“Beloved Wife” by Natalie Merchant

The lilting melodies and plaintive lyrics of American singer-songwriter Natalie Merchant’s debut solo album, Tigerlily, have made it a classic since its 1995 release. Yet despite the chart-topping success of “Jealousy,” “Carnival” and “Wonder,” it is perhaps “Beloved Wife” that is the album’s most moving song.

The ballad begins with the haunting words of a man mourning the loss of his wife of 50 years:

You were the love for certain of my life
You were simply my beloved wife
I don’t know for certain how I’ll live my life
Now alone without my beloved wife
My beloved wife

Creating Music for the Ages

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Natalie Merchant had left a successful career as lead singer of the folk-pop band 10,000 Maniacs — with whom she’d worked since the age of 17 — to produce Tigerlily. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, she explained that she did so “because of a necessity for growth”; the move allowed the artist to explore new themes and approaches. She then wrote “Beloved Wife” for her grandfather, who died mere days after losing his wife — her grandmother. “Seeing her in her coffin was too bleak for him,” Merchant said. “He couldn’t imagine life without her.”

Indeed, the lyrics of “Beloved Wife” reflect the relatively common occurrence of one lifelong partner dying shortly after another, a phenomenon known as “broken heart syndrome” or the “widowhood effect”:

It’s you I can’t deny
It’s you I can’t defy
A depth so deep into my grief
Without my beloved soul
I renounce my life
As my right

Merchant told the LA Times that she was additionally inspired by two elderly neighbors in New York, both of whom were widowed. “They reminded me of my grandfather — especially this man named Sonny,” she said. “His wife passed away nine years ago, and he still thinks of her constantly.”

Nearly 30 years after its release, “Beloved Wife” still stands as a testament to the inevitable heartbreak and devastation suffered by lifelong loved ones in the wake of loss and death. You can listen to Merchant performing the song below.