Merritt's father taught her guitar chords and Percy Sledge songs. She began her professional career in 1998 with her band The Carbines playing small clubs. In her early twenties, though Tift had gigged by herself, she decided she was not very good at music and better suited for writing short stories. She and her dog Lucy started school at UNC to study creative writing. There, she met Zeke Hutchins, whose band had just taken a hiatus and who had decided to become a school teacher. With his encouragement and a big box of LPs from the 70's that they both liked, they started a band. Zeke set drums up in the kitchen of Tift's farmhouse on the outskirts of town, and they practiced songs at her red piano. The Carbines played Chapel Hill haunts like the Cave, the Cat's Cradle, and the front porch of the General Store in Bynum, NC. Tift also made a guest appearance on the Two Dollar Pistols with Tift Merritt EP.
In 2000, Tift won Merlefest's Chris Austin Songwriting contest, and with the help of Ryan Adams, found herself with a manager and a recording contract with Lost Highway records. The band headed to LA to record her first release, Bramble Rose, in 2002, produced by Ethan Johns. The record landed on Time Magazine's and New Yorker's top ten lists and was called the best debut of the year in any genre by the Associated Press. Tambourine followed in 2004. Produced by George Drakoulias, featuring Mike Campbell of the Hearbreakers on guitar, Tambourine was a soul-rock throw down, Grammy-nominated for Country Album of the Year, even though it was really not a country album. It was also nominated for three Americana Music Awards. The tour opened for Elvis Costello, recorded Austin City Limits, releasing the performance as a live DVD, and made Home Is Loud, a document of the tour's homecoming concert in Raleigh, NC. As the tour was winding down, Tift ran away to Paris looking for her mojo and, without intending to, started writing songs that would become Another Country. Another Country was released on Fantasy Records in 2008, again with George Drakoulias and her longtime band at the helm. Buckingham Solo, recorded in England, is an intimate concert behind Another Country, released on Fantasy in April 2009. Also in 2009, Tift had her first art exhibit, Other Countries, bringing the journals and pictures behind Another Country to light.
Tift also produces The Spark for KRTS Marfa, Texas Public Radio. The Spark explores the real lives and processes of the people behind great works of art. Guests have included writer Nick Hornby, artist Kiki Smith, songstress and Merge co-founder Mac MCCaughan. Emmylou Harris, when asked about Tift, said, “I first heard Tift Merritt some years ago during a writer's night at a small club in Nashville. She stood out like a diamond in a coal patch, and everyone there knew she carried a promise of great things to come.”
In 2009, Tift married longtime collaborator Zeke Hutchins. They lived in a small Greenwich Village apartment in NYC, and later divorced.
Traveling Alone, her fifth studio album, was recorded in Brooklyn and featuring guest spots from Marc Ribot, Andrew Bird, and others, was released in the fall of 2012.
Her sixth studio Stitch of the World was released in 2017. According to the review in Pop Matters, "The stories surrounding Stitch of the World, Tift Merritt's most recent album, make up their narrative, with divorce, relocation, and childbirth at the center of the tale... But Merritt's gift for the record has been to write a series of songs that sound personal without relying on anything autobiographical... the songs are individual, a capturing of Merritt's vision that's unguarded and inviting without being limited."
http://www.tiftmerritt.com/
Something To Me
Tift Merritt Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A corner dressed in flyers and rain
Something came over me, something came over me
Without asking, it came right in
To my bones, through my skin
Something came over me, something came over me
Like a sweet old song, playing there all along
Oh it came over me
At lot like a seeing a ghost you know
The beat in the water way down low
How it came over me, the way it came over me
A thread in a thread, I felt complete
Like lightening made in summer heat
How it came over me, the way it came over me
Something so loud without a sound at all
Just a sweet old song, playing there all along
And it came over me
I forgot my heart had room like that
Open spaces behind the cracks
Something came over me, something come over me
I stood there thinking how good it is
Wasn't any different than a night like this
Something came over me, something came over me
Something so loud without a sound at all
Just a sweet old song, playing there all along
Something so loud without a sound at all
Just a sweet old song, playing there all along
Oh it came over me
The lyrics of Tift Merritt's song "Something To Me" describe a profound moment of realization and connection with the world. The setting of a late night city, with rain and flyers scattered about, sets the scene for an unexpected experience. The something that comes over the singer is not quite tangible, but felt deeply in their bones and skin. The feeling is something so loud and yet without any sound at all. The metaphor of hearing a sweet old song playing all along captures the sense of having always been connected to this feeling, even if not consciously aware of it.
The experience of Something To Me is like seeing a ghost, with a beating pulse that is felt deep within the singer. This sensation completes them and makes them feel whole, like lightning made in summer heat. The singer realizes that they have forgotten that their heart had room for such feelings and that there are open spaces behind the cracks. This realization brings a sense of clarity and appreciation for life's simple pleasures. The singer reflects that this night is no different than any other, yet the something that has come over them has made it feel special and significant.
The song is a beautiful ode to the power of connection and self-discovery. It speaks to the idea that we can feel lost or disconnected, but that there is always the possibility of something coming over us and reminding us of our capacity for joy and wonder.
Line by Line Meaning
Late night city after a train
The setting is a late night in the city, after a train has passed.
A corner dressed in flyers and rain
The corner is covered in both flyers and rain.
Something came over me, something came over me
The singer experienced a sudden change or feeling that came over them twice.
Without asking, it came right in
The feeling came into the artist's experience without invitation.
To my bones, through my skin
The feeling affected the artist's entire being.
Something so loud without a sound at all
The feeling is powerful and impactful despite being intangible.
Like a sweet old song, playing there all along
The feeling was present within the singer for some time, like a familiar song.
Oh it came over me
The artist reiterates the suddenness and unexpected nature of the feeling.
At lot like a seeing a ghost you know
The feeling is compared to the experience of seeing a ghost.
The beat in the water way down low
The artist subtly alludes to the feeling being akin to the sound of a heartbeat deep within them.
How it came over me, the way it came over me
The singer remarks again about the sudden and unforeseeable nature of the feeling.
A thread in a thread, I felt complete
The feeling made the artist feel whole and complete, like a thread weaving into a larger fabric.
Like lightening made in summer heat
The intensity of the feeling is likened to the creation of lightning during the heat of summer.
I forgot my heart had room like that
The singer is taken aback by how much space their heart has for the feeling, as if they had forgotten they were capable of feeling such things.
Open spaces behind the cracks
The singer compares their heart to a surface that appears cracked, but in reality has more space than meets the eye.
I stood there thinking how good it is
The artist reflects on how positive the experience of feeling the sudden feeling is.
Wasn't any different than a night like this
The artist remarks that the feeling didn't necessarily come from any specific event or occurrence, but was simply a part of the night.
Something so loud without a sound at all
The singer once again emphasizes that the feeling was powerful despite not being audible.
Just a sweet old song, playing there all along
The feeling has been with the singer for some time, much like a familiar tune.
And it came over me
The artist reiterates the suddenness and unexpected nature of the feeling one final time.
Lyrics © WORDS & MUSIC A DIV OF BIG DEAL MUSIC LLC
Written by: CATHERINE MERRITT
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind