Natalie Merchant
Overview
Natalie Anne Merchant is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She joined the alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

 band 10,000 Maniacs
10,000 Maniacs
10,000 Maniacs is a United States-based alternative rock band, which formed in 1981 and continues to be active with various line-ups.-1981–1993:...

 in 1981 and left it to begin her solo career in 1993.
Natalie Merchant was born October 26, 1963 in Jamestown, New York
Jamestown, New York
Jamestown is a city in Chautauqua County, New York in the United States. The population was 31,146 at the 2010 census.The City of Jamestown is adjacent to Town of Ellicott and is at the southern tip of Chautauqua Lake...

, the third of four children of Anthony and Ann Merchant. Her paternal grandfather, who played the accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....

, mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...

 and guitar, emigrated to the United States from Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

; his surname was "Mercante" before it was Anglicized
Anglicisation
Anglicisation, or anglicization , is the process of converting verbal or written elements of any other language into a form that is more comprehensible to an English speaker, or, more generally, of altering something such that it becomes English in form or character.The term most often refers to...

.
Quotations

There is one tradition in America I am proud to inherit. It is our first freedom and the truest expression of our Americanism: the ability to dissent without fear. It is our right to utter the words, "I disagree." We must feel at liberty to speak those words to our neighbors, our clergy, our educators, our news media, our lawmakers and, above all, to the one among us we elect President.

The Nation (15 July 1991)

if I could calm or restrain youfor the sake of pitysave the pistolsave the cynic's tonguesave the cool white staretreat me to an honest face sometime

"Scorpio Rising"

threats like, "if you don't mind I will beat on your behind" "slap you, slap you silly" made me say,"o, what's the matter here?"

heaven, is this heaven where we are?

see them walking, if you dareif you call that walkingstumble, stagger, fall and drag themselvesalong the streets of heaven

where is the halothat should glow 'round your faceand where are the wings thatshould grow from your shoulder blades?

these sobering sights I've seenin the City of Angelshave all been one rude awakeningthat was due to mein this city of fallen angels

the color of the sky as far as I can see is coal graylift my head from the pillow and then fall againwith a shiver in my bones just thinking about the weathera quiver in my lips as if I might cry

 
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