On 10,000 Maniacs’ somber ballad “I’m Not the Man,” Natalie Merchant tells an impassioned tale of a man wrongfully accused and sentenced to death. While the languid folk-rock arrangement may be low on energy, Merchant’s powerful lyrics shine through.

She inhabits the voice of a desperate prisoner professing his innocence – “I’m not the man they say that I am” – as he faces execution for a murder committed by racist groups like the KKK. Merchant humanizes the anonymity of death row, portraying the agonizing wait for death as the chorus repeats “nineteen days, nineteen days.”

As instruments gently sway beneath her, Merchant belts the lyrics with conviction. By the final choruses, as she wails “I did not kill that man,” any sonic lethargy is eclipsed by her emotional urgency. However sleepy the music, Merchant won’t let us overlook this pleas for justice.

While gallows humor pervades many capital punishment songs, “I’m Not the Man” drives home the intolerable reality of hanging innocent men. Merchant’s passion and focus on lyrical storytelling cut through the ballad’s sonic drawbacks. The result is a moving testament to music’s power to humanize in the face of injustice.