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)
Leftover Wine
Melanie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And what do you do when the show is all done
I know what I'll do in the alone of my time
But what will I do with the leftover wine
A line from a poem of my childhood has said
That visions of sugarplums were gonna dance in my head
I'll spend my whole life making the time rhyme
I'll spend my whole life making the time rhyme
And then I'll sing them a song of mine
You know I'm gonna do anything
Just to take up time
'Cause I can't find a taker for the leftover wine
(and) what do you do when the people go home
And what do you do when the show is all done
I know what I'll do in the alone of my time
But what will I do with the leftover wine
I'm gonna spend my whole life making the time rhyme
And then I'm gonna run to the people
And I'll sing them a song of mine
You know I'm gonna do anything
Just to take up time
'Cause I can't find a taker for the leftover wine
I'll drink some of yours
If you'll drink all of mine
Because I can't stand the taste of that leftover wine
And I'm gonna drink some of yours
If you'll drink all of mine
Because I can't stand the taste of leftover wine
And I'll drink some of yours
If you'll drink all of mine
I can't stand the taste of leftover wine
The song Leftover Wine by Melanie Safka is a melancholic reflection of what to do with one's time after the entertainment and company of the day has passed. The opening lyrics ask the question, "What do you do when the people go home and what do you do when the show is all done?" The loneliness that comes with being alone after spending time with people highlights the emptiness that can be felt when someone is left to their own thoughts. The song proceeds to offer a resolution to this loneliness - to spend one's time making the time rhyme by doing anything, even if it means taking up someone else's time.
The lines, "I know what I'll do in the alone of my time, but what will I do with the leftover wine" reveal that the leftover wine becomes a symbol of the unfulfilled desires and the emptiness one experiences in life. The notion of "leftover" suggests that there might not be anyone interested in drinking wine anymore, as if the person left behind is also unwanted. We learn that the singer does not want to drink the leftover wine - instead, they prefer to spend their time making music and sharing it with whoever will listen.
The song speaks to how people cope with the loneliness that can come after a fun evening spent with friends. It suggests that rather than sitting with unfulfilled desires, one can spend their time doing something they enjoy and sharing it with others. The mention of the line from the childhood poem about sugarplums dancing in one's head speaks to how the singer believed in the idea of magic and dreams as a means of escape from the harsh realities of life.
Line by Line Meaning
What do you do when the people go home
What actions would an individual take once everyone has gone home after an event?
And what do you do when the show is all done
What are the steps one needs to follow when the program has come to an end?
I know what I'll do in the alone of my time
During the free time, an individual is aware of the things to execute.
But what will I do with the leftover wine
However, one is still unsure of how to utilize the unopened wine that wasn't consumed.
A line from a poem of my childhood has said
A particular verse from the poem among the ones which she read while being a child.
That visions of sugarplums were gonna dance in my head
The thoughts of sweet dishes were gonna play in her mind.
I'll spend my whole life making the time rhyme
The person's priority is to use their entire lifetime in organizing the time they have.
But I'll still have a bowl of leftover wine
However, the wine will always remain unopened, and she'll have to deal with it.
And then I'll sing them a song of mine
After organizing her time effectively, the person will perform her self-created melody for others to hear.
You know I'm gonna do anything
The person is ready to go to any level to keep herself busy.
Just to take up time
To engage and occupy herself.
'Cause I can't find a taker for the leftover wine
Since there is no one to have the wine, she'll have to deal with it.
I'll drink some of yours
She'll share with others.
If you'll drink all of mine
As long as the others can finish her leftover wine, she doesn't really care what wine she'll have to drink.
Because I can't stand the taste of that leftover wine
She does not like the taste of the wine left unopened, so she'll just swap it with someone else's wine.
And I'm gonna drink some of yours
Alternatively, she could drink some of theirs.
If you'll drink all of mine
As long as someone drinks her leftover wine, she's comfortable with having any wine.
Because I can't stand the taste of leftover wine
She reiterates that she despises the taste of leftover wine.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: MELANIE SAFKA
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@MelaniesafkaTheRealMelanie
Thank you all from the bottom of my heart~ It moves me so deeply to know that I've touched so many of yours.... Love, Melanie 💜
@mickmcloughlin1646
Will always love you dear. Bless you. Wishing you peace.
@zamurai_the_producer
I stumbled across your songs purely by chance, you have the most haunting and beautiful voice I have ever heard! Like it stop me in my tracks like very few others have!
@judyperry5435
I've always loved you!!!
@FreeRangeHuman1
Still striking the heart strings of todays youth. Some music has no shelf life, its always fine, and always relevant. :) Greetings from Sweden.
@pete21pete21
Melanie, I have always loved your soul it is so pure thank you .xPete21. if you ever visit Derby in England and are stuck for somewhere to crash my home as small as it is, is yours.
=
Posted on another page by me
3 months ago
I still own this album (candles in the rain), I brought it from RE-CORDS record shop in saddlergate Derby in 1972, it was an American import, I love her voice and the chilled-out rhythm, those early free spirit years of the early 1970s are imprinted in my mind forever, I get it out for a listen once or twice a year, there is something about old vinyl that gives out a deep warm feeling, peace
@defshepard
Rest in Peace Melanie. Thank-you so much for the beautiful song and all the great music.
@PushSueAside
Melanie is the reason I’m still alive. Her voice helped a very sad little boy that thought the world would be better off without him. She was like a real friend when there were none. I will always love you Melanie
@carmenpeters728
I hope you a living a full life with happiness.
@MrYorickJenkins
What a fine tribute to a wonderful woman