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)
I'd Rather Leave While I'm In Love
Melanie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'd rather leave while I'm in love
While I still believe the meaning of the word
I'll keep my dreams and just pretend
That you and I are never gonna end
Too many times I've seen
Somebody's heart gets broken
Usually it's mine
I don't want to take the chance
Of being hurt again
And you and I can't say good-bye
So if you wake and find me gone
Oh baby carry on you see I need my
Fantasy I still believe it's best
To leave while I'm in love
Too many times I've seen
The rose die on the vine
Somebody's heart gets broken usually
It's mine I don't want to take
The chance of being hurt again
And you and I can't say good-bye
So if you wake and find me gone
Oh baby carry on you see I need my
Fantasy I still believe it's best to
Leave while I'm in love I still believe
It's best to leave while I'm in love
The lyrics of Melanie's song "I'd Rather Leave While I'm In Love" touch upon the theme of heartbreak and the desire to leave before getting hurt again. The singer of the song has seen too many cases of love wilting away, and as a result, she would rather depart from the relationship before it ends in pain. Her dreams and illusions of an ever-lasting love allow her to pretend that the bond between her and her partner will never die out, yet she knows that it is in her best interest not to take the risk.
In the chorus, the singer emphasizes her point by saying that leaving while in love is the way to go. She acknowledges that this may seem contradictory and challenging to understand. However, to her, it seems like the best option, given her experiences with heartbreak in the past. She urges her partner to carry on even when she is not there, as her fantasy of everlasting love continues to be her driving force.
The song expresses the melancholy and wistfulness of a love that is slowly dying out. The lyrics with their simple, yet impactful words, convey the complexity of the human heart and its ability to hold onto illusions of love. In the simplicity of her words, Melanie beautifully captures the sentiments of human frailty and deep desire for an undying love.
Line by Line Meaning
I'd rather leave while I'm in love
It's better to end a relationship while still feeling love rather than wait for it to turn sour.
While I still believe the meaning of the word
While I still believe in the purity and honesty of love.
I'll keep my dreams and just pretend
I'll hold onto my hopes and aspirations for love, even if it means pretending we'll never break up.
That you and I are never gonna end
That our love will last forever, even if it's not entirely true.
Too many times I've seen the rose die on the vine
I've seen too many relationships wither away and fail.
Somebody's heart gets broken usually it's mine
In those failed relationships, it's usually me who ends up hurt.
I don't want to take the chance of being hurt again
I'm not willing to risk my heart again by staying in this relationship.
And you and I can't say good-bye
Even though it's the best thing to do, we can't bring ourselves to end things.
So if you wake and find me gone
So if you wake up and I'm not there, it means I've left.
Oh baby carry on you see I need my fantasy
You should move on and find someone else, because I need to hold onto my idealized version of love.
I still believe it's best to leave while I'm in love
It's better to end things while the love is still there, rather than wait for it to disappear and turn into bitterness.
Contributed by Layla W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@phineas75
I just made a comment on the Do You Believe song...........but this is my favorite Melanie song.