Singer Natalie Merchant performs during ABC's "Good Morning America" television program Tuesday, April 13, 2010 in New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)
Natalie Merchant - 'Leave Your Sleep' turns 19th, 20th century American, British poetry into song - Singer-songwriter, Natalie Merchant, released a new CD Tuesday called Leave Your Sleep. Inspired by her 6-year-old daughter, Ms. Merchant adapted lyrics from poets such as William Blake, Ogden Nash, e.e. cummings, Robert Louis Stevenson, Christina Rossetti, Edward Lear, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Mervyn Peake, Eleanor Farjeon, Nathalia Crane, and Robert Graves.
The poetry is only part of the story, however. Ms. Mechant uses a wide combination of musical genres in her interpretations. The musical styles include New Orleans swing; Appalachian backporch music with hammered dulcimer, banjo, upright bass, and guitar; cabaret jazz; full orchestra with Celtic spice; and Native American music using drums, flutes, and rattles. She also worked with Chinese ensembles; the New York Philharmonic, and others - over 100 musicians in all.
Ms. Merchant said Tuesday on ABC's Good Morning America, "What I wanted to do was interpret the poems through music, so every different poem seemed to demand a different treatment or a different style of music." She added, "I was looking for a way to mature gracefully in the field that I've chosen, which is difficult as a musician or an actress or whatever, to age gracefully. So, this is a way that I felt I could do it. The music is much more mature."
The double-CD is comprised of the 26 tracks below:
Disc 1:
1 Nursery Rhyme of Innocence and Experience 5:11
2 Equestrienne 4:38
3 Calico Pie 2:41
4 Bleezer's Ice-Cream 5:17
5 It Makes a Change 3:31
6 The King of China's Daughter 2:39
7 The Dancing Bear 5:37
8 The Man In the Wilderness 3:44
9 Maggie and Milly and Molly and May 4:08
10 If No One Ever Marries Me 2:21
11 The Sleepy Giant 3:19
12 The Peppery Man 5:05
13 The Blind Men And the Elephant 5:33
Disc 2:
1 Adventures of Isabel 3:25
2 The Walloping Window Blind 4:17
3 Topsyturvey-World 5:09
4 The Janitor's Boy 3:52
5 Griselda 5:50
6 The Land of Nod 4:06
7 Vain and Careless 4:44
8 Crying, My Little One 2:27
9 Sweet and a Lullaby 3:05
10 I Saw a Ship a-Sailing 2:13
11 Autumn Lullaby 3:22
12 Spring and Fall: To a Young Child 3:06
13 Indian Names 5:52
See videos of Natalie Merchant's appearance on Good Morning America below. The first is an interview; the second is her performing "Calico Pie."
SEE ALSO:
American Literature - was Emily Dickinson's maid her muse?
New York Botanical Garden to feature Emily Dickinson 'Poetry of Flowers' exhibit
Meryl Streep to headline 'Poetry and the Creative Mind' at Lincoln Center for National Poetry Month
National Poetry Month 2010 - Academy of American Poets plans series of events
Young Adult Pop Culture Examiner
Connie Ann Kirk is a published author of 10 books. She is currently working on a novel and a screenplay. See all of Connie's Arts & Entertainment columns at these pages: National Books on Film Examiner , National Literature Examiner, and National Young Adult Pop Culture Examiner . Feel free any time to also check out her website.
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