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)
Look What They
Melanie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Look what they done to my song ma
It was the only thing that I could do half right
And it's turning out all wrong ma
Look what they done to my song
Look what they done to my brain ma
Look at what they done to my brain
And I think I'm half insane ma
Look what they done to my song
Oh I wish I could find a good book
To live in
Oh I wish I could find a good book
Well if I could find a real good book
I'd never have to come out and look at
What they done to my song
Ils ont change ma chanson, ma
Ils ont change ma chanson, ma
C'est la seule chose que je peux faire
Et ce n'est pas bon, ma.
Ils ont change ma chanson.
Maybe it'll all be all right ma
Maybe it'll all be OK
Well if the people are buying tears
Then I'm gonna be rich someday ma
Look what they done to my song
Look what they done to my song, ma
Ma Ma look look what they done to my song
You know they tied it up in a plastic bag
And they turned it upside down ma
Ma Ma look at what they done
Won't you look at what they done
Look what they done to my song.
Melanie's song "Look What They've Done to My Song Ma" is an emotional ballad about the frustration that artists feel when their work is changed and manipulated by others. The lyrics describe the singer's distress at seeing their song, which was once the only thing they felt like they could do right, transformed into something completely different. The song also touches on the idea of the music industry and society at large stripping an artist of their creativity and individuality, as the lyrics suggest that the singer's brain has been "picked like a chicken bone" and they feel "half insane".
The singer longs to escape the reality of what has been done to their song and wishes for a good book to live in, a place where they would be shielded from the damage that has been done to their work. However, they hold onto the hope that maybe it will all be okay in the end if people are buying what they've been sold. At the end, the song conveys the frustration and disappointment felt by the singer, who pleads with their mother to look at what has been done to their song.
Line by Line Meaning
Look what they done to my song ma
The song that I created, my one point of pride, has been changed beyond recognition and it brings great pain.
It was the only thing that I could do half right
Creating music was the only thing the singer felt confident doing, but even that has now been ruined.
And it's turning out all wrong ma
The changes made to the song have resulted in it becoming objectively bad.
Look what they done to my brain ma
The pressure and stress caused by the changes to her song have taken a toll on the singer's mental state.
Well they picked it like a chicken bone
The people who made the changes tore the song apart completely, leaving nothing but remnants behind.
And I think I'm half insane ma
The songwriter's mental state has become fragile, leading to a strained outlook on life.
Oh I wish I could find a good book to live in
The only refuge the songwriter has from the pain of the song's changes is in literature, which provides an escape from reality.
Well if I could find a real good book I'd never have to come out and look at what they done to my song
If the songwriter could lose herself completely in reading, she would never have to face the disappointment of seeing her beloved song ruined.
Maybe it'll all be all right ma
The songwriter holds out hope that things will return to normal and her song will be appreciated once more.
Well if the people are buying tears
If the public values sentimentality over quality, then there may still be hope for the song's success.
Then I'm gonna be rich someday ma
If the public buys into the changes made to the song, the singer may still profit from it despite the pain they feel.
Ma Ma look look what they done to my song
The pain of seeing her song transformed beyond recognition has become almost too much to bear, leading to a sense of desperation.
You know they tied it up in a plastic bag and they turned it upside down ma
The changes made to the song have completely uprooted it, making it almost unrecognizable and meaningless.
Ma Ma look at what they done, won't you look at what they done
The songwriter pleads with her mother to acknowledge the pain of what has happened to her song.
Look what they done to my song.
The repeated refrain of the song's title serves as a constant reminder of the damage that has been done.
Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Written by: MELANIE SAFKA
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@TonyGPizza
Some people say you did all right for a girl. Farewell, Melanie.
@maureenmcdermott7293
Jesus..this is so poignant and beautiful.
@reuireuiop0
Just got here after watching the Happy Hippie backyard duet with Miley Cyrus
watch before saying yikes!
Proves it all.
@Mysteri759
She'll be missed by all those who loved her music and those who are new to the sounds of folk. :(
RIP Melanie Safka
@PhilFeedback
I Just got word that she has passed away.
Rest In Peace Melanie, you were one of a kind 😢
@cynthianaylor9514
We of our generation have lost so many singers/songwriters it's scary.
@valeriehartman3705
So sad... My husband went to high school with Melanie. She gave a concert and would always walk with a guitar on her back. As for me, being French born and now living on Melanie's territory in New Jersey, this is with this song we remember Melanie, for the French line "ils ont changé ma chanson." RIP and thank you.
@williamschlenger1518
Long Branch H.S. so long ago .
@MrStlbill
Saddened by this loss. The world lost an amazing talent and icon of an era.
@theshermer
😢 Rest in peace Melanie