
fate smiled and destiny
laughed as she came to my cradle
know this child will be able
laughed as she came to my mother
know this child will not suffer
laughed as my body she lifted
know this child will be gifted
with love, with patience and with faith
she'll make her way

Ophelia

Ophelia was a bride of god
a novice Carmelite
in sister cells the cloister bells
tolled on her wedding night

Ophelia was a circus queen
the female cannonball
projected through five flaming hoops
to wild and shocked applause...

Ophelia was a cyclone, tempest
a god damned hurricane
your common sense
your best defense
lay wasted and in vain

Ophelia's mind went wandering
you'd wonder where she'd gone
through secret doors
down corridors
she'd wander them alone

Break Your Heart

people struggle, people fight
for the simple pleasures in their lives
but trouble comes from everywhere
it's a little more than you can bear

I know that it will hurt
I know that it will break your heart
the way things are
and the way they've been
and the way they've always been

people ruthless, people cruel
see the damage that some people do
full of hatred, full of pride
it's enough to make you lose your mind

don't spread the discontent
don't spread the lies
don't make the same mistakes
with your own life

My Skin

take a look at my body
look at my hands
there's so much here
that I don't understand

your face saving promises
whispered like prayers
I don't need them

contempt loves the silence
it thrives in the dark
with fine winding tendrils
that strangle the heart
they say that promises
sweeten the blow
but I don't need them
no, I don't need them

o, I need
the darkness
the sweetness
the sadness
the weakness
I need this

I need
a lullaby
a kiss goodnight
angel sweet
love of my life
o, I need this

Kind & Generous

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
and for everything you've done
you know I'm bound...
I'm bound to thank you for it

I want to thank you
for so many gifts
you gave with love and tenderness
I want to thank you
I want to thank you
for your generosity
the love and the honesty
that you gave me

Life Is Sweet

they told you life is hard
it's misery from the start
it's dull and slow and painful
I tell you life is sweet
in spite of the misery
there's so much more
be grateful

who do you believe?
who will you listen to
who will it be?
it's high time that you decide
in your own mind

Motherland

where in hell can you go
far from the things that you know
far from the sprawl of concrete
that keeps crawling its way
about 1,000 miles a day?

take one last look behind
commit this to memory and mind
don't miss this wasteland, this terrible place
when you leave
keep your heart off your sleeve

motherland cradle me
close my eyes
lullaby me to sleep
keep me safe
lie with me
stay beside me
don't go, don't you go

The Worst Thing

once I could love, I could trust, I could not doubt
but that was just about the worst thing that I could do
it was just about the worst thing that I could do

once I was open, could hope, I had no doubt
but that was the worst thing that I could do

once I came close to that most elusive fire
burning with hopeless love and desire
but it was just about the worst thing that I could do
it was just about the worst thing I could do

Henry Darger

who'll save the poor little girl?
oh, Henry...
who'll tell the story of her?
Henry Darger

who will draw the calvary in
risk his very own precious skin
to make our Angelinia a free and peaceful land again?
Henry
who'll love a poor orphan child?
Henry Darger

Quotes from NatalieMerchant.com

It’s pretty obvious to everyone that the revolution has happened. The People can now easily cut out a hoard of middlemen (record companies, radio stations, music press and retail shops). With a series of computer strokes they can find the music they want to hear, become informed about the musicians who make it, find other people who share their interest and ultimately either buy, trade or steal that coveted sound.

After spending nearly 20 years contracted to a major label, I have mixed feelings about their demise. These companies have profited immensely from your insatiable desire for listening and helped musicians for several decades to reach you. They grew fat and excessive. They exploited and they monopolized. They edited and censured. They’ve been rapidly loosing their means of production, distribution and promotion to the internet. They have been economizing by dropping artists, cutting staff and folding into one another but they can’t keep up with the pace of disintegration. You might not have ever heard my name if Elektra Records hadn’t made me one of their artists for hire. I’m both grateful and resentful and you probably are too.

I don’t listen to anything on the radio but NPR and occasional oldies programs. I can’t comment on the content or format of most commercial radio but I have read the statistics about the step-by-step deregulation of FCC rules that has allowed monopolies like Clear Channel to buy up massive shares of the airwaves. This has damaged our business (music) and our culture (American). The internet is offering bold alternatives but a transistor radio is only $25.00 and not everyone is hooked up through a computer and high speed connection.

I don’t want to overdo discussing my experience of motherhood, its too private and profound to parade around. I will say that carrying a child, giving birth to a child and raising that child up has made me feel more engaged and connected to others. I have a greater understanding of people (living past & present). We all begin so pure, so innocent and so hungry for physical and emotional comfort. It’s so important that every baby be generously cherished, fed and comforted. I can see now how withholding these essentials can do irreparable damage. Now (post-baby) when I encounter a sad or aggressive character, I wonder what the first three years of his or her life were like. Imaging them alone, crying in their cribs has given me much more compassion.

For the time being I am enjoying my chance to enjoy civilian life off the road. If I combined all the months that I have lived out of a van or tour bus it would amount to twelve solid years. That would be twelve years of driving or flying an average of 100 to 400 miles per day and sleeping in a different city every night. It was a very unique lifestyle that I adapted to and even enjoyed with it’s surreal pace. It’s also a lifestyle that can take a toll on the body and relationships with the people that you are constantly leaving behind.

I think many people have been made curious about Henry Darger because of the song on my album Motherland. Henry Darger (1892-1973) was the author and illustrator of what could possibly be the longest unfinished fictional work of all time. His towering hand-bound manuscript of 17,000 pages was found in this obscure retired hospital janitor’s apartment after his death. Henry worked in obsessed isolation for six decades on his saga entitled, The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion.

I saw my first Henry Darger collage/paintings in the early 1980’s when the tale of Henry’s life was just emerging through rumor and scattered fragments of his book. He lived and died a recluse in Chicago where no one knew of his writings or paintings. There was a folk art gallery in New Orleans that had acquired a small pile of Realms of the Unreal illustrations. I was on tour with REM at the time, Michael Stipe and I visited the gallery where we had a first look at these images of seven little horrified girls pursued by a purple and orange winged cats or evil professors on horseback or resting peacefully under giant sunflowers. I was completely captivated and intrigued.

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