Be true to yourself, and, um, don’t worry about some large companies’ quarterly profit index. – Natalie Merchant
It’s funny, I remember doing the Johnny Carson show, and, uh, I couldn’t afford my rent. – Natalie Merchant
I think of myself as a musician and not a celebrity. Celebrity status is something you have to deliberately pursue – I couldn’t imagine myself seeking that. – Natalie Merchant
I’m on this search trying to figure out exactly who I am and what I have to say to people. – Natalie Merchant
The research phase was really fascinating – I’m not a closeted nerd, I’m an out-of-the-closet nerd. – Natalie Merchant
I wish I had appreciated my youth – I should have worn tighter clothing when I could have! – Natalie Merchant
I would say I’d rather dig a ditch, you know, do hard, manual labor than write lyrics. – Natalie Merchant
Literature gives us a window into other people’s experiences in other places, in other times, so I thought it would be really interesting to investigate how different people had written about motherhood, and childhood. – Natalie Merchant
I don’t want to live in a culture of despair. I’d like to live in a culture of hope. – Natalie Merchant
It’s really wonderful to be able to be nobody, and then have a moment when I can be somebody, and then go right back to being nobody again. – Natalie Merchant
I can’t remove the autobiographical slant from the things I write. You always bring yourself into what you’re writing. – Natalie Merchant
I’ve found out how overwhelming the media is and the way it drills things into your head, it’s almost like a mind control. If I could control prople’s minds, I’d like to put something useful in. – Natalie Merchant
I don’t think women’s prisons are environments for dance routines, and I don’t think mass murder is humorous. – Natalie Merchant
My mother was a single working mother; she started having children very young. There was a tension inside her about who she wanted to be and what she wanted to do and how she couldn’t achieve the things she wanted to. – Natalie Merchant
I was shy. Bookish. The kind of 13-year-old girl who, instead of having a boyfriend, would have a crush on a dead, 19th-century author! – Natalie Merchant
