It Fits Together
We each have a musician or group that we feel fanatic about--some of us have more than one; the automatic buy when new music is released. For me, that's Natalie Merchant.
To get a feel for what I mean by this, listen to "It's a-Coming" off Merchant's latest, an album that she wanted to name "The Hunger Banquet", but because of a book/movie blockbuster with a similar title, called..., well, Natalie Merchant.
Her most famous work, 1995's "Tigerlily" contained the commercial hits "Carnival", "Wonder" and "Jealousy", which are still in fairly heavy rotation on many Classic Rock radio stations.
From "Wonder":
"I believe
fate smiled and destiny
laughed as she came to my cradle
"know this child will be able"
laughed as my body she lifted
"know this child will be gifted
with love, with patience
and with faith
she'll make her way"
Honestly, these words, alone, are cause for astonishment; the self-regard that evaporates upon closer inspection, for one thing. The music, too, is sweepingly majestic; the perfect fit.
To step even further back in time, is to hear Natalie when she was lead singer and wordsmith with 10,000 Maniacs. As she has said in many interviews, her composing during this period (the early 1980s to the early 1990's) is difficult to isolate from the other members of the band (all male). On the other hand, some of her first lyrics evoke her trademark effect: astonishment; plus, they are carefree, seemingly stepping on toes (for those who don't understand), and, like a first drink when thirsty, intense. From her lyrics for "Hey, Jack Keroac":
"You chose your words from mouths of
babes got lost in the wood.
Hip flask slinging madmen,
steamin' cafe flirts,
they all spoke through you."
At first, the music accentuates the second, third and fourth beats, so "...chose your words...", from then on, it pares this back to the first, second and third "Hip flask slinging...". This minimizing suggests poetry, which is what Keroac and the other Beat Poets were writing. Another 'it fits'.
And the words themselves? I'll close with a casual observation: The movie "Amadeus" appeared in late 1984; the album containing "Hey, Jack Keroac" appeared in mid 1987, and was likely written a year or so earlier. If I were a songwriter who had happened to view that movie, it might occur to me to consider my own era and whether genius had flowered as it had in Mozart's time. The title of the album containing "Hey, Jack Keroac" is, after all, "In Our Tribe".
...................................
Each band or performer is graded on four things:
1. Innovation
2. Influence in my life--as a typical American
3. Integrity: the band's approach to music (just making a buck or honing a craft?)
4. Immortality--am I, a typical American--still eager to hear their music
8/7/10/10 = 35 out of a perfect 40
1. Innovation
2. Influence in my life--as a typical American
3. Integrity: the band's approach to music (just making a buck or honing a craft?)
4. Immortality--am I, a typical American--still eager to hear their music
8/7/10/10 = 35 out of a perfect 40
...................................
Maybe: If I were sitting next to someone special, I can't imagine something more fun than attending a Natalie Merchant concert.
