Thank you, thank you.

Tonight I saw Natalie Merchant in concert.

I love this woman.

I remember sitting in my room and listening to central Washington's favorite pop hits station, 107.3 fm, at the grand ripe age of 5th grade. Since everybody knows that 1995-1999 was one of the last golden ages of music to hit our time, I don't even have to describe what happened the first time I heard the toe-tapping, intoxicating beat hit my boom-box (the kind with a tape recorder for making mixed tapes or recording my own voice playing DJ - holla!). Tap, tap, bongo, snare, tap, tap...then the slow grinding of the electric guitar, ushering in a smooth and sultry voice singing, "I've walked these streets..."

Of course, Natalie had already been around for a while before I discovered her. She's been making music for almost 30 years, as the lead singer of 10,000 Maniacs in the 80s and going solo in the 90s. I didn't get really "into" Natalie as a kid, but I remember how captivating Carnival was. I was reintroduced to her music a few years ago when a friend of mine chose Kind and Generous as the song she and the groom danced to with their parents at her wedding. When my dad died, all the music I heard in the ensuing months was marked indelibly on my brain, and that song was one of the major hits on the radio that summer. I remember driving around doing airport runs and other activities in the business of bereavement, everyone in our big blue mini-van singing, "Na na na na na na na..." for a moment forgetting the heaviness and shock of what had just happened to enjoy the quaint eloquence of a song that serves no purpose but to say the small but powerful (and neglected) phrase, "Thank you."

Her performance confirmed my suspicions that Natalie must be one of the most down-to-earth people in the world. She dances around during all of her songs. Not like that's part of the entertainment package - she doesn't whip out any fancy special moves. It's like she's in her living room dancing to the Beatles or something. It seemed like she would have had just as much fun whether or not anyone in the audience was there.

I was also surprised by her hilarious, biting sarcasm. "I really hope you aren't recording this for Youtube," she said. "I don't want people thinking Natalie Merchant has a sense of humor. It's one of my best kept secrets."

Her songs are simple, but contain a depth that can only come through the necessarily courageous attempt at honesty that an artist is always striving for. She writes of the joys as well as the sorrows of life, but her admonition is to celebrate them all.

Thank you, Natalie for your music. Thank you, God for my life.