Natalie Merchant Album

Ophelia was a bride of God
A novice Carmelite
In sister cells
The cloister bells tolled on her wedding night

Ophelia was the rebel girl
A blue stockting 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 pre-war 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
SongtexteThe female cannonball
Projected through five flaming hoops
To wild and shocked applause
To wild and shocked applause

Ophelia was a tempest cyclone
A goddamn hurricane
Your common sense, your best defense
They wasted , and in vain

For Ophelia 'd know your every woe
And every pain you'd ever had
She'd sympathize and 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 goes
Through secret doors down corridors
She wanders there alone
All alone

(voice in german)
"Es kostet mich keine kleine Krise die Verunreinigung und das
Suechtige aus meinem Leben auszuschliessen"
("But it is for me no little effort to exclude the polluting and the addictive
from my life." )
(voice in spanish)
"compondo musica , en un estado de ecstases"
("composing music , in a state of ecstasy")
(voice in spanish)
"fuerza de vida , de vida"
( "strength of life , of life")
(voice in german)
"Mein Vater ist ein Architekt"
("My father is an architect." )

It's a pity
It's a crying shame
He pulled you down again
How painful it must be
To bruise so easily
Inside

It’s a pity
It’s a downright crime
It happens all the time
You want to stay little daddy’s girl
You want to hide from a vicious world
Outside
Don’t cry
You know the tears will do no good
So dry your eyes

Oh, your daddy
He’s the iron man
Battleship wrecked under dry land
Your mamma
She’s a bitter bride
She’ll never be satisfied
do you know ?
And that’s not right

SongtexteBut don’t cry
You know the tears will do no good
So dry your eyes

Oh, they told you life is hard
Misery from the start
It’s dull
It’s slow
It’s painful

But, I’ll tell you life is sweet
Inspite of the misery
There is so much more to be grateful

Well, who do you believe?
Who will you listen to?
Who will it be?
'Cause it's high time that you decide
In your own mind

I've tryed to comfort you
I've tried to tell you to be patient
They are blind
And they can’t see

Fortune gonna come one day
They're all gonna fade away
Your daddy
the war machine
and
Your momma
the long and suffering
prisioner of what she can not see

For they've told you life is hard
Misery from the start
It’s dull
It’s slow
It’s painful

But, I’ll tell you life is sweet
Inspite of the misery
There is so much more to be grateful

So, who will you believe?
Who will you listen to?
Who will it be?
Because it's high time that you decide
It’s time to make up your own
your own state of mind

Oh,they 've told you that life is long
Be thankful when it’s done
Don’t ask for more
be grateful

But, I’ll tell you life is short
Be thankful
Because before you know
It will be over
'Cause life is sweet
Life is oh so very short
Life is sweet
And life is oh so very short
Life is sweet

And life is sweet
And life is sweet

You've been so kind and generous, I don't know how you keep on giving
For your kindness I'm in debt to you
For your selflessness, my admiration
For everything you've done, you know I'm bound, I'm bound to
thank you for it....

You've been so kind and generous, I don't know how you keep on giving
For your kindness I'm in debt to you
And I never could have come this far without you
For everything you've done, you know I'm bound, I'm bound to
thank you for it....

I want to thank you for so many gifts you gave with love and tenderness,
I wanna thank you
I want to thank you for your generosity, the love and the honesty that you gave me
I want to thank you, show my gratitude, my love and my respect for you,
I wanna thank you

Oh I want to thank you, thank you, thank you,
thank you, thank you, thank you...

Blue like the winter snow in the full moon
Black like the silhouettes of the trees
Late blooming flowers lie frozen underneath the stars
I want you to remember me that way

Far away
I'll be gone .Will you wait for me?
How long ?
I don't know.Will you wait for me?

Still , as the river grows in December
Silent and perfect blinding ice
Spring keeps her promises
No cold can keep her back
I want you to remember me that way

Far away
I'll be gone. Will you wait for me here?
How long ?
I don't know but wait for me here
Follow
Don't follow me to where ,where I go

Far away
I'll be gone . Will you wait for me here?
How long?
Songtexte I don't know, will you wait for me here?
Follow
Don't follow me to where I've gone
Follow
Don't follow me to where I've gone

Someday you'll take my place
And I'll wait for you here

Take a look at my body,
look at my hands
there's so much here that I don't understand
Your face saving promises,
whispered like prayers
I don't need them.

Cuz I've been treated so wrong
I've been treated so long as if I'm becoming untouchable...

Well, contempt loves the silence
it thrives in the dark,
the fine winding tendrils that strangle the heart
They say that promises sweeten the blow
but I don't need them... no I don't need them.

I've been treated so wrong,
I've been treated so long as if I'm becoming untouchable
I'm a slow dying flower
I'm the frost killing hour
sweet turning sour
& untouchable.

ooh I need
the darkness,
the sweetness,
Songtextethe sadness,
the weakness,
ooh I need this.
Need a lullabye,
a kiss goodnight,
angel, sweet love of my life
ooh I need this

I'm a slow dying flower
frost killing hour
the sweet turning sour
& untouchable

Do you remember the way that you touched me before,
all the trembling sweetness
I loved and adored...
Your face saving promises
whispered like prayers.
I don't need them.

I need the darkness,
the sweetness,
the sadness,
the weakness,
ooh I need this.
I need a lullabye
a kiss goodnight,
angel, sweet love of my life
ooh I need this
Well, is it dark enough,
can you see me?
do you want me?
can you reach me?
or I'm leaving...
you better shut your mouth
and hold your breath
you kiss me now,
you catch your death
oh I mean this...
oh I mean this..

Oh people downcast in despair
See the disillusion everywhere
Hoping their bad luck will change
Gets a little harder everyday

People struggle
People fight for the simple pleasures in their life
The trouble comes from everywhere
It's a little more than you can bear

I know that it will hurt
I know that it will break your heart
The way things are
And the way they've been

And the way they've always been

People shallow
Self-absorbed
See the push and shove for their rewards
With nothing nice on their minds
You can read about it in their eyes

People ruthless
People cruel
The damage that some people do
SongtexteFull of hatred
Full of pride
It's enough to make you lose your mind

I know that it will hurt
I know that it will break your heart
The way things are
And the way they've been

Yeah I know that it will hurt
I know that it will break your heart
The way things are
And the way they've been

Don't spread the discontent
Don't spread the lies
Don't make the same mistakes with your own life
You know [ a little love survives ]

Yeah I know that it will hurt
I know that it will break your heart
The way things are
And the way they've been

Don't spread the discontent
Don't spread the lies
Don't make the same mistakes with your own life
And don't disrespect yourself
Don't lose your pride
And don't think everybody's going to choose your side
Oh no...
Oh no...
Oh no...
Oh no...
No no...

Farewell today, travel on now
Be on your way, go safely there
And never worry, never care
Beyond this day

Farewell tonight
To all joy and to all your life
Go on, go peacefully
We can't keep your majesty, be on your way

Make credit for the last King of May
Make a cardboard crown for him
And make your voices one
Praise a crazy mother's son who loved his life

Farewell today, travel on now, be on your way
Can't bear the very thought that we
That we could keep your majesty
Be on your way

Make credit for the last King of May
Make a hole in the crowd for him
Raise your voices up, drink your loving cup
To his long life, to his long life, ooh

Make credit for the last King of May
Make a hole in the sky for him
And raise your voices up, lift your loving cup
To his long life, his long life

And raise your voices up, lift your loving cup
To his long life, to his long life
His long life, his long life, to his long life

Remember how it all began
the apple and the fall of man
the price we pay
so the people say

Down the path of shame it led us
dare to bite the hand that fed us
fairy tale the moral end
wheel of fortune never turns again

Never turns again

The worst of it is come & gone in the chaos of millennium
in the falling out of the doomsday crowd
their last retreat is moving slow
they burn their bridges as they go
the heretic is beautified
teach the harlot's child to smile

Wracked again by indecision
should we make that small incision
testify to the bleeding heart inside
we cart ,we scratched ,we ran, we slashed
and when we opened up at last
found a cul-de-sac deep and black

Songtextesmoke and ash

deep and black
smoke and ash

The wicked king of parody
is kissing all his enemies
on the seventh day of the seventh week
the tyrant's voice is softer now
but just for one forgiving hour
before the rise of his
Iron fist again
Fist again

I've to come tonight
I've come to know
The way we are
the way we'll go
and to measure this
with the wide abyss

I come to you in restless sleep
where all your dreams turn bittersweet
with voodoo doll philosophies
day glo holy trinities

the crooked raft that leaves the shore
ferries drunken souls aboard
pilgrims march to compostelo ( * )
visions of their saint in yellow

follow deep in trance
lost in a catatonic dance
know no future
damn the past
blind, warm, ecstatic
safe at last

I'm an effigy
A parody of
Who I appear to be
Put your flaming torches under me
I'm an effigy
A parody of
Who I appear to be
Put your flaming torches under me
I'm an effigy
A parody of
Who I appear to be
Put your flaming torches under me
Endless [ so far in myself, ] follow me

What's it like there outside
With the living, with the living
He'd found a place I can hide
From the living, from the living
Because I don't care to stay with the living

Oh, the bottle has been to me
My closest friend, my worst enemy
Oh afraid that I walked a fine line
Squandered it all and wasted my time
And I don't stand a chance among the living

For the lovers I've gambled and lost
Count my mistakes whatever the cost
I'll go off, I'll make myself scarce
Oh, come tomorrow
You won't find me here

Because I don't care to stay with the living
I don't think I'll remain with the living

And I don't care to stay with the living
No, I don't care to stay

There’s a land beyond the river
that they call the sweet forever
and we’ll only reach that shore
by fate’s decree
one by one we’ll gain the portals
there to dwell with the immortals
when they ring the golden bells for you and me

don’t you hear the bells now ringing
don’t you hear the angels singing
to say glory hallelujah
to believe
in the far off sweet forever
just beyond the shining river
when they ring the golden bells for you and me

we shall know no sin or sorrow
in that river of tomorrow
when our hearts shall sail beyond the silvery sea
we shall only know the blessing
of our fathers sweet caressing
when they ring the golden bells for you and me

don’t you hear the bells now ringing
don’t you hear the angels singing
to say glory hallelujuah
Songtexteto believe
in the far off sweet forever
just beyond the shining river
when they ring the golden bells for you and me

when our days shall know their number
when in death we sweetly slumber
when the king commands the spirit to be free
never more with anguish laden
we shall reach that lovely Eden
when they ring the golden bells for you and me
when they ring the golden bells for you and me

[No lyrics]