10,000 Maniacs — What's The Matter Here
Album: MTV UnpluggedAvg rating:
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Total ratings: 58
Length: 4:48
Plays (last 30 days): 0
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That young boy without a name anywhere I'd know his face.
In this city the kid's my favorite.
I've seen him. I see him every day.
Seen him run outside looking for a place to hide from his father,
the kid half naked and said to myself "O, what's the matter here?"
I'm tired of the excuses everybody uses, he's their kid I stay out of it,
but who gave you the right to do this?
We live on Morgan Street;
just ten feet between and his mother, I never see her,
but her screams and cussing, I hear them every day.
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?"
I'm tired of the excuses everybody uses, he's your kid, do as you see fit,
but get this through that I don't approve of what you did to you own flesh and blood.
"If you don't sit on this chair straight
I'll take this belt from around my waist and don't think that I won't use it!"
Answer me and take your time,
what could be the awful crime he could do at such young an age?
If I'm the only witness to your madness offer me some words to balance out what I see and what I hear.
Oh these cold and lowly things that you do I suppose you do because he belongs to you
and instead of love and the feel of warmth you've given him these cuts and sores don't heal with time or with age.
And I want to say "What's the Matter here?"
But I don't dare say.
In this city the kid's my favorite.
I've seen him. I see him every day.
Seen him run outside looking for a place to hide from his father,
the kid half naked and said to myself "O, what's the matter here?"
I'm tired of the excuses everybody uses, he's their kid I stay out of it,
but who gave you the right to do this?
We live on Morgan Street;
just ten feet between and his mother, I never see her,
but her screams and cussing, I hear them every day.
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?"
I'm tired of the excuses everybody uses, he's your kid, do as you see fit,
but get this through that I don't approve of what you did to you own flesh and blood.
"If you don't sit on this chair straight
I'll take this belt from around my waist and don't think that I won't use it!"
Answer me and take your time,
what could be the awful crime he could do at such young an age?
If I'm the only witness to your madness offer me some words to balance out what I see and what I hear.
Oh these cold and lowly things that you do I suppose you do because he belongs to you
and instead of love and the feel of warmth you've given him these cuts and sores don't heal with time or with age.
And I want to say "What's the Matter here?"
But I don't dare say.
Comments (11)add comment
A child-abuse double-shot on RP.
merlot wrote:
Ms. Merchant seems to sing the same song over and over with only a handful of lyrics. I guess I'm just not manic about her and her songs. 
to say the least! her voice incites violence in my soul!!! :P
Originally Posted by skindy:
I also like this song (and this version of it). I happen to like Natalie Merchant's voice -- more so when she was with 10,000 Maniacs than solo. Please keep this in the rotation!
Agreed... Her 10K Maniacs stuff is better. Her voice seems to be getting, I dunno, mushier or something, kind of a marble-mouth thing goin'...
Damn, Beelzebub,
This is so out of character for you :)
beelzebubba wrote:
Ok, sorry, but I felt compelled to try to balance out this thread by jumping to little Natalie's defense.
What is so bad about her voice?
Ok, some of you don't like it. But some of us, including me, DO. Don't listen to them Bill. I hate Depeche Mode and others you play, but that's ok. I'll know you'll please some of us some of the time, but never please ANY of us ALL the time.
:)
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Pretty good song from the Maniacs. However, there are some serious tuning problems with the solo guitar. Yikes! 
This is often a problem with these \"Unplugged\" sessions. Some acoustic instruments have such a difficult time staying in tune. It seems more promiment with acoustic instruments than electric ones.
This is often a problem with these \"Unplugged\" sessions. Some acoustic instruments have such a difficult time staying in tune. It seems more promiment with acoustic instruments than electric ones.Originally Posted by beelzebubba:
Ok, sorry, but I felt compelled to try to balance out this thread by jumping to little Natalie's defense.
What is so bad about her voice?
Ok, some of you don't like it. But some of us, including me, DO. Don't listen to them Bill. I hate Depeche Mode and others you play, but that's ok. I'll know you'll please some of us some of the time, but never please ANY of us ALL the time.
:)
I am diggin Natalie's voice... and think this version is pretty good :D
I also like this song (and this version of it). I happen to like Natalie Merchant\'s voice -- more so when she was with 10,000 Maniacs than solo. Please keep this in the rotation!
Ok, sorry, but I felt compelled to try to balance out this thread by jumping to little Natalie\'s defense.
What is so bad about her voice?
Ok, some of you don\'t like it. But some of us, including me, DO. Don\'t listen to them Bill. I hate Depeche Mode and others you play, but that\'s ok. I\'ll know you\'ll please some of us some of the time, but never please ANY of us ALL the time.
:)
Ow. I think she\'s flat on about a quarter of the notes in this song. I don\'t hate 10K Maniacs, but this version of this song is yukky.
I like her voice, but this song was so overplayed, and is a bit too much like \"Luka\" in both concept and the amount that it was overplayed. Can\'t give it a great rating due to sheer boredom with it.
How about something from \"The Wishing Chair\"? That was a great album...