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)
The Good Guys
Melanie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You're painting of yourself
You with the borrowed colors
That you picked from someone else
Maybe you're a movie
Or some best selling book
I know your mirrored mornings
In rehearsal of your looks
You're ready to begin
You're going to play the good guys
By singing the good guys hymn
Ah you're building the halls with the outer walls
But you haven't got a thing within
The innocence of children
Is the manner you suppose
And you can describe in full detail
What we already know
Ah your cause is all so pretty
And we're ready to begin
We're going to play the good guys
By singing the good guys hymn
Ah we're building the halls with the outer walls
But we haven't got a thing within
But if we keep on trying
Though our purpose isn't clear
We just may move the universe
We'll learn to really care
Eventually the whole facade
Becomes more than a whim
By starting to build on the outside
We're gonna fill up the walls within
By starting to build on the outside
We'll fill up the wallls within
Eventually the whole facade
Becomes more than a whim
And by starting to build on the outside
We're gonna fill up the walls
We're gonna fill up the walls within
In “The Good Guys,” Melanie discusses the idea of identity and how people often try to mold themselves into something that is not authentic. She is tired of seeing people paint a picture of themselves that is not their true self. They borrow colors from others, either from movies or books, and try to rehearse who they are supposed to be. They believe that by doing this, they will play the “good guys” by singing the “good guys hymn,” and build walls around their persona that are aesthetically pleasing, although devoid of meaningful content. The singer worries that people are building halls with outer walls, but within, they have nothing to show.
Despite these concerns, Melanie remains hopeful because she believes that if people keep trying and caring, they can move the universe, and the facade will eventually become more than a whim. The singer encourages people to start building on the outside, and they will eventually fill the walls within. The song is a hopeful message about the potential of every person to be true to themselves by building an authentic and meaningful self-identity.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm tired of seeing the picture
I am exhausted of constantly being exposed to the image
You're painting of yourself
that you are currently portraying to the world
You with the borrowed colors
You utilize shades that were not initially yours
That you picked from someone else
that were taken from another person's palette
Maybe you're a movie
Perhaps, you are similar to a cinematic experience
Or some best selling book
or similar to an incredibly popular book
I know your mirrored mornings
I am aware of the moments you spend in front of the mirror each day
In rehearsal of your looks
practicing and perfecting your appearance
Oh your cause is oh so beautiful
Your movement or purpose is notably attractive
You're ready to begin
You are prepared to initiate
You're going to play the good guys
You will act as the heroes
By singing the good guys hymn
by reciting the anthem of the good people
Ah you're building the halls with the outer walls
You are constructing exteriors for your halls
But you haven't got a thing within
However, there is still nothing inside them
The innocence of children
The purity of youngsters
Is the manner you suppose
is how you perceive it to be
And you can describe in full detail
And you can explain thoroughly
What we already know
what we are already familiar with
Ah your cause is all so pretty
Your purpose is genuinely aesthetically pleasing
And we're ready to begin
And we are eager to commence
We're going to play the good guys
We will portray the heroes
By singing the good guys hymn
By reciting the anthem of the good people
Ah we're building the halls with the outer walls
We are constructing exteriors for our halls
But we haven't got a thing within
However, there is still nothing inside them
But if we keep on trying
But if we persist
Though our purpose isn't clear
despite the uncertainty of our goal
We just may move the universe
We could potentially make a significant change
We'll learn to really care
We will truly learn to care
Eventually the whole facade
Over time, the entire surface
Becomes more than a whim
Becomes greater than a mere fleeting thought
By starting to build on the outside
By commencing the process externally
We're gonna fill up the walls within
We will eventually occupy the interior walls
And by starting to build on the outside
And, by commencing the process externally
We're gonna fill up the walls
We will eventually occupy the walls
We're gonna fill up the walls within
We will eventually occupy the interior walls
Eventually the whole facade
Over time, the entire surface
Becomes more than a whim
Becomes greater than a mere fleeting thought
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: MELANIE SAFKA
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind