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 Herway.

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 9 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 9 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.

All Miss Tilly, I think you should know, everyone's missing you here.

Your fortune telling cards, prayer flags in the eye. Your real couples and your stacks of mother-jaws.

Your feminist raves in your tidium shades, and yours have left so far.

My name's 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 loud 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.

And he said, when I give you the signal, play this song as loud as you can.

And he gave me the signal and it was Waterloo Sonset by the Kinks.

It was her favorite song.

And the entire group of people in the room started weeping and laughing and everyone stood up.

And I was one of the people laughing and crying at the same time.

Fast forward three years in the middle of the pandemic lockdown.

I had a couple other friends of that same generation pass away and we weren't able to have any memorials.

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