In My Tribe. Merchant joined 10,000 Maniacs at the age of 17 and became the band's driving artistic force. After a pair of successful independent releases, they signed to Elektra in 1985 and briefly became one of the most popular acts in alternative rock, shooting into the Top 40 with 1987's In My Tribe and charting even higher with their follow-up effort, Blind Man's Zoo. Merchant's desire to launch a solo career increased alongside the band's growing reputation, however, and by the time the group sat down to record 1992's Our Time in Eden, she gave her bandmates two years' notice. Following the release of MTV Unplugged in 1994, she publicly announced she was leaving the group's ranks.
OpheliaMerchant made her solo debut with 1995's Tigerlily, a self-produced album that debuted at number 13 and scored a Top Ten single with "Carnival." Two additional singles, "Wonder" and "Jealousy," also cracked the Top 40, prompting Tigerlily to sell over five million copies in the U.S. alone. It was followed in 1998 by Ophelia, another platinum-selling effort that was supported by Merchant's inclusion in the second Lilith Fair tour. Live in Concert, recorded at New York's Neil Simon Theatre, appeared a year later. A prominent social activist, Merchant also drew notice by campaigning in the name of such hot-button issues as animal rights, domestic violence, and homelessness.
MotherlandMerchant launched a folk tour in 2000, with members of progressive folk band the Horse Flies joining her on the road. She then returned to her solo career with Motherland. Two years later, Merchant left Elektra's roster and formed her own independent label, Myth America, in order to issue House Carpenter's Daughter, a collection of traditional and contemporary folk music inspired by the 2000 tour. A long period of silence followed, during which a pair of greatest-hits releases -- the 10,000 Maniacs collection Campfire Songs and Merchant's own Retrospective: 1995-2005 -- kept fans relatively sated. As the decade drew to a close, though, Merchant signed with Nonesuch Records and began making plans for a new album, which eventually arrived in the form of the ambitious, double-disc neo-children's album, 2010's Leave Your Sleep. Merchant returned to straight-ahead pop music with a self-titled album in May 2014.
All I Want
Natalie Merchant Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Traveling, traveling, traveling,
Looking for something, what can it be
Oh I hate you some, I hate you some, I love you some,
Oh I love you, when I forget about me,
I want to be strong, I want to to laugh along,
I want to belong to the living,
Alive, alive, I want to get up and jive
Do you want? Do you want?
Do you want to dance with me, baby?
Do you want to take a chance
On maybe finding some sweet romance with me baby?
Well, come on.
All I really, really want our love to do
Is to bring out the best in me and in you too
All I really, really want our love to do
Is to bring out the best in me and in you
I want to talk to you,
I want to shampoo you,
I want to renew you again and again,
Applause, Applause, life is our cause
When I think of your kisses,
My mind see-saws,
Do you see, do you see, do you see, how you hurt me, baby
So I hurt you too, and we both get so blue
I am on a lonely road and I am traveling
Looking for the key to set me free
Oh the jealousy, the greed is the unraveling, it's the unraveling
And it undoes all the joy that could be
I want to have fun,
I want to shine like the sun
I want to be the one that you want to see
I want to knit you a sweater,
I want to write you a love letter,
I want to make you feel better,
I want to make you feel free
Oh oh oh, I want to make you feel free,
I want to make you feel free
Natalie Merchant's "All I Want" is a song that talks about one's journey in finding love and the joys and struggles that come with it. The first verse describes the singer's journey along a lonely road, looking for something that they cannot quite define. The line "Oh I hate you some, I hate you some, I love you some" carries a conflicting message that suggests a push-and-pull dynamic of love and hate. However, the singer declares their desire to belong to the living, to feel alive - a sentiment that echoes the universal human desire to feel connected and be a part of something larger than themselves. The line "I want to wreck my stockings in some jukebox dive" suggests a longing for release and letting go, to lose oneself completely in the moment.
The second verse continues this theme of wanting to connect with someone on a deeper level. The singer wants to talk to the person, shampoo them, and renew them. The chorus declares the singer's desire for love to be a force that brings out the best in both partners. The line "Do you see, do you see, do you see, how you hurt me, baby? So I hurt you too, and we both get so blue" demonstrates an honesty in acknowledging the pain that comes with love and relationships, but also the power of empathy and understanding.
The final verse brings a sense of melancholy in talking about jealousy and greed being the unraveling of joy. The singer still declares their desire for fun and sunshine and to be the one their partner wants to see. The song ends on a sweet note, with the desire to make their partner feel better and free.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm on a lonely road and I'm traveling,
I'm travelling in solitude, looking for something.
Traveling, traveling, traveling,
I'm constantly moving forward.
Looking for something, what can it be
I don't know what I'm searching for.
Oh I hate you some, I hate you some, I love you some,
My feelings towards you are a mix of love and hate.
Oh I love you, when I forget about me,
I love you when I'm not focused on myself.
I want to be strong, I want to to laugh along,
I desire strength and laughter.
I want to belong to the living,
I want to feel alive.
Alive, alive, I want to get up and jive
I want to dance and enjoy life.
I want to wreck my stockings in some juke box dive
I want to let loose in a dive bar.
Do you want? Do you want?
Are you interested?
Do you want to dance with me, baby?
Do you want to dance with me?
Do you want to take a chance
Are you willing to take a risk?
On maybe finding some sweet romance with me baby?
To find love with me?
Well, come on.
Let's do it.
All I really, really want our love to do
The only thing I want our love to do
Is to bring out the best in me and in you too
Is to bring out the best in both of us.
I want to talk to you,
I want to have a conversation with you.
I want to shampoo you,
I want to wash your hair.
I want to renew you again and again,
I want to refresh you.
Applause, Applause, life is our cause
Life is worth celebrating.
When I think of your kisses,
When I think about your kisses.
My mind see-saws,
My thoughts are all over the place.
Do you see, do you see, do you see, how you hurt me, baby
Do you understand how you've hurt me?
So I hurt you too, and we both get so blue
So I hurt you back and we both feel sad.
I am on a lonely road and I am traveling
I'm still searching for something.
Looking for the key to set me free
Looking for a way to become free.
Oh the jealousy, the greed is the unraveling, it's the unraveling
Jealousy and greed have caused problems for us.
And it undoes all the joy that could be
It takes away from the happiness we could have.
I want to have fun,
I want to enjoy myself.
I want to shine like the sun
I want to radiate joy.
I want to be the one that you want to see
I want to be someone that you want to spend time with.
I want to knit you a sweater,
I want to make you a sweater.
I want to write you a love letter,
I want to express my love in a letter.
I want to make you feel better,
I want to make you feel good.
I want to make you feel free
I want to make you feel unrestricted.
Oh oh oh, I want to make you feel free,
I really want to make you feel free.
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: STEVEN DUBERRY, SIMON WEBBE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@gustavofranchella3482
Twenty-five years and counting, what a version of this song!
@gustavo19560828
Tomorrow: 20 years from this awesome session, God I wish I could get hold of the video!
@dixonjazzy56
I 💘 this cover and Natalie & Joni of course...
@gustavo19560828
Is there a way to getting hold of the video this recording? So beautiful!
@archive880
Hi Gustavo,
I haven't heard of a video but would love to find one...
@archive880
Hi Gustavo,
I haven't heard of a video but would love to find one.