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)
Momma Momma
Melanie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Momma Momma, I fear you reared me wrong
'cause I pick up my head, can't tell where I belong
Momma Momma, something's hurting me bad
Momma Momma, something's hurting me bad
I have a yearning for something that I never had
Sometimes I feel my life has come and gone
I live in this world but I'm only looking on
I can't understand, it's too far over my head
I can't understand, it's too far over my head
I'm living the life but I'm really dying instead, yeah
Momma Momma, I fear you reared me wrong
Momma Momma, I fear you reared me wrong
'cause I lift up my head and I can't tell where I belong
Momma Momma Momma Momma, something's terribly wrong
The lyrics of Melanie's song "Momma Momma" express the confusion and pain felt by the singer, who feels lost and disconnected from the world around her. The repetition of the phrase "Momma Momma" throughout the song emphasizes the singer's search for guidance and a sense of belonging, which she feels her mother has failed to provide.
The first verse sets the tone, with the singer expressing her fear that her mother raised her in a way that has left her feeling disconnected from the world. She feels unsure of her place in society and struggles to find her identity. The second verse intensifies this feeling of discomfort, as the singer yearns for something she's never had. This desire is likely connected to the yearning for a sense of belonging, as the singer is constantly looking for a place where she fits in.
The song's chorus, "sometimes I feel my life has come and then it's gone", suggests a sense of transience and fleetingness, as the singer feels like she can never fully embrace her life. She is physically present in the world but unable to fully engage with it, feeling disconnected and unfulfilled. The final verse emphasizes this sense of despair, as the singer feels like she is dying on the inside despite living her life on the outside.
Overall, "Momma Momma" is a powerful and emotional song that captures the feeling of disconnect and yearning for belonging that many people experience at some point in their lives.
Line by Line Meaning
Momma Momma, I fear you reared me wrong
I'm worried that the way you raised me was not right
Momma Momma, something's hurting me bad
I'm experiencing a great deal of emotional pain
I have a yearning for something that I never had
I desire something that I have never experienced before
Sometimes I feel my life has come and gone
At times, it seems like my life has already happened and passed me by
I live in this world but I'm only looking on
I'm present in this world, but I feel like a spectator rather than a participant
I can't understand, it's too far over my head
I can't comprehend or make sense of something because it's too complex for me
I'm living the life but I'm really dying instead, yeah
Although I'm alive, I feel like I'm slowly losing myself and fading away
Momma Momma Momma Momma, something's terribly wrong
I'm really distressed and there's something seriously amiss
Lyrics © CARLIN AMERICA INC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: MELANIE SAFKA
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Morrigan Ravenchild
This is pure heart rendering poetry - must have been written from the experience of deeply riven feelings. It makes me cry every time I hear it. I think she used to cry singing it.
Jim O
Yes, tell her. She will really appreciate it.
Kwei Brown
I am young and grew up on this Wonderful music and others I Love that music had meaning back then and there are alot of us that want more of this. Thank you for this song and the world thanks you for your heart!!
Norbert Seiferlein
Seit meinem 10 Lebensjahr bin ich Melanie Fan.Diese Frau hat eine unglaubliche Dynamik in der Stimme und Gefühl pur!
Danke an all die ,die mir mit den Videos ein Live Gefühl geben ,dass ich leider nie erleben konnte.
Jade Shannon
This song is exactly how I feel.
Jade Shannon
Yes my mother was a definite problem 2 me as well 4 ages.It's 20 years now she finally she stopped back stabbing me 2 my siblings and god knows who else.I just can't b bothered with her crap these days and always try 2 think of something good good about her!maybe if any one else reads this it may help them.
Fenyk
Was listening to this the other nite crying, cos I wish I had had the words to explain how screwed my head was growing up, that I felt lonely, that I was outside, looking into the window of my family and everyone elses' lives, that the predators were circling. I was ill, had early-onset bipolar 2 ( & mild Aspergers) in childhood, dysmorphia, and was just totally lost. too, and just couldn't explain it. As a kid, I didn't have any words in my vocabulary to explain just how - strange, it felt. I was a free-spirit, still am. Always stood out, still do. I'm now content with the fact that I never belonged anywhere, and my life is now on track courtesy of Mum finally understanding, amazing friends, and the fact that I went out and studied. So many times it tried to snatch my life away - but I fought back.
D Lynn
@Fenyk so sorry to hear that. I went through similar. Healing still. Here's a virtual hug from me. 🤗
Jade Shannon
Moonchild all the best,and the other comment as well and I have epilepsy as well and have been with out medication 4 weeks now because of the stupidity of the pharmacists,not my doctor what I mean here is if they want 2 party all the time with drugs,they don't know what ther doing at all.All I can suggest here is prayer works wonders 4 me.Maybe it maybe very helpful to u both.All the best!
Fenyk
D Lynn No, not at all. A sheltered childhood and growing up in a small town where mental illness was stigmatised has a lot to do with it. My father however, is the absolutely typical narcissistic parent, hence my rejecting him repeatedly. He has Bipolar as well and I believe my biological paternal grandmother battled mental illness. He also has temporal lobe epilepsy (i don't have it, thankfully) and narcissistic personality disorder. He is also a massive hypochondriac and pathalogical liar.
Mum has been there to help me, but has felt completely helpless so many times, wishing she could have done more for me, protected me more. Growing up in Thatcher's Britain as a child, divorced/single mothers were especially hated by the Tories and that attitude flourished here in Cornwall. I was a free-spirited moonchild, colourful, creative and Mum always encouraged me as long as i was behaving myself. I stood out without trying, felt that I was different to other kids. Not that I thought i was better than them - i just felt i was different. I never fitted in anywhere and what bothered people most is that i was happy in my own company, was healthily self-confident and really didn't give a crap about fitting in.
I had a teacher at infant school, a lovely lady. She spoke to Mum quietly and mentioned i should see a child psychologist. Mum knew I should due to certain unusual behaviours. But back then if Mum had said anything - we will have been separated and i will have gone into foster care with god knows what happening to me. That is how prejudiced they were down here. The fact that i was clean, well-dressed, loved, came from an immaculate home, fed, healthy, cared for - it wouldn't have meant anything to Social Services. Mum and I were close and i was actually quite clingy to her, hating school, etc because i just wanted to be at home with Mum.
Later, Mum married another narc - and he really did the damage psychologically. The stepfather from hell to match the wicked stepmother who used to beat me and scared me into silence at my father's place and my father emotionally and psychologically abused me too. Of course, their kids were fine. It was me who got it cos the stepmother is jealous of my Mum. Mum made the mistake of being naive herself and ended up brainwashed by this spineless, narcopathic piece of shit stepfather she married He bullied me constantly! His kids were put first and he effectively tried to force me out of my own family, tearing a wedge between Mum and I, because at the time he had her blinded so much that she always took his side. Where i do not excuse her behaviour - I can understand it, having been in these kinds of relationships myself. Because of the damage he did - i cannot cope with living with anyone and could never bring myself to have children. Now that cowardly bastard's buggered off, she is listening and understanding me more. But it angers me that it took this long and that both my father and step-parents succeeded in scaring me into silence for so many years.