You're listening to Song Exploder,
where musicians take apart their songs and piece by piece tell the story of how they were made.
I'm Rishikesh Hirway.
Natalie Merchant is an award-winning singer and songwriter from upstate New York.
She was the lead singer of the band 10,000 Maniacs until she left in 1993.
And then, as a solo artist, she's put out nine albums over the last 30 years.
Between 10,000 Maniacs and her solo work, she's had multiple multi-platinum records.
In April 2023, Natalie put out her first album of new songs in nine years.
It's called Keep Your Courage.
And for this episode, she talked to me about the song Sister Tilly.
It's a eulogy for a fictional character,
a woman who represents the generation of women who influenced her,
women who were activists in the 1960s and 70s when she was growing up.
Miss Tilly, I think you should know Everyone's missing you here Your fortune-telling cards,
prayer flags in the eye Your real capons and your stacks of Mother Jones Your feminist raves and your quotidian shades And your zeppelin,
so fly My name is Natalie Merchant.
About three years before I wrote Sister Tilly,
I went to a funeral for a beloved librarian in my small town.
The memorial was so large that we had to have it in a school auditorium.
Her husband came up to me before the memorial because I was running the sound.