10 Best 10,000 Maniacs Songs

The 10,000 Maniacs formed in upstate New York in 1981. They were initially an eclectic new wave outfit, with interesting elements like dub and folk within their sound. By 1987’s breakthrough In My Tribe, it was clear that vocalist Natalie Merchant was the band’s focal point, becoming known for her socially-conscious lyrics. The 10,000 Maniacs’ most successful release was 1993’s MTV Unplugged, with its cover of Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Because the Night’. It proved to be their last album before Merchant departed for a solo career. The band have soldiered on without Merchant, but I’ve followed her solo career rather than the band’s subsequent work, and only considered the band’s early era for this list.

17-year-old Merchant was originally recruited as a backing singer, but stepped into the lead role after original vocalist Teri Newhouse quit. Founding members Dennis Drew and Steven Gustafson are still in the band forty years after its formation, while founding guitarist Rob Buck passed away in 2000. Guitarist John Lombardo co-wrote much of the band’s early material with Merchant, but quit in 1986, rejoining after Merchant left 10,000 Maniacs for a solo career in 1993.

10 Best 10,000 Maniacs Songs

#10 Because The Night

from MTV Unplugged, 1993
Natalie Merchant’s swansong with the band was a live album for MTV. Most of the material was taken from their major label records, but they also threw in a cover of ‘Because The Night’. The song was originally a hit for Patti Smith in 1978, co-written with Bruce Springsteen. The Maniacs’ version isn’t quite as strong as the original but it was the bigger hit, reaching #11 on the US singles chart.

#9 Scorpio Rising

from The Wishing Chair, 1985
1985’s The Wishing Chair was the band’s first major-label album and accentuated the folk-rock aspects of the band with a cover of the traditional ‘Just As Tide Was A Flowing’. The most successful song, though, was the hard-charging ‘Scorpio Rising’, with Merchant’s challenge to “amaze me now!”

#8 City of Angels

from In My Tribe, 1987
10,000 Maniacs’ third album took them into the mainstream. Producer Peter Asher was a member of Peter and Gordon in the 1960s and a producer for James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt in the 1970s. While the chorus is uplifting, almost like a hymn with its organ part, Merchant’s lyrics are darker.

These are sobering sights I’ve seen in the city of angels
Have all been one rude awakening that was due to me in heaven

#7 Stockton Gala Days

from Our Time in Eden, 1992
Mary Ramsay would take over from Merchant as the band’s lead singer on their following studio record. On ‘Stockton Gala Days’ she’s featured on violin. It’s a pretty tune, accentuating the folk elements of the band, although Robert Buck’s chunky electric rhythm guitar gives it added vitality. Merchant’s lyrics are oblique, but it seems to be a coming-of-age tale.

#6 Eden

from Our Time in Eden, 1992
Our Time in Eden is the 10,000 Maniacs’ strongest album, with Merchant taking control of the band and producer Paul Fox providing a lush and layered sound. The title track wasn’t a single, but it’s beautifully regretful.

But the clock is another demon
That devours our time in Eden

#5 Trouble Me

from Blind Man’s Zoo, 1989
Blind Man’s Zoo was considered a disappointment for the band after the commercial breakthrough of In My Tribe. It failed to break new ground musically, while Merchant’s lyrics were criticised for their preachiness. It is often a little heavy-handed, with lyrics about chemical waste dumps and US intervention in Latin America. ‘Trouble Me’ stands out as a personal tale, about Merchant’s father’s stay in hospital.

#4 Like The Weather

from In My Tribe, 1987
‘Like The Weather’ was the second single taken from 1987’s breakthrough album In My Tribe. It was preceded by their cover of Cat Steven’s ‘Peace Train’ – famously removed from later pressings of the album after Stevens supported the fatwah against Salman Rushdie.

What I liked about this song and their music when I first heard it was the bright happy music set against the dark/sad lyrics…I really like the contrast. The band loved up-tempo songs but Natalie liked the darker lyrics.

PowerPop Blog: https://powerpop.blog/2021/06/07/10000-maniacs-like-the-weather-80s-underground-mondays/

#3 My Mother, the War

from Secrets of the I Ching (1983) and The Wishing Chair (1985)
The 10,000 Maniacs are best-known for the restrained folk-rock and adult contemporary they recorded in their later Natalie Merchant years. But their early work is surprisingly eclectic, and it’s reflected on ‘My Mother, the War’. The post-punk guitars are jagged, while the bassline is influenced by dub.

#2 Verdi Cries

from In My Tribe, 1987
On ‘Verdi Cries’ Merchant is accompanied only by Dennis Drew’s piano and some lovely understated strings. As noted above, the Maniacs often marry happy music with sad lyrics, but here a trivial incident is turned into something beautiful and profound. As Merchant states in the quote below, ‘Verdi Cries’ is literally about listening to the Italian composer Verdi – “With just three days more/I’d have just about learned the entire score to Aida.”

On her VH1 Storytellers special, Merchant told the story: “When I was a tender ingénue, when I was 20 years old, I was taken to Spain for the first time, to the wild frontier, and I had a very romantic holiday in the Balearic Islands, the island of Mallorca. And we stayed in a little hotel perched on this massive rock overlooking the Mediterranean. I repeat, very romantic.

There were a lot of different Europeans there, mostly Germans, Dutch, French, English, and it was very E.M. Forster, you know, the communal dining area on the terrace and the communal bathroom, one per floor, and the walls were very thin.

There was one older German gentleman who seemed a bit obsessed with one opera, which he listened to over and over. Every morning he would listen to this opera. And, I don’t know about you, but certain songs can be very evocative of periods in my life and that first trip to Spain is always associated in my mind with Verdi’s opera ‘Aida’ and the song that I wrote after called ‘Verdi Cries.'”

from https://www.songfacts.com/facts/10000-maniacs/verdi-cries

#1 These Are Days

from Our Time in Eden, 1992
‘These Are Days’ is an unimaginative pick for the band’s best song, but it’s terrific. There are some great arrangement details packed into the third verse – the drum fill, the lyric “you might fill with laughter until you break”, the descending bass run, and the vocal echo on the word light. The song captures a feeling of optimism and hope that I associate with lengthening days and warmer weather, while the band performed it at Bill Clinton’s inauguration in 1993.

What’s your favourite 10,000 Maniacs song?

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