Natalie Merchant — Ophelia
Album: OpheliaAvg rating:
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Total ratings: 482
Length: 4:45
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Ophelia was a bride of God, a novice Carmelite
In sister's cells, the cloister bells tolled on her wedding night
Ophelia was a rebel girl, a blue-stockinged suffragette
Who remedied society between her cigarettes
And Ophelia was the sweetheart to a nation overnight
Curvaceous thighs, vivacious eyes, love was at first sight
Love was at first sight, love
Ophelia was a demigoddess in prewar Babylon
So statuesque, a silhouette in black satin evening gowns
Ophelia was the mistress to a Vegas gambling man
Signora Ophelia Maraschina, mafia courtesan
Ophelia was the circus queen, the female cannonball
Was projected through five flaming hoops to wild and shocked applause
To wild and shocked applause
Ophelia was a tempest, cyclone, a goddamned hurricane
Your common sense, your best defense lay wasted and in vain
For Ophelia would know your every woe and every pain you'd ever have
She'd sympathize, she'd dry your eyes, help you to forget
And help you to forget, and help you to forget
Ophelia's mind went wandering, you'd wonder where she'd gone
Through secret doors, down corridors she'd wander them alone
Wander all alone, all alone
In sister's cells, the cloister bells tolled on her wedding night
Ophelia was a rebel girl, a blue-stockinged suffragette
Who remedied society between her cigarettes
And Ophelia was the sweetheart to a nation overnight
Curvaceous thighs, vivacious eyes, love was at first sight
Love was at first sight, love
Ophelia was a demigoddess in prewar Babylon
So statuesque, a silhouette in black satin evening gowns
Ophelia was the mistress to a Vegas gambling man
Signora Ophelia Maraschina, mafia courtesan
Ophelia was the circus queen, the female cannonball
Was projected through five flaming hoops to wild and shocked applause
To wild and shocked applause
Ophelia was a tempest, cyclone, a goddamned hurricane
Your common sense, your best defense lay wasted and in vain
For Ophelia would know your every woe and every pain you'd ever have
She'd sympathize, she'd dry your eyes, help you to forget
And help you to forget, and help you to forget
Ophelia's mind went wandering, you'd wonder where she'd gone
Through secret doors, down corridors she'd wander them alone
Wander all alone, all alone
Comments (19)add comment
Tigerlilly/Ophelia are both incredible albums. They are also very well recorded and mastered.
I don't like absolutely all of the Natalie Merchant songs that i have heard, (there's a cover she does that turns up on here now and then, which i always skip), but other than that, i freeking love her voice. Dunno why, but that doesn't really matter.
Does it?
Does it?
I love the picture that Natalie's painting. I feel like I'm smitten by this Ophelia :)
Undertone of the song almost sounds like something off DSOTM
On her album The House Carpenters Daughter she does some great songs including a great rendition of Which Side Are You On. her diction is someimes a little hard for me but she has a unique voice, I love her sounds.
What's with the naysayers? This is great stuff!
Despite expecting drawing a bullseye on myself in this comments forum, I guess I just vaguely feel that a couple of artists / acts experience a level of play on RP that feels ... just a bit overdone. Merchant, and Elvis Costello quickly spring to mind. And also the Moody Blues, but that’s more of a stylistic bias. I understand people consider their sounds important. (Ducking and covering.)
There's something to be said for an artist, when you know immediately who is singing - her voice is really quite something. So incredibly original.
Much underrated.
Much underrated.
The general dislike that Natalie seems to generate throughout RP stands in very odd contrast against the general respect for the unusual vocals of various male artists like Willie Nelson, Tom Waits and Bob Dylan. Almost as if the female artists of the world are held to a different standard. Think about that for a second before you smash the 1 rating...
Waybo wrote:
She might do that, nothing wrong with it between consenting adults. I take it you're not getting enough.
Natalie Merchant sucks.
She might do that, nothing wrong with it between consenting adults. I take it you're not getting enough.
Natalie Merchant sucks.
Really nice... most excellent!!
Prefer the live version which has been played here before. Just seemed to have a lot more emotion.
Tracks from this CD are often underrated by the casual listener. Listening to the entire production can give you an appreciation for the beauty & emotion it explores.
Really nice. I enjoyed this a lot this morning.
Christ, that annoying, strident, whiny voice.
little sluggish, prefer her stuff from 'tiger lily' alot more, also she can lose the dialogue at the end, a tad pretentious, even for natalie 