audio review : Keep Your Courage ( album ) … Natalie Merchant

audio review : Keep Your Courage ( album ) ... Natalie Merchant

With titles like Tower Of Babel and The Feast Of Saint Valentine, it’s obvious these aren’t your typical “love” odes. Natalie Merchant’s going for epic here. The music, at times featuring a small symphony orchestra, confirms as much. Not that the folk singer’s ever been a stranger to the classical genre.

One of the best songs has the oddest name; Come On Aphrodite. Merchant and guest Abena Koomson Davis sound silly whenever they say it, but the melodies are a delight. Other standouts include Sister Tilly; a lament; and a respectful albeit unwarranted cover of Lankum’s Hunting The Wren.

my rating : 3 of 5

2023

Seven Deadly Sins ( song lyrics ) … Natalie Merchant

Seven Deadly Sins ( song lyrics ) ... Natalie Merchant

Well, of all those seven deadly sins
I wore around my neck for him;
hunger, anger, lust and greed,
envy, pride and jealousy;
there was one, I guess, that was the worst of all…
that gave a little push, started the fall
from grace that I took so hard.
I took so long, so long and far.

But I just couldn’t spend me another night
in the cold cold bed of the butcher’s wife;
so afraid to fall asleep,
afraid to wake and afraid to dream.
No, I just couldn’t stay. I couldn’t wait it out
and bite my tongue for another hour;
one more endless day,
day after night and night after day.

Well, it’s been a two-year stint in No Man’s Land;
nobody here really gives a damn;
so why don’t we call it a draw
in the bloody war to end all wars?

In the bloody war.
In the bloody war.
In the bloody bloody war.
In the bloody bloody war.

Well, I’m far too quick with the poison pen.
Can’t believe I’m writing again…
after all these goddamned years.
And someday when the ghosts have all gone home,
far too late to be rattling bones,
then will you lay me down?

Lay me down. Oh, will you let it be?

Such a bloody war.
Such a bloody war.
Such a bloody bloody war.

Such a bloody war.
Such a bloody war.
Such a bloody bloody war.

2014

audio review : Natalie Merchant ( album ) … Natalie Merchant

audio review : Natalie Merchant ( album ) ... Natalie Merchant

There’s some gospel shouting on Go Down Moses, but these songs are mostly mellow. It’s a self-titled album, so the music is a reflection of Natalie Merchant, who’s long past the rock-party days of 10000 Maniacs, but trying to appreciate her music takes patience.

Occasionally there’s a payoff; puttering horns over marching drums make for desolate beauty on Seven Deadly Sins; but usually not. The elegant string arrangement on The End is a technical marvel, for example, but the vocal melodies are no match aesthetically.

my rating : 3 of 5

2014