THANKSGIVING: Thank You, etc.

I truly believe it's the song, not the singer, that matters. I have to. I've bought all those Bob Dylan records. But great singers are like great salesmen, and you'll end up buying no matter what it is. This isn't to say a bad song can sound great, but something that might seem unremarkable on a lyric sheet can result in a musical performance of great emotional heft.

Take Natalie Merchant's "Kind and Generous." The top single from her 1998 album Ophelia, it reads like a Hallmark card, the sort of thing you send your grandmother after a particularly large birthday check. The words aren't overly sappy, just simple, nothing special. But Merchant's light, jazzy voice makes them soar. The melody and production, also by Merchant, are also noteworthy.

I once had a friend who, as a classically trained singer, dismissed Merchant's singing as thin and amateurish. It's true that Merchant is no Celine Dion, but isn't that precisely why she's better than Celine Dion? She has a way of caressing a melody, letting her billowing contralto wrap around the words and notes rather than pulverize them. She's no diva, and that is her talent.

The success of Merchant's solo work in the 1990s (she had previously been the lead singer of alt-rockers 10,000 Maniacs) made her one of America's top female singer-songwriters. She was a main attraction at the famous Lilith Fair late in that decade. Nobody makes more fun of Lilith Fair than me, but hell, songs like this almost make me wish they'd hold another one. Just don't tell Jewel where it'll be.

TODAY'S RECOMMENDATION: "Kind and Generous" by Natalie Merchant
AVAILABLE ON: Ophelia; iTunes