10,000 Maniacs Don't Talk live (Letterman) 1987

[@larrychappell-ro4ds]

This was my inspiration song when I quit drinking in 1998. When I first heard this, it was like she was singing to me. This song helped me a lot. I haven't touched liquor 25 years.

[@MISTERFANCYPANTS1000]

Congratulations! Thanks for sharing.

[@John-wg1jh]

Poor Rob Buck.

[@donsaxon1948]

Well done !...strange that this video arrived this morning on New Years Eve as I'm feeling sick from all the beers I've drank over the weekend...needing some inspiration and saw your comment

[@scottfisher8249]

She has to be one of the most underrated song writers in history. Her songs have depth, meaning and they poetic. I am not sure about her life story, but this song shows me how much she understands both alcoholism and codependency. This and her song about child abuse are just awesome.

[@outtathyme5679]

An angel from heaven

[@billryan9350]

My first CD in 1987 after twenty years of vinyl. What a voice!!

[@tedsilversyeager840]

What a voice? Sure, but, this gal is beguiling, bejeweled, bedecked, and beautiful...she owns the room, and Letterman, if you follow her on his show....

[@vintagekart2]

Bought this album in '87 and still play it over and over. Not a bad cut on it. Natalie is fantastic and still is 100x better than today's screamers...

[@uncbbfblives]

me to! what a GEM!

[@gcgangsta8556]

“...still is 10,000x better than today’s screamers...” FIFY!! 🙂

[@BeatlesCentricUniverse]

Played In My Tribe last night. AMAZING CD. I would do anything to know the real guitar part to Hey Jack Kerouac.

[@MateoB73]

This is pure gold.

[@ProfessorChomsky]

I'm telling you, Natters songs are beautiful, insightful poems, that tell truths about our condition. In the future she will be revered and celebrated as such, there is no question. A beautiful, insightful, empathetic songstress/poet of the highest order xx

[@kensellers4082]

It really is something how the petite Ms. Merchant has such both a beautiful and powerful voice. And, she writes such insightful and profound lyrics. She truly is one the greatest musical performers of our generation.

[@MaurizioMusic]

something about this song from the first notes - tears well up -maybe because it takes me back to college - maybe because Natalie is such a beautiful soul.

[@redrocks1983]

What an album, song, artist! ❣️

[@domszanto]

I keep coming back to this as one of my favourite KZbin videos. Just one of the finest songs & finest performances of it they ever did.

[@wynstonsmith7194]

Check out Natalie doing "Wonder" on the Letterman show.

[@charleswaters300]

Saw them open for REM at Purdue University in 1987. People milling around waiting for REM. Then they pull this song out and the place goes up for grabs. Seen a lot of concerts and never seen anything like this. Awesome!

[@danielwriston1848]

Robert Buck one of my all time favorite guitarists from the 80's & 90's God rest his soul 🙏

[@MegaTurkeylips]

Where does she tuck her wings? This woman is an angel, not of this earth. God I love it when she feels comfortable enough to dance.

[@JaneLeonard]

Saw her last month in concert in Bath. Still as mesmerising and captivating as she is here 🎉

[@waffletube5707]

She’s on tour near me soon. Did she play any Maniacs material?

[@josephrusso4748]

The outro guitar solo is perfect for this song and one of my all time favorites. It's epic.

[@Bullstat1304]

One of the best and - sadly not given the universal accolades they deserve IMO- bands in my 60 years as a popular music aficionado. What a privilege to have seen their excellent live performance at The Town and Country club in 1990. Thank you.

[@jorgeespinosa3179]

I always did love how she danced onstage.

[@raulgonzalez6874]

What a voice and some of the most intelligent lyrics ever written. Natalie is one of a kind and has always let her voice do the talking. Her music and her message are inspired! Please come to Texas.....

[@salsaeightyone]

One of my favorite videos to watch over and over! I love how raw and real she is. I wish I could see this live NOW!

[@Marco200809]

Did you understand what she sang in the last part of the music?

[@Devsfan202]

@@Marco200809 Don't talk. I can guess it. You talk talk you talk as if you care. But when your talk is over you tilt that bottle in the air. Tossing back more than your share, so don't talk.

[@melaniebrantner6844]

Still watching ....... 2022 ❤️ And watching.... 1987

[@magicmulder]

Best band, best singer, best album, best song, hands down. Only discovered them after the release of Our Time In Eden, and I seem to carry the curse that this usually means "last album".

[@magistersteveperkins]

One of the finest vocalists and finest albums of all time.

[@Stanley_Pickle]

In My Tribe is one of my favorite albums. Every song is great!

[@portcullis5622]

I saw her sing this song acoustically at a couple of tiny English venues in July 2018; her voice is still wonderful.

[@peterwieser4631]

A tiny little girl timorously took the mic, then before my eyes she grew and grew and by end of song dwarfed any and all by song's end.

[@michaeljensen5020]

David Letterman had a huge crush on her for many years. He loves really smart, and naturally beautiful brunette women. I mean, who doesn't?

[@Stanley_Pickle]

One of my favorite albums of all time. IN MY TRIBE! I LOVE IT! Should have gotten a bigger applause!

[@babehol9610]

I am looking for reaction on this song, but nobody, best song of her..

[@jhchooo]

Damn, The World's Most Dangerous band nailed this song. 10000 Maniacs is criminally underappreciated band in 2024.

[@dathorndike4908]

Dave did have a great band. Props.

[@leftybass5860]

I bought this album after seeing this performance.

[@Sniffthedrippings]

1988 my sophomore year in college. We played the hell out of their CD. Good memories

[@daver5]

ditto! but i had it (still do) on cassette ;)

[@jimconstas1416]

a goddess society needs so many more

[@redrocks1983]

Sounds like they played @ 1.25x speed. I've loved Natalie since '87. ❤ Thanks for the classic clip.

[@milart12]

Yeah..way too fast

[@morriganravenchild6613]

She is stunning - what an amazing voice.....

[@mikeljones4673]

"I know that if you think of it both long enough and hard... It's the drink you drown your troubles in, that is the trouble that you're in now." One of the best lines in a song ever. Natalie

[@minnesotaslinger]

Amazing to think this song is over 30 years old. David Letterman looks like he's totally from the era when this was taped and yet the song is timeless and doesn't really have any of an 80s vibe to it at all, IMHO. (And I do love 80s music.) Such a great performance.

[@Sniffthedrippings]

I remember watching this the night it aired. College 88'

[@hekkl5]

Wow, I saw REM in a gymnasium and it was so hot we all took our shirts off. I was hooked. The next time I saw them they were arena - with 10,000 maniacs as the lead in. Cameron indoor. I thought they were speaking a foreign language. Then saw 10k several times. 2 great bands/songwriters. Thank you.

[@johnsusac8287]

Great memories from the the days at university of Florida. Love them....

[@warrenenglish942]

I still crush on her.

[@jbsnyder1736]

Oh to be young again!

[@kensellers4082]

Yeah, I saw them perform in concert in 1988. Time marches on. Oy vey!

[@Lovejazz01]

Natalie Merchant , one of my favorite singers of all time, legendary!! One of my favorite songs by the Maniacs!

[@kleytonleyton2123]

Unforgetable

[@kensellers4082]

Isn’t something that Ms. Merchant and her band mates wrote such profound songs dealing with depression (“Like The Weather”) and drunken spousal abuse (“Don’t Talk”) for example, but you still want get up and dance to the sound of such superb singing and instrumental excellence?

[@Lovejazz01]

@@kensellers4082 yes indeed, insightful and so talented at the same time!

[@anomalees]

i know natalie resides on Lake Katrine. she is a beautiful, whirling goddess. always admired her authentic ways. she was influenced by Fairport Convention especially Sandy Denny.

[@scotoram8400]

I will never lose my love for her music

[@jgilbertify]

Her timing and delivery is Perfection......................

[@BigEightiesNewWave]

OMG she is SO young here...LOVE HER.

[@gcgangsta8556]

Buff Barnaby Something very sexy about her.

[@tatoguimaraes1]

Wonderfull. Best 10.000 Maniacs sound!!! Love it!!! And this performance was incredible.

[@SitlerHQ]

My favorite Maniac tune.

[@3ld919]

My God Natalie is gorgeous here, arguably at the height of her beauty and that's saying something.

[@clarenceyee3529]

I remember seeing this broadcast back in 87.

[@TampaFanatic1]

Letterman always got all the cutting edge bands back in the '80s and '90s (Natalie Merchant, The Bangles, Joan Osborne, Concrete Blonde, No Doubt, and even Marilyn Manson with "Personal Jesus" and My Chemical Romance just for starters) as opposed to Carson and later Leno though Arsenio did get a few acts on his show during its short run....

[@kensellers4082]

The first time I saw 10,000 Maniacs was on “Saturday Night Live.” They performed “Like The Weather” and, I believe, “What’s The Matter Here,” and they sounded great. I saw them several months later at the old Garden State Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ. And they easily maintained their extremely high level of musical excellence; it was one of the finest concerts I have ever attended.

[@sparker4614]

I love her so much. One the very best.

[@timwhite5562]

All I want to know is WHAT is that yellow guitar? It's f'cking amazing. I've been repairing guitars for 25 years. I've had every type of guitar you could think of, vintage Gibson and Fender, $15,000+ PRS private stock and custom built one is a kind boutique guitars made by single luthiers, but I can never remember seeing one of these especially from the 80s. I a HAVE to find one. This was a great f'cking album from beginning to end. My member used to do subscribe to Colombia house record club. You know they always had ads in TV guide where you could get 12 albums for 1¢, but you had to buy 3 or 4@ full price over the first year. Everyone would get the 12 and then never but the full price, but you could keep doing it by just changing your name slightly. I was probably 13-14 when these albums were out and my mother had them on cassette, and always give them a try and ended up loving them and doing the same Columbia record club, but I did the 9 CD for a penny and the first order I did I got these. These were two of quite a few CDs that I bought and really liked but had to hide them under my mattress out of fear me friends might find them. We were all Headbangers, and people, especially teenagers were extremely tribal over the music we listened to, and having the wrong thing would meant you were subjected to weeks of ridicule. But still they were f'cking great. This one, the Cowboy Junkies* (to this day the Trinity sessions is one of the best sounding albums ever, songs aside), etc. I can remember even years later you'd be driving alone with the stereo playing loud in the spring or summer with three windows pulled down, and you'd immediately turn the radio down all the way into the light turned green so you would get caught. What idiots we were. She had such a great unique voice, it was so unlike anyone else's. I always found her oddly attractive in a very unconventional way, I could quite answer why it was it just was. 😊

[@BamZoom]

She is amazing

[@MISTERFANCYPANTS1000]

Such a powerful performance. Looking forward to seeing her in Ann Arbor on May 17th.

[@daniellinehan63]

Me too- Chicago May 19th

[@kenyattauhuru4462]

powerful ..brings back memories, hateful hate also one of my favorites.

[@jhchooo]

Crazy good how Letterman's band was... I am sure they probably rehearsed this once or maybe twice.

[@jamesmcgee6689]

I know that if you think of it both long and hard, the drink you drown your troubles in, is the trouble you're in now...

[@WickedPissahVideos]

This video has come and gone from KZbin in a couple of different forms over the years. Thank you for bringing it back and in higher quality than before. This was such a great performance. Not only is Natalie smoking hot, but Letterman's band is really showing how underrated they were. One of my favorite live TV music performances ever. Thanks!!!

[@adele1759]

She looks fabulous, I love her style. Both she and Maria McKee had a thrift store / vintage/ very demure style of dressing but, to my eyes (and I admit as a heterosexual woman I might not be the best judge) were far cooler and attractive than someone like Madonna

[@thomasbrown3356]

Much like REM, the cure, the Smiths, 10,000 maniacs were 90s prog well before the era. When mainstream radio came around, after 1991, I had no idea how long they had been around.

[@drummer78]

80’s indie/college radio was its own entity…it had no real connection to 90’s rock radio post Nirvana

[@jemes502]

Awesome it's 2024 and all the good music is gone

[@jonathanhawkins2227]

She’s so fab

[@gmajorspresents]

I loved every track on that record .

[@rour3355]

That guitar and that Performer.

[@sartainja]

I wish that I could go back to 1987 and relive my life knowing what I know now.

[@tomriker429]

... thereby violating the temporal prime directive. reported.

[@noproblem2big337]

I'm building a time machine 👍

[@MelliaBoomBot]

yup, should not have taken that acid at Stonehenge.

[@gcgangsta8556]

Jeff Sartain You aren’t kidding Jeff!! I’d pay a hefty sum of money to do just that my friend.

[@JoonKang]

I remember watching this as a high school senior, and I remember Dave shaking her hand and doing the get the hell outta here, I'm thinking to myself poor girl, she looked so nervous when Dave shook her hand (remember I'm looking through the lens of a naive 17 y.o.), very few singers with unique voice like hers ala Tanya Tucker!!!, after that my older brother used the hurry up and get the hell outta here as his theme, e.g. when we went to a restaurant, we would joke the waiters are thinking, hurry up and eat and get the hell outta here so we can turn this table...

[@markwaldron8954]

I think it was much more likely that her nervousness was from Letterman overtly ogling her, which we can't see in the video as his back is turned to the camera. In her later appearances on this show in the 90s his flirting with her is really blatant.

[@ethandeuel4313]

Watching in 2024

[@ProfessorChomsky]

Natters - a poet and a seer, a beautiful person and I'm glad I've been listening to her over the past >20 years. An education x

[@evanhughes1510]

Put down the drugs

[@ProfessorChomsky]

@@evanhughes1510 The fuck you on about?

[@sunsunnydayz]

Watching 2020. Who else?!!

[@eduardomota2429]

Stop this bullshit about years...just listen the song!

[@pooneej]

@@eduardomota2429 lol!!

[@gcgangsta8556]

soadfan33 Me!! Listen to this band every year at some point. One of my all time favs from one of the happiest times of my life!!

[@evanhughes1510]

Not me, I’m watching in 1920

[@Marco200809]

Watching 2021

[@domszanto]

Sublime performance, thanks for posting it!!

[@crx350x1]

this song is pure awesomeness

[@steelermia]

wow she had a bunch of letterman appearances .. he loved her

[@mongoosetrap]

They were literally neighbors for some time.

[@steelermia]

ooh .. well that would partly explain it

[@BookClubDisaster]

Then you KNOW that horndog Letterman tried to hit it.

[@stevehendricks1718]

shes right up there with all of the women of rock

[@9UaYXxB]

She's not a 'rock' artist, she's a songwriter, that is her core interest

[@richardtknees]

This is new for me to see. Natalie at her best= Angel.

[@Javster]

I LOVE HER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@ravey99]

Those eyes! Magnetic

[@Stanley_Pickle]

In my tribe is probably one of my favorite albums of all time! I love it. Nat was way too shy and Letterman was way to smug. In my tribe is one of the best CD's ever!

[@stevec597]

beautiful voice

[@armandogarcia2427]

Don't talk about me... Perfect song... Still and always will ❤

[@JohnCran]

Have always loved this song but only recently has the lyrics hit home. I have had a crush on Natalie from the first time I saw her.

[@GeN3Mag]

When she ripped her head band off that was pretty much a move from heaven.

[@michaelcottle6270]

Yeah, that usually meant that the launch sequence was locked in but Natalie was pretty restrained here...

[@todd9574]

The build up was even better.

[@todd9574]

@@michaelcottle6270 All really tight on this take. Good core.

[@Shackleton71]

Top 3 goddesses of all time! Still waiting her to call me back ❤

[@davekannikal5036]

Never thought about how good The World's Most Dangerous Band was and how effortlessly they seemed to be able to play any song with anybody

[@soulscanner66]

Yup .. the more you watch them, the more you see that. ...

[@masterr8r]

Listen to this side by side to any 10000 Maniacs performance circa 87-88. The Schaeffer Band is awful. Tempo feel depth even the mix is all wrong. Thumbs down.

[@davekannikal5036]

@@masterr8r They probably had 4 hours to learn and rehearse the song, so I will give them props for approximating another bands sound

[@MrPickledede]

Very very sad that this song about alcoholism and Robert Buck passed away from Cirrosious of the Liver brought on by his alcoholism in 2000

[@TampaFanatic1]

Man he played a great guitar didn't he? He did a great guitar solo in one of the live recordings of Peace Train that was truly masterful. Guy was truly a talent much like Bob Mould was with Husker Du and now as a solo act. He died way too soon. I suspect this pandemic will lead to an uptick in alcohol/drug related fatalities as so many are on unemployment now and told to stay home. Those in recovery programs are severely tested as virtual meetings just are not the same as the actual experience of sharing face to face. Anyhow, I hope that everyone stays upbeat, healthy and hopeful in these trying times.

[@gwendolynkaren5933]

@@TampaFanatic1 still self quarantining September 11 2020

[@TampaFanatic1]

@@gwendolynkaren5933 Take care. You are not alone, If you need to talk send a message. No one deserves to be alone in this world today Ms Gwendolyn Karen and you I hope you your world becomes more positive!

[@Marco200809]

I always thought this song was made for him, indirectly. He always had alcohol problems.

[@kensellers4082]

@@Marco200809 That is really tragic that the talented Robert Buck’s life was cut short by alcoholism. I’ve seen friends and members of my own family succumb to this insidious illness. And, with the advent of this new Omicron variant, I think more people will unfortunately resort to drink and drugs in an attempt to cope with the stress and anxiety that this God-awful pandemic has engendered worldwide. Stay safe and well, everyone.

[@scotoram8400]

One of my favorite voices of all time In my limited.

[@rullmourn1142]

same.

[@drgonzoatmpls]

Nat's coolest chick history of Earth.

[@karenbrown4524]

My favorite artist EVER!!!

[@rlfjr_]

i wish the studio recording had this energy

[@ZAS-im7tj]

What is about her? Absolutely sexy without even trying

[@TheZxman]

Such a unique voice loved her

[@jkmorrison1013]

she was gorgeous but she looked so sweet and shy when Letterman went up to her

[@HCaulfield115]

Omg when she takes her hair thingy off 😍

[@GeN3Mag]

That was a move from heaven

[@mazdafiero112]

Agreed!

[@pghherby6757]

That was Larry Bud Melmens soiled tshirt.

[@bridgetharris698]

This songs so real to me I thought she had met my husband. Sounds like a perfect description of him.

[@skatepark1ful]

I bet we all reading these and enjoying this video “ FEEL LIE IT IS THE FIRST TIME “. I do! The lyrics destroy me!!!!!, and her voice and their melody, well I can’t express verbally, make me happy!!!!! So I block out the words and enjoy the music. Y’all probably understand. Cheers to all good people

[@keto6789]

Back when music was good!

[@donreed]

03/23/23: I recently put a montage together (in book form). A splendid photograph of the entire band (1980s) is centered in one of the pages. These were dignified human beings. What faces! I thank you.

[@williamcampbell2656]

She sang and walked away! Wtf! I'd rather hear her that John Malkovich. This was 1987. One of the last years of rock n Roll o r good music.

[@rosajimenez7777]

That voice! Woaw

[@MahdiJafarkhani]

Rest in peace Robert

[@maface6712]

Great quality thanks for posting!

[@FreshGrey-pm4vw]

I saw them in Los Angeles in the 90's and she had a bit of a tantrum mid show, got pissed off that audience wanted to hear Cat Stevens...Great singer, with an artistic temperament.

[@Stanley_Pickle]

Did you know that Carly Simon wrote "Anticipation" while she was waiting for Cat Stevens to arrive for their date?

[@johndistaso6353]

The best then -- and now....

[@ren775]

Robert Buck playing an upside-down left hand guitar. Awesome. But could we not have 10,000 Maniacs and not Paul Schaeffer. What the hell does he add to this great song.