2. Melanie: Midwest Auckland emo four piece Melanie released their full length album 42 Losers in May 2020 and have been playing a fine selection of gigs and house parties since
1. Born on the 3rd February 1947 in Astoria, New York deceased 23rd January 2024, Melanie made her first recording, "Gimme a Little Kiss", when she was five.
She first found chart success in Europe. Her 1969 song "Bobo's Party" reached number one in France. Later that year she had a hit in the Netherlands with "Beautiful People" before performing at Woodstock. Apparently, she was inspired to write "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)" by the audience lighting candles during her set; the song became a hit in both Europe and the USA. Her biggest hit in the USA was "Brand New Key", also known as "The Roller Skate Song". She has been awarded three gold albums.
Three of Melanie's compositions were hits for The New Seekers: "Look What They've Done to My Song Ma", "Beautiful People", and "The Nickel Song".
With one exception her albums have been produced by her husband, Peter Schekeryk. Her three children - Leilah, Jeordie and Beau-Jarred -are also musicians. Beau-Jarred is a guitarist and accompanies his mother on The 2003 Australian hip-hop track "The Nosebleed Section" by The Hilltop Hoods sampled Melanie's "People in the Front Row".
In 2004 Melanie released Paled by Dimmer Light, which is co-produced by Peter and Beau-Jarred Schekeryk.
In 2010 the last album co- produced by her now late husband Peter Schekeryj and their son Beau Jarred Schekeryk was released: Ever Since You Never Heard Of Me
Melanie, who became the voice of an era in one magical instant onstage at Woodstock, has been putting the pieces in order.
Pieces of a career, scattered by the winds of experience and assembled again by the force of love into the most personal and brilliant moments of her musical journey.
Melanie is poised to enlighten new generations about what it means to sing with both passion and eloquence, to write at once with intelligence and emotion, and to inspire through song… and nobody does this better than Melanie.
Others learned this that night at Woodstock, where as a New York kid barely known outside of the coffeehouse circuit in Greenwich Village, she sang her song "Beautiful People" and inspired the first panorama of candles and cigarette lighters ever raised at a concert event. That, in turn, moved the young singer to write "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain"), which sold more than one million copies in 1970 and
prompted Billboard, Cashbox, Melody Maker, Record World, and Bravo to anoint her
as female vocalist of the year. Her single "Brand New Key," an infectious romp about
freedom and roller skates, topped the charts in 1971.
And so her story began.
With guitar in hand and a talent that combined amazing vocal equipment, disarming
humor, and a vibrant engagement with life, she was booked as the first solo pop/rock
artist ever to appear from the Royal Albert Hall to Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan
Opera House, and later opened the New Metropolitan Opera House in New York, the
Sydney Opera House, and in the General Assembly of the United Nations, where she
was invited to perform on many occasions as delegates greeted her performances
with standing ovations.
The top television hosts of all time -- Ed Sullivan, Johnny Carson, and Dick Cavett --
battled to book her. (After her stunning performance on his show, Sullivan goggled
that he had not seen such a "dedicated and responsive audience since ElvisPresley.")
Accolades rolled in, from critics ("Melanie's cult has long been famous, but it's a cult
that's responding to something genuine and powerful -- which is maybe another way
of saying that this writer counts himself as part of the cult too," wrote John Rockwell
in The New York Times) as well as peers ("Melanie," insisted jazz piano virtuoso
Roger Kellaway, "is extraordinary to the point that she could be sitting in front of us in
this room and sing something like 'Momma Momma' right to us, and it would just go
right through your entire being.")
In the years that followed Melanie continued to record, continued to tour.
UNICEF made her its spokesperson; Jimi Hendrix's father introduced her to the
multitude assembled for the twentieth anniversary of Woodstock. Her records
continued to sell -- more than eighty million to date. She's had her songs covered by
singers as diverse as Cher, Dolly Parton, and Macy Gray. She's raised a family, won
an Emmy, opened a restaurant, written a musical about Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity
Jane…
She has, in short, lived a rare life. But all of it was just a prelude to what's about to
come.
"For the first time, I'm not afraid to voice exactly what I feel. I used to feel that I didn't
want to say too much, but now I can say anything. I feel like a person who's never
been heard. Maybe people think they've heard me, but they never really have. I'm a
new artist who is having so much fun with my voice -- a person shouldn't be allowed
to have so much fun. I'm the woman I wanted to be when I was sixteen and going for
Edith Piaf. It's me -- I'm back."
(Written by Robert L. Doerschuk)
Between The Road Signs
Melanie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Even when it shines it looks like rain
Oh, God, on the road again
People say that I've adjusted well to traveling
Still I'm feeling homesick now and then
Oh, God, on the road again
And all of the comforts of home
In between the road signs and the white lines
I'm singing the road sign, white line song
I'm singing, won't you sing along
I'm singing, won't you sing along
I'm singing, won't you sing along
Never been to Cleveland when the sun was shining
Even when it shines it looks like rain
Oh, God, on the road again
I don't live in New York city anymore
But it's still close enough to be a friend
Oh, God, on the road again
In between the road signs and the white lines
And all of the comforts of home
In between the road signs and the sad rhymes
And all of the comforts of home
All of the comforts of home
The lyrics of Melanie's song Between The Road Signs express deep feelings of homesickness while on the road, specifically referencing Cleveland and New York City. The artist hasn't been to Cleveland when the sun was shining but even when it does shine, it still looks like rain. Through the repetition of the phrase "oh, God, on the road again," Melanie conveys a sense of exhaustion and despair with her frequent traveling.
Despite the people around her telling her that she’s adjusted to life on the road, she still feels a longing for home. The song also highlights the monotony of constant travel with the repetition of the term “road signs” and “white lines.” The road signs and the white lines that Melanie sings of become metaphors for the barriers that keep her from returning home.
Overall, the song beautifully captures the feelings of homesickness and weariness that are common amongst frequent travelers, especially those who spend much of their time on the road. It speaks to anyone who has ever yearned for home while being far away.
Line by Line Meaning
Never been to Cleveland when the sun was shining
I haven't visited Cleveland when the weather is pleasant.
Even when it shines it looks like rain
Even when the sun is out, the scenery still looks dull and dreary.
Oh, God, on the road again
I'm traveling once more, and it's a difficult journey.
People say that I've adjusted well to traveling
Others believe that I've adapted well to being on the move.
Still I'm feeling homesick now and then
Despite adjusting well, I still long for the familiarity of my home.
In between the road signs and the white lines
This line associates the travel experience with the constant presence of road signs.
And all of the comforts of home
While traveling, I still look for the familiar comforts of home.
In between the road signs and the sad rhymes
The experience is sometimes melancholic, reflected in the sentiment of the poetry.
I don't live in New York city anymore
I'm no longer a resident of New York city.
But it's still close enough to be a friend
Despite living elsewhere, it's still important to me and familiar.
All of the comforts of home
This line is repeated at the end, emphasizing the importance of familiarity and comfort.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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