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)
In the Hour
Melanie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
On my head in the city where I am alone,
I never think of that once told story
When two flowers almost were one.
But what to do?
I still think in the morning of you.
When darkness hovers and city lights take over
It's useless to cry for a star in the sky,
For the city lights tell me there's none.
But what to do?
I still cry in the morning for you.
When my head touches my pillow I am too weary
To dare dream that I am alone.
Now I lay myself down to sleep,
I pray the Lord his soul to keep is my song.
But what to do?
I still dream in the morning for you.
What to do?
I still cry in the morning for you.
The song "In the Hour" by Melanie is a melancholic and introspective ballad that reflects on the many emotions one experiences when going through a difficult period of loneliness and heartbreak. The lyrics appear to describe the singer's inability to forget a past relationship, despite the passing of time and the change of seasons. The first stanza sets the scene of a lonely cityscape where the singer is struggling to let go of a past memory. The metaphor of the two flowers that were once almost one suggests a romantic relationship that was almost perfect but ultimately failed.
The second stanza describes the singer's feelings of blindness and hopelessness as darkness falls and the bright lights of the city take over. The line "It's useless to cry for a star in the sky" refers to the idea that it's pointless to hold onto hope for something that's unattainable. But despite this feeling of hopelessness, the chorus repeats the sentiment that the singer still thinks of, cries for, and dreams of the person they cannot forget.
The final stanza brings the song full circle, describing the singer's struggle to let go of their feelings as they try to sleep. The line "I dare not dream that I am alone" suggests a fear of being completely by oneself, and the repetition of the chorus highlights the singer's constant internal battle with their own emotions. Overall, "In the Hour" is a poignant and relatable song about heartache and the difficulty of moving on from a past relationship.
Line by Line Meaning
In the hour when the sun shines shines bright
During the daytime when the sun is out and shining bright
On my head in the city where I am alone,
Being by myself in an urban area where I feel isolated
I never think of that once told story
I don't reminisce about the tale that was once shared
When two flowers almost were one.
When two people almost came together as one
But what to do?
What action can I take?
I still think in the morning of you.
My thoughts still revolve around you in the morning.
When darkness hovers and city lights take over
When nightfall arrives and the bright lights of the metropolis dominate
I am blinded to the words "I am alone".
I cannot admit to myself that I am feeling lonely.
It's useless to cry for a star in the sky,
It's pointless to weep for something that is beyond reach.
For the city lights tell me there's none.
The illuminated cityscape informs me that my desired object isn't present.
When my head touches my pillow I am too weary
Once I retire to bed, I am too exhausted
To dare dream that I am alone.
To conjure up the notion that I am truly by myself.
Now I lay myself down to sleep,
I am presently lying in bed and getting rest
I pray the Lord his soul to keep is my song.
I recite a prayer in my head to protect my soul while I rest.
But what to do?
What action can I take?
I still dream in the morning for you.
Despite everything, I still have fantasies about you when I wake up.
What to do?
What move should I make?
I still cry in the morning for you.
When I wake up, I still feel the urge to shed tears for you.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: MELANIE SAFKA
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind