Natalie Merchant - The Courage of Beauty

An ambitious, substantial return, marking her first album of original compositions in a decade. Natalie Merchant, the muse of the most refined American folk-pop, recently released “Keep Your Courage“, an album that oozes courage and love from every pore. It's a work in which we find the symbolic weight of mythology – Narcissus, Valentine and Aphrodite – alongside her well-known love of literature and poetry (Walt Whitman and William Blake), plus a keen social conscience. It was, however, a painful birth for the former voice of 10,000 Maniacs: some serious physical problems forced her into surgery that risked compromising her vocal cords. In the end, though, once again the voice behind “Can’t Ignore The Train” managed to hit the mark, forging a dense, refined sound that also nods to the most ambitious evolutions of folk music. Ahead of her two Italian tour dates (November 17 at Teatro Dal Verme in Milan and November 18 at Palazzetto San Bernardino in Chiari, near Brescia), we caught up with her for a wide-ranging chat spanning the new album, memories of the 10,000 Maniacs days, her compositional style, politics, and her passion for the early-20th-century poet and children's writer Lina Schwartz, to whom her next album (in Italian!) will be dedicated.

Your new album, “Keep Your Courage”, comes across as a genuine hymn to female courage, starting with the statue of Joan of Arc on the cover. What kind of courage do women need today, specifically, and in the face of what kinds of behavior?

Yes, I chose a photograph of a sculpture of Joan of Arc as the cover for my album, “Keep Your Courage”. To me it's a powerful symbol of courage and it's easily recognizable as such. Not just female courage, but courage in general. Women need strength to fight the same battles they've always had to fight… for their safety and independence, mainly against men who want to strip them of both.

The album arrived after a difficult period, between the pandemic and the spinal problem that forced you into surgery. A very painful time. How did that pain find its way into your new songs? In a recent interview you said: “Not being able to play piano and sing made me want to play piano and sing”.

The lockdown months during the pandemic were tough because I underwent major spinal surgery and was recovering without medical support, and I temporarily lost the ability to sing in my real voice. But once my voice was restored, I think the pandemic and the health crisis, by stripping away almost every distraction, allowed me to slow down a little and adopt a more contemplative mindset. I was able to dig deep into my heart and mind for several months and rediscover every part of songwriting that I love.

Your latest album also shows a greater attention to the musical roots of other cultures – it's perhaps the most ecumenical record of your long career. Is that the result of deliberate exploration, or pure creative chance?

Hmmmmmm… actually I've always had a great curiosity about other musical traditions, and over the years I've incorporated them into my music. I think “Leave Your Sleep” was far more experimental in that regard. For that album I collaborated with 135 different musicians across at least 20 different musical styles (klezmer, cajun, reggae, Chinese, symphonic and early European music, music of other eras, Celtic, etc.). With “Keep Your Courage” I drew on many of the musical lessons I learned from “Leave Your Sleep” and put them into practice again. I worked with seven different arranger-composers on this album, and 35 musicians. That variety of collaborators also gave the work a greater sense of range.

Mythology, literature and poetry have always been reference points in your songwriting. What fascinates you particularly about mythology? And more generally, how do you manage to express such ambitious themes within a form as concise as the song format?

I've always used cultural references in my songwriting. For instance, I've cited famous historical figures like Jack Kerouac, Henry Darger, Andrew Jackson and Louise Brooks, historical events like the Trail of Tears or the Vietnam War, or biblical figures like Adam and Eve, Judas and Jezebel. Every time I use one of these references, I bring a wealth of associations to the song – both mine and the listener's. The songs are very short, just a handful of verses and a repeated chorus. If I can use a single word or phrase capable of expanding the meaning of the song, I always want to use it.

Is it true that you're learning Italian because you have a project in mind dedicated to Italian poetry? Can you tell us about it?

Yes, I'm working on a project that involves adapting the work of an Italian Jewish poet from the early 20th century named Lina Schwarz. She wrote mainly for children, which is fitting, since my grasp of Italian is at a child's level. The poems are beautiful celebrations of nature, childhood, and love, along with a good number of nonsense verses in the style of Edward Lear — poetry written purely for the pleasure of hearing the sound of the words. I've done research into Lina's life and I've been collaborating with a band from the Milan area called Domo Emigrantes. We hope to record these poem-songs as soon as possible. (On January 28, 2024, Natalie Merchant will hold a new workshop titled "Sotto il lume delle stelle" at the Accademia dei bambini of the Fondazione Prada in Milan. The workshop for children will be led by Merchant herself and will feature a concert of new songs she has adapted from poems by the Italian writer and educator Lina Schwarz (1876-1947). Full details will be announced shortly on fondazioneprada.org.)

Here at OndaRock we're also big fans of 10,000 Maniacs records, especially "The Wishing Chair" and "In My Tribe". What do you still carry with you from that experience, one that blended such different musical backgrounds — folk, pop, wave, college rock — with such elegance?

I met the other members of 10,000 Maniacs when I was just 17, and we made our first album the following year, so at the very start of the '80s. Everything I first learned about songwriting, performing, recording, promoting music and so on, I learned during those early years in the band. But I left 10,000 Maniacs thirty years ago, and my career has grown considerably since then. I've learned far more in the decades that followed.

I think the Maniacs also had a natural affinity with R.E.M. I read a statement of yours where you said there was something in Michael Stipe's voice that you were really drawn to, "something primal that made you feel connected to him". You later became friends and even toured together. What do you remember from that time?

I met Michael Stipe in 1983 — my God, that's 40 years ago now! The early work of R.E.M. and 10,000 Maniacs could be described as "Americana", though I don't think the term had even been coined yet. We shared the same musical background, having grown up in the US in the '60s and '70s. I think I was drawn to the honesty and rawness of Michael's voice, as well as his charismatic stage presence. He and the band were huge supporters of ours. Those early tours were truly fun, great adventures for our band, since they were far ahead of us in terms of popularity.

Musicians of your generation, including Stipe himself, Billy Bragg, U2, Paul Weller and many others, made activism a defining trait of theirs. I know that political activism has always been an important part of your life too. Do you believe musicians can still influence social and political life in today's world?

To me it was unthinkable to be a public figure and not be willing to take a stand on the pressing issues of the day, or to draw attention to the work of activists fighting hard for their causes. Fundraising for various causes has been a very important part of my work from the very beginning. For me, activism, creativity and celebrity have always been intertwined.

After Cat Stevens's conversion to Islam, you and your 10,000 Maniacs bandmates decided to drop "Peace Train" from reissues of the album "In My Tribe". Do you think that gesture was important, and would you make the same choice today?

At the time it made sense. Later, he denied having supported the fatwa against Salman Rushdie in 1989. I never had the chance to discuss it with him directly.

"Keep Your Courage" is an album about feelings, about love — a subject that today has been reduced to a mere product to be sold and sacrificed on the altar of success. Yet the love you express on your latest album has something revolutionary, something authentic about it, as if, for you, love in a spiritual and universal sense represented the only way out of the horror of modern society. Do you think love will save us?

The more years go by, the more I realize that love and beauty are the only things that truly matter, however intangible they may be. And I'd add health to that too!

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