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)
Garden In The City
Melanie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Clouds were my friends I cannot answer why
Now that I've grown I live in the city
And heaven is so far I cannot reach the sky
I once met a man who lived in the city
The stone was his home he said his heart was mine
He led me far away when he told me I was pretty
Gardens grow most times in the country
Grow a-wondrous high
Gardens grow sometimes in the city
Grow, but soon they die
Now I look up at the buildings of the city
Their fingers are so much longer than mine
I wish I had the hands of the city
For heaven is so far I cannot reach the sky
Gardens grow most times in the country
Grow a-wondrous high
Gardens grow sometimes in the city
Grow, but soon they die
When I was young I lived in the country
Clouds were my friends, I cannot answer why
Now that I've grown I live in the city
And heaven is so far I cannot reach the sky
And heaven is so far I'll never touch the sky
Melanie's song "Garden In The City" explores the differences between living in the country and living in the city. The lyrics reflect the loss of the natural world when one moves to the city, and the separation from the sky and the heavens that it brings. When Melanie was young, she lived in the country, and the clouds were her friends. However, now that she lives in the city, she feels as though heaven is unreachable. The song also touches on the idea of love and how it can lead one to go far away from home, but ultimately leave them feeling disconnected and unfulfilled.
Line by Line Meaning
When I was young I lived in the country
In the past, I used to live outside the city in a rural area.
Clouds were my friends I cannot answer why
For some unknown reason, I felt a special connection to the clouds in the sky.
Now that I've grown I live in the city
As an adult, I reside in an urban area among high rise buildings and concrete streets.
And heaven is so far I cannot reach the sky
I feel distant from the heavens and sky, as if they are out of reach.
I once met a man who lived in the city
I had an encounter with a man who also resided in the urban area.
The stone was his home he said his heart was mine
He claimed that his dwelling in the city was his home, and that he loved me.
He led me far away when he told me I was pretty
When he complimented me, he took me on a journey far from where we were standing.
How strange to go so far and never touch the sky
It felt odd to travel so far yet still not have any closer access to the sky.
Gardens grow most times in the country
Typically, you find flourishing gardens in rural areas.
Grow a-wondrous high
The flowers and plants in these gardens can grow to impressive heights.
Gardens grow sometimes in the city
Occasionally, you may come across gardens in the confines of the city.
Grow, but soon they die
However, these gardens don't last long and often suffer from neglect or pollution.
Now I look up at the buildings of the city
Currently, I often find myself gazing at the tall buildings that surround me in the city.
Their fingers are so much longer than mine
Their buildings stand tall and seem to dwarf my own physical presence.
I wish I had the hands of the city
I desire to have some control over the towering buildings and infrastructure of the city, as if I was a part of it.
And heaven is so far I cannot reach the sky
My earlier statement still holds true, and I still feel as if the sky and heavens are too far away.
And heaven is so far I'll never touch the sky
My last statement carries an overarching tone of hopelessness, and I feel as if the sky is forever out of my grasp.
Contributed by Nicholas K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
UK - Martin
I haven't heard this album since 1974, when I was visiting my twin brother while he was studying at Cambridge University. That was, it's hard to believe, 45 years ago.....but I have never forgotten the album, nor Melanie's enchanting voice.
Thank you for uploading this.
D S
Great version of Lay Lady Lay. Never liked this tune much, but Melanie transforms it.
Brsbeach
Thank you for this- bringing back many memories of a watershed time in my life, and Melanie's music was always part of it...Fun Fact: Stop I Don't Want To Hear It was the theme for a youth movement film called 'RPM' (Revolutions Per Minute)...
MB
One of my favorite Melanie tunes. I still am intrigued at how the music has a "backward" sound
Wilfried Mathias
Maravillosa, gracias por compartir!
Larry Sampson
I love this album. This song is not available on Amazon's Alexa for some reason. Melanie and I have been on many a journey together.
Nick Byrne
First Melanie album I bought. Great memories!!
Jim Pratt
Great,Great,Great album probable Melanie's best!!!!!
Pete's music
Fantastic , part of the soundtrack to my formulative years 💀🌵
Renoir
Reminds me of when I left school....loved the scented cover