Natalie Merchant, "Tigerlily"

Ken takes a maniac to the carnival

, and

Aug 03, 2022

Ken’s Pitch:

“I Celebrate myself, and sing myself, and what I assume you shall assume, For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.” - Walt Whitman

I’ve always found being passionate, open, vulnerable, and transparent to be among the greatest qualities a person can have. We are so programmed to close off to other people about anything deeper or more personal than work, entertainment, the weather, and current events, that it’s almost shocking when we are allowed into the personal thoughts of an artist. And when those personal thoughts are arranged in the right way, and the words are chosen carefully enough, we tend to call those things works of art.

After fronting the alt-pop 10,000 Maniacs for the better part of a decade, Natalie Merchant took her talents to the studio for her solo debut Tigerlily. I love solo debuts because I like to believe the artist has been collecting songs for years without a venue to display them. They are, in so many cases, loaded with poetic gems that give us a massive picture window into the soul of the writer/performer. I have no idea if this is true for Merchant and Tigerlily, and I don’t want to look it up because I may be wrong. My perception of Tigerlily is that it’s Merchant finally breaking free of the restrictions of pop and working as part an ensemble, and finally having the artistic license to say things she’s been holding inside.

With her pitch-perfect, bright and emotional vocals, the entire album is driven by her voice, her words, and some gorgeously sparse musical arrangements. It’s a truly poetic album. So to honor the beauty of the album, enjoy some more poetry.

“I met a Californian who would Talk California—a state so blessed, He said, in climate, none bad ever died there” - Robert Frost

Not since “Hotel California” has a piece so eloquently and emotionally told the story of the seedy underbelly of the Hollywood Dream, as “San Andreas Fault”. She contrasts the beauty and hope that define a state that was built off of “the industry,” with the terrifying and potentially deadly cracks that lie just under the surface. It’s a perfect metaphor.

“Does my sassiness upset you?

Why are you beset with gloom?

’Cause I walk like I've got oil wells

Pumping in my living room.” – Maya Angelou

Until this week, I thought “Wonder” was a simple story about a young baby girl and how she is amazing just sitting there in her crib, with the world on a string and her whole life in front of her. It was about powerful girls and women. I did a little research and found that it was actually written about twin baby girls with a rare disease. But for the purposes of this, I’m sticking with women’s empowerment. Listen to it, you’ll hear it too.

“I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked, dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix…” - Allen Ginsburg

“River” is a beautiful tribute to the recently deceased (1993) River Phoenix, a once-in-a-generation acting talent that succumbed to the temptations of Sunset Blvd. I was a huge River Phoenix fan and his death was truly a tragedy; a talent and a soul so bright snuffed out long before its time. Merchant not only mourns his death, but chastises the media for essentially dissecting his life and his youthful indiscretions, all while his family, his friends and his fans were still in mourning.

“I know what my heart is like

Since your love died:

It is like a hollow ledge

Holding a little pool

Left there by the tide,

A little tepid pool,

Drying inward from the edge.” - Edna St Vincent Millay

In “The Letter”, Merchant laments a letter to an old lover that she has yet to pen. And like St. Vincent Millay’s “Ebb” it’s short, sweet, and cutting.

So many critics at the time of Tigerlily’s release praised the album but also used words about Merchant like “lighten up” or “too intense”. I even read one that said “get over yourself”. Why is it that Daniel Day Lewis gets Oscars for his intensity and Bob Dylan gets Pulitzer prizes, while women get told to smile more and stay in their lanes? The intensity and passion flowing throughout the album are exactly why it needs to be in the Newbury St. Collection.

CJ’s Response:

When I proposed to my wife back in the fall of 1993, my brother Dan wanted to get her a little gift to welcome her to the family.

“What music does Lisa like to listen to?” he asked me.

“She really seems to enjoy The Cranberries,” I told him.

So, Dan presented her with their debut album Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We? And she was thrilled.

In 1994, The Cranberries put out No Need To Argue, which Lisa received from Dan for her birthday.

In 1995, The Cranberries did not release a new album. Daniel, my brother, was screwed.

Enter Natalie Merchant, less 9,999 maniacs, and her debut solo album Tigerlilly. “Wonder” was one of Lisa’s favorite songs at the time and still is today. A grateful Dan slapped a bow on the CD and hoped that The Cranberries would get their shit together in ’96 (they did).

Tigerlilly hit record stores during a transitional time in music history. The flood of grunge at the beginning of the decade gave way to the Women’s Music Revolution. (I don’t know if there’s an official name for this era, but I’ll call it that for the sake of clarity.) Strong female voices dominated the airwaves and the charts. In addition to Natalie, there was Paula Cole, Fiona Apple, Jewel, Sarah McLachlan, Indigo Girls and seemingly dozens more. The music they produced was confessional and melodic and emotional and, if we’re really being honest, a little bit dull.

It’s a sweeping generalization and maybe it’s unfair, but that’s the way I felt back then.

The Women’s Music Revolution culminated in the three summers of Lilith Fair from 1997-1999. All of the people I mentioned above were there along with a host of other acts giving off the same vibe. Notably absent were the Women of Rock. No Joan Jett or Heart or Chrissie Hynde or Donnas. Although my beloved Pat Benatar did make an appearance one year.

In response, the hard-rocking, all-female band L7 hired a plane to fly over the 1999 Lilith Fair trailing a banner that read: “Bored? Tired? Try L7.” That same weekend, they flew another banner over the Vans Warped Tour that declared: “Warped Needs More Beaver. Love L7.”

Side Note: I wish L7’s music had matched their attitude. If it had, I surely would have pitched them by now.

I listened to Tigerlilly this week and it brought me back to our long drives to my in-laws in New Jersey when Lisa would pop it into the CD player while we fought our way through Connecticut traffic. The hits retained their shine. “Wonder”, “Jealousy” and “Carnival” were just as pleasant coming through the Bluetooth in my office as they were blasting from the speakers of our little Honda Accord. “River” was a revelation. I had forgotten about that one. And the rest of the album was, to quote myself from earlier in this response, a little bit dull.

I wish I could get excited about this album, or at least get behind it. But I can’t. There’s a reason the Lilith Fair Revival in 2010 was such a disaster, with more shows being scratched than the “Tap into America” Tour. (“The Boston gig has been cancelled. I wouldn’t worry about it, though. It’s not a big college town”.) Nobody really wanted to hear that sound anymore.

Ultimately, Tigerlilly is music of the time. Not all-time music.

Pitch Failed (Dan rode that Cranberries train all the way until the early 2000s. Long after Lisa had stopped listening to them.)

Mitch’s Response:

I first took notice of 10,000 Maniacs because they had a song called “Hey, Jack Kerouac” and I was a Kerouac obsessive, so I thought it was cool that there was song about Jack Kerouac. I quickly forgot about 10,000 Maniacs, because cool hipsters like Jack and me like cool music like jazz, and not forgettable pop-rock like 10,000 Maniacs.

10,000 Maniacs were the musical equivalent of getting salad for lunch: it gets the job done and you don’t feel bad about yourself afterwards, but you’re certainly not thrilled, you’re still kind of hungry, and you’re definitely miffed that you paid $14 for some lettuce (and a pound of chick peas if you’re with Ceej).

But I guess Natalie was a cool hipster like me and Jack after all, because Tigerlily is a cool album and while it doesn’t sound like jazz music, it shares the jammy, open-ended experimentation that we associate with jazz.

The three big hits - “Wonder”, “Carnival”, and "Jealousy” - are like a more polished (i.e. Sweetgreen) version of 10,000 Maniacs, but it’s the long, moody epics that really set this record apart. “San Andreas Fault” establishes the vibe, “River” is oozing with pain and anger, and “I May Know the Word” and “Seven Years” are bursting with intensity and power, dominated by Merchant’s impressive vocal melodies and delivery.

My only criticism of Tigerlily is that it’s just so damn sincere - a little too much kale, if you will. Sure, that was a feature of the ‘90s, where the only thing worse than failure was success, but after an hour it does wear a little thin. Okay, we get it, celebrity sucks, the media sucks, the world is terrible. Lighten up, Francis, and throw some bacon bits into that salad. Live a little.

Pitch Successful (Do you know what’s the matter here? The guitars are mixed way too low.)

Ken’s pitch was not successful and Natalie Merchants’ Tigerlily has been taken by the tail away from the Newbury St. Collection.

We wonder what you think about Natalie Merchant and her solo debut Tigerlily. Life is sweet, so please be kind & generous when you visit the comments section.

Exile on Newbury St.

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