Natalie Merchant

Her music sucked.

I can't stand her voice or her face.

One of the most irritating performers to ever pop up during the 1980s.

I was friends with her ex. He was incredibly sweet. He basically wouldn’t talk about her; clammed up every time someone mentioned her name. Not sure what that means exactly.

R3 Probably had a non-disclosure agreement when they split.

R3 Ex-husband? Or Peter Yanowitz, her boyfriend in the 90s.

The latter, r5.

R6 He tried to sue her for frivolous reasons. She's completely innocent.

I heard she's a nasty, mean person. Wasn't that on a thread around here a while ago?

R8 Hmmmm.

She sings like she has lockjaw.

I enjoy her music solo and eith the 10,000 Maniacs . I've met her a couple times and she was absolutely lovely.

Cannot abide her voice and her talk/singing. Period.

Yes R8, I think there was a thread on her here a while back where people were saying she was a mean cunt.

She and Janeane looked alike.

How cunty could she really have been? Cuntier than the average DLer?

Her music is bland as hell, but I always liked those three big singles from her Tigerlily album. But I only liked the re-recorded “single version” of ‘Jealousy’—the vocal phrasing has a much snappier rhythm to it than the album version.

I haven’t paid attention to anything she’s done since then. Has she done anything?

The previous threads are full of comments claiming she's a horrid person but like no actual examples. In fact there were quite a few examples of her being quite kind. However if you find the interview she did with Jon Stewart when she went solo you might believe negative things about her.

Where is the old thread?

I've actually always loved her voice. In the 90's I saw her in concert every time she came to my city.

A friend of mine saw her when she was still with the Maniacs (as did I) but my friend saw her come out onto the stage wearing a puppet head made of paper mache. This was during the Blind Man's Zoo album tour and Happy Puppet was one of the songs. I guess the audience was singing along and just cheering/clapping along like a normal audience and Natalie suddenly stopped the song and chastised the audience for doing so. So I think she's a mixed bag. I've heard some other stories of her being a bitch, but I did meet her once after a show and she was sweet and a bit shy.

R17 I googled it last night because strangely I was wondering if datalounge had any gossip.

I’m listening to the three singles from Tigerlily now. Wow, they’re great. Some gnarly electric guitar on them—don’t know who’s playing it. But between her voice and that guitar, these could easily be Pearl Jam songs. Truly.

On “Wonder,” she sings ‘steal the glory, of my story’ and on the word ‘story’, the pauses and rolls the R sound. I like her voice generally, but it’s like, bitch you’re from Jamestown, NY! Why you gotta roll that R!?

I love that Like the Weather song.

And “the scarlet welcome carpet” in ‘Carnival’ becomes a “velcome” carpet. Seriously!

This.

At least we know she's an anti-Trumper, unlike those two nineties bitches Meredith Brooks and Shania Twain.

She’s kind of an icon but I’m sure she’s insufferable in person. I saw her live with the Maniacs back in the 80s and she threw a shit fit on stage due to some people smoking in the audience. But then I saw her live about 4 years ago and she fucking tore up the stage and was amazing. Go figure.

I mean, come on, how can anyone not love this girl? She’s so cute and dorky, and such a good, smart songwriter.

The last verse of this song makes me think of Alanis Morrisette’s song “You Oughta Know”, which contains the line “and are ya thinkin’ of me when you fuck her?”, which is totally crass and awful. Natalie, being a classy woman, says “Tell me, while she’s touching you— just by mistake... accidentally... do you say my name?”

She’s not an icon, however. Not everyone and everything is an “icon”. Please, can we stop misusing that word? I’m glad she occasionally yelled at audiences, however. Audiences SHOULD be scolded, regularly. Especially for rhythmic clapping. Fucking dorks.

I'm a total groupie. I never miss a tour of hers.

Alan Ginsburg responded to her reference to him in Hey Jack Kerouac. He appearantly didn't care for the lyric and sent her a drawing of a jizzing cock with some snide remark that I cant recall. They became friends though and she sang at his funeral a song she wrote in tribute. Also her exes are fucking hot.

That’s a beautiful story, R28, both the jizzing dong and the funeral song.

Has she done anything? Well besides thinking quite highly of herself...

She spends a lot of time teaching music to inner city and other disadvantaged school kids.

I like her & think she's talented. I can believe she's insufferable and would tell audience members to shut up and stop talking.

Anyway, here she is on PBS's Tiny Desk. Voice has held up. Around the 7-minute mark, she sings "Texas." Wow, never heard that song until this Tiny Desk. Almost gave me the chills.

stop smoking, I meant.

Love her music, always have. Tigerlily was a big part of my college years. That album was HUGE with my age group.

I stole my copy of Tigerlily from the library.

I hope you don't steal from the library anymore.

I never bought any of her records, but I don't usually change the channel when she comes on SiriusXM.

I preferred the Natalie Merchant Marines.

She was a typically precocious artsy fartsy girl from downtown nowhere upstate NY. Pretentions of grandeur, the GOOP of her day.

Generally pleasant in her youth but something happened when she and Michael Stipe became friends that brought out the worst in both. They were "mean girls" together and supposedly even had a fling, despite Michael generally being all about the cock.

And yes, speaking of cock, Natalie somehow pulled some serious primo cock, especially in her Maniacs days.

Sadly she learned too late that instead of an albatross, her collaborators in the Maniacs were the ones who helped make her ideas better. Without a filter, she just became an insufferable nagging cunt in lyrics and a boring drone in song.

[quote] I can believe she's insufferable and would tell audience members to shut up and stop talking.

It's not fun to experience that. Stephin Merritt does the same, and it was an unpleasant concert - no one wants to be at a concert where it's super clear the person really doesn't want to be there!

I liked her music but I never liked her voice. It was always just slightly off key and under pitch.

She does definitely sound like she has “lockjaw”. I like that.

[quote]I saw her live with the Maniacs back in the 80s and she threw a shit fit on stage due to some people smoking in the audience.

A friend knew her in New York and said the same thing — even if someone was smoking down the street, Natalie would get upset. Also that she was one of those passive-aggressive high-maintenance girls, the type who would whine it was "too cold" even when it was 85 degrees. Took herself very seriously.

She is a true artiste and deserves to have her every whim catered to! I really believe that.

Supposedly the first time Michael Stipe met her, he locked himself in a bathroom and climbed out a window to escape.

Isn't Michael Stipe a homo? Why was she dating him?

R46 dunno, but I remember hearing about that and she confirms it here

That article says it all - Natalie was the arty girl who fell for him and wanted to have his baby, and Michael was.....well, not interested.

R43 Smoking can screw up someone's voice when they're singing. Roger Daltrey has berated smoking audience members before.

Natalie Merchant got "serious primo cock"? You must be kidding.

She's not attractive facially and she dresses like a 1950s librarian. Shocked to hear she's of Italian descent, Italians are usually attractive. Her grandfather's last name was originally Mercante, which is actually a Sicilian last name.

If you think Stipe is "serious primo cock", then, don't bother to list her lovers! lol

R50 I think she's attractive, and her mother was French/German. Sicilians have a different look than regular Italians.

R50. I would have definitely fucked Stipe in the 80’s. And definitely not in the 90’s.

She needs a black wig.

That Maniacs' song "What's the Matter Here?" — where Natalie agonizes over hearing a boy's parents beat the shit out of him — always annoyed me. Call the cops, Natalie! Jesus, what's wrong with you?

Same with Suzanne Vega and Luka on the seventh floor.

R54 calling the cops wont do shit. The parents will deny it and so will the kids out of fear.

When you grow up in an abusive household you become an excellent liar.

R55 I believe that's a discarded lyric.

R54 But you leave Pat Benatar totally off the hook?

[quote]At least we know she's an anti-Trumper, unlike those two nineties bitches Meredith Brooks and Shania Twain.

Brooks is a Trumper??? Wow, she really is a “bitch.”

Natalie Merchant pings now (as a lesbian).

Natalie is such a lovely dork, she did a concert for librarians at their national conference a few years ago.

Froggy throat voice

[quote] Natalie Merchant got "serious primo cock"? You must be kidding.

Stipe aside, she had a lot of primo cock back in the day.

I thought she was really pretty in her youth, in a retro hippie beatnik sort of way. She doesn't look bad in the salt and pepper color either, it's just that her hair is an unkempt mess now. A flat iron will go a long way.

[quote] Sicilians have a different look than regular Italians.

That's not true, not all Italians and/or Sicilians have dark Mediterranean looks. Not all Italians look what people think is typically Italian. My grandfather was 100% Sicilian, he was a natural blond, he had dark blond hair and blue eyes.

Sophia Loren isn't even typical of Italian woman, she's very exotic, she could pass for Mid-Eastern or a light eyed South Asian.

[quote]Stipe aside, she had a lot of primo cock back in the day.

Keep repeat the same bullshit, yet don't mention any names.

I thought she was a lesbian, she probably is.

Morrissey's Have A Go Merchant is apparently about her, and the band, covering his song Everyday Is Like Sunday. He didn't like it, apparently. But then who does Morrissey like and vice versa?

I love Golden Boy on Motherland.

[quote] The album is dedicated to the victims of September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks upon the United States. However, the recording was finished two days before the event, so the songs are not influenced by it. The event has still affected people's interpretations of the lyrics. Additionally, the cover was changed at the last minute to accommodate the post-9/11 world.

[quote] Her original concept for the photograph on the album cover was a picture of children in a field wearing oxygen masks:

[quote] [italic] We shot these kids in upstate New York on Sept 10. And then we were going to reshoot on the 11th. Of course we canceled the session. The day I brought the pictures into the city, there were articles on the run here for Cipro and gas masks. I was getting pressure, anyway, from the record label, friends even, that the image was too controversial. So finally I gave in.[/italic]

Maybe for a reissue, expanded anniversary version that original artwork can be included.

'Motherland', was she referencing her heritage?

Ironically, she looks like Sicilian peasant on that LP cover.

[quote] I thought she was a lesbian, she probably is.

There is zero reason to think she is.

Bump.

Every Gen-X homosexual I've ever known has a VERY strong opinion of Natalie Merchant. Most can't stand her, but she has a few solid fans in the gay community, much like that Barbara Mandrell.

Janeane Garafalo understudy

She always reminded me of Gloria Vanderbilt. Especially when she was younger.

She likes to drink, and unfortunately has done shows drunk.

[quote]Generally pleasant in her youth but something happened when she and Michael Stipe became friends that brought out the worst in both. They were "mean girls" together

I loved their performance at the 1993 MTV Inaugural Ball, I wasn't old enough to vote but it's the first election I was conscious of.

Years later it was disappointing to hear how unpleasant she is alleged to be.

Unrelated

I saw 10,000 Maniacs in the late 80s, and some drunk chick yelled something and it pissed Natalie off. She confronted the chick, and then left the stage for a while. I thought it was just a one off thing, but sounds like she had a pattern of scolding the audience!

About 15 years ago, she was playing a concert in my town, and I saw her, by herself, shopping at Tower Records. No one seemed to recognize her..or maybe like me, they were too scared to say anything!

She's playing at the Kennedy Center this summer with the National Symphony. I've been debating about whether or not to buy tickets, but now I'm going to do it in hopes that she scolds some old man for blowing his nose really loud

I bought tickets to see her here in San Francisco. She’s not coming until September so, not sure why tix are already on sale.I love her and have seen her a few times. She danced with me at a show once. The same show, she berated the audience for seeing the new Star Wars movie instead of thinking about the war in Iraq or some shit. I dunno… I still dig her. She volunteered at a children’s literacy group I donate to so, I have a soft spot for her.

The song Ophelia gives me chills.

She is mentally unwell

R80 I just listened to that after seeing this thread! It’s a beautiful song and she looks gorgeous on the cover.

I love her music. LOVE it.

R54- I’m pretty sure Luka lived in the second floor.

A lovely song for Christmas by Natalie.

I've probably already said this in this thread but I have met her more than a few times and she's always been very kind to me despite my probably idiotic manner each and every time we've met. Having seen so many of her shows too I do get the feeling that she has a very specific vision and she likes it executed the way she envisions it and cops people find that off putting.

Does she sing.any10,000 Maniacs stuff when she is live or does she just do her solo stuff?