Natalie Merchant & Random Ramblings

I saw Natalie this past Tuesday. I can’t quite articulate how I feel right now. I become strangely emotional after I see her. I don’t really understand why. Maybe it’s the connection I feel to her/her music? The fact that such anticipated moments come and go so quickly, which feels unfair? I don’t really know.

Now don’t get me wrong, it was an amazing show. Probably one of my favorite Natalie shows. She played with a full orchestra and she sounded better than ever. I kept track of the set list because as time goes by I usually forget it.  

The Land Of Nod/Nursery Rhyme Of Innocence And Experience/Life Is Sweet/Equestrienne/Beloved Wife/Gold Rush Brides/She Devil/Maggie And Millie And Molly And May/Butterfly (a new song)/Verdi Cries/Spring And Fall: To A Young Child/Henry Darger/This House Is On Fire

Intermission

The Man In The Wilderness/The Sleepy Giant/The Letter/The Worst Thing/Wonder/Break Your Heart/Carnival/These Are Days/Kind & Generous

Butterfly, which is a new song, was great. And she covered a lot from Leave Your Sleep. And of course, ended with the songs that most people know and love. Don’t get me wrong, I love Wonder, Kind & Generous, etc but man, when she plays those the crowd goes nuts. It makes me wonder (no pun) if people really know her catalog. She has so much incredible music that deserves to be heard.

Anyway, I feel like I have more to say but I’ll say it another time or maybe update this post again.

On a completely unrelated note, I deleted my Facebook account. I also deleted my Twitter and Google+ accounts. I’ve been wanting to do that for a while. It feels very freeing. I’m going to focus more on my blog and real human connections not related to social media.

Ahhh….changes. 

The man in the wilderness asked me to tell
All the sands in the sea and I counted them well.
He said he with a grin, "And not one more?"
I answered him, "Now you go make sure." 

Natalie Merchant - Leave Your Sleep

Last week marked the one year anniversary of the release of Natalie Merchant's Leave Your Sleep album. Normally I don't think twice about an album's anniversary. However, Leave Your Sleep has become one of my absolute favorite albums. She turned other people's poetry into music, 26 songs to be exact. It contains a broad range of musical styles and somehow remains completely cohesive. I find some sort of comfort in this album, something I can't explain.

I was lucky enough to see her live two times last year. Once was an intimate show last April at the Poetry Center. Such an amazing show. I also saw her this past July at the Chicago Theatre which I briefly blogged about here.

Anyone who hasn't heard this album should have a listen. Get the full version with the 26 songs. In the booklet she explains each poem and gives the background of the original poet. I just love it! So there. Haha. I think this post got a little melodramatic. Oh well. Have a listen to The Peppery Man, one of my favorite songs off Leave Your Sleep:

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Natalie Merchant

Tonight I'm going to see Natalie Merchant at The Chicago Theatre. I could burst I’m so excited. This is the second time I’ve seen her this year. The first was at The Poetry Center; a small, rather intimate venue. It was unique. She was doing a small tour to introduce her album Leave Your Sleep, an album of poems translated to songs. She did a lot of talking-kind of like the show Storytellers-and explained the poems/songs. She is my second favorite artist next to Tori Amos. I’ve been looking forward to this day for months! I wasn’t able to get many pictures when I saw her at The Poetry Center. I’m hoping to get more tonight!

Backdrop at The Poetry Center April 27, 2010