I'm a big Natalie Merchant fan. I know she's a middle-of-the-road-singing, cause-trumpeting left wingnut, but she writes great songs and has a fantastic voice. I was a little reticent to lay bare my uncool musical taste, but I recently read Nick Hornby's slighty but entertaining 31 Songs (released under the name Songbook in North America). In it, he confesses great affection for the likes of Nelly Furtado, which made me feel much better.
The title refers to a song I just listened to: Tell Yourself. A few thoughts on a few of my favourite songs:
- Tell Yourself: A gorgeous paean to the beauty myth, rich with Rickenbacher twang. One of the reasons I like her style so much is that while she sings about emotionally-charged subject matter, her recordings are relatively cool and understated. Nobody else could pull-off the line "tell yourself that you're not pretty, look at you, you're beautiful" without sounding twee. The song also features the great line "like a bargain basement Barbie doll, no belle du jour, no femme fatale". I suppose she trades in cliches with this song, but it works, and it's a fair sight better than TLC's Unpretty.
- Life is Sweet: I've seen her live twice. The most recent occasion was from the third row at the intimate Olympia Theatre. I've never seen a performer make a more direct connection with her audience. When she started the encore with "Life is Sweet", I really felt like she was singing to just me. Mind you, I'm sure everyone else felt that too, but what a remarkable achievement that is. The song's message--that "life is sweet and very short" is a pretty good message, too.
- Verdi Cries: A lament for holidays past. It's a very early song, but how can you argue with a first verse that begins: 'The man in 119 takes his tea aloneMornings we all rise to wireless Verdi criesI'm hearing opera through the door.' The song ends with a sort of summary of its subject matter: 'All is memory taken home with me: the opera, the stolen tea, the sand drawing, the verging sea, all years ago.'
- These Are Days: The first time I saw her and her former band The 10,000 Maniacs was on Saturday Night Live in 1992. She was this tiny, spinning dervish in an orange dress, belting out this joyful pop ditty.
10:56:27 AM 
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