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)
Those Were the Days
Melanie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Where we used to raise a glass or two
Remember how we laughed away the hours
Thinking of the great things we would do
Those were the days my friend
We thought they'd never end
We'd sing and dance forever and a day
We'd fight and never lose
For we were young and sure to have our way
Da, da, da, da...
We'd sing the life we choose
We'd fight and never lose
Those were the days, oh yes those were the days
Then the busy years went rushing by us
We lost our starry notions on the way
If by chance I'd see you in the tavern
We'd smile at one another and we'd say
Those were the days my friend
We thought they'd never end
We'd sing and dance forever and a day
We'd sing the life we choose
We'd fight and never lose
For we were young oh yes those where the days
Just tonight I stood before the tavern
Nothing seemed the way it used to be
In the glass I saw a strange reflection
Was that lonely woman really me
Those were the days my friend
We thought they'd never end
We'd sing and dance forever and a day
We'd sing the life we choose
We'd fight and never lose
Those were the days, oh yes those were the days
Through the door there came familiar laughter
I saw your face and heard you call my name
Oh my friend we're older but no wiser
For in our hearts the dreams are still the same
Those were the days my friend
We thought they'd never end
We'd sing and dance forever and a day
We'd sing the life we choose
We'd fight and never lose
Those were the days, oh yes, those were the days
Da, da, da, da...
We'd sing the life we choose
We'd fight and never lose
Those were the days, oh yes, those were the days
The song “Those Were The Days” by Melanie describes the memories of one’s past, specifically the time when the singer and her friends used to hang out in a tavern, singing, dancing, and being carefree. It narrates how they thought that these days would never end and how they would sing, dance, and fight forever. Unfortunately, things changed as the years passed by. They lost their starry notions and grew older, but somehow remained the same in their hearts. Upon revisiting the tavern, the reflections of the singer in the glass and the loneliness felt reflect the passing of time that has taken place. She sees a familiar face, that of a friend, and reminisces about how they have grown older but no wiser.
The song has a nostalgic theme, acknowledging the past and reflecting on how time moves on, and people grow older, but in one’s heart, the memories remain. The song strikes a chord with most people who nostalgically long to revisit their past and recapture those moments of freedom and wild abandon that the younger years offered. It reminds us to enjoy life and relish every moment as it inevitably moves on and changes over time.
Line by Line Meaning
Once upon a time there was a tavern
There used to be a place where we could come together and have a good time
Where we used to raise a glass or two
We would drink and toast to the future
Remember how we laughed away the hours
We had so much fun that time would fly by and we wouldn't even realize it
Thinking of the great things we would do
We had high hopes and big dreams for the future
Those were the days my friend
We had a great time back then
We thought they'd never end
We believed that we would always feel this way and have this much fun
We'd sing and dance forever and a day
We were carefree and lived in the moment
We'd sing the life we choose
We were confident in our ability to shape our own destiny
We'd fight and never lose
We were determined and believed that we could overcome any obstacle
For we were young and sure to have our way
We felt invincible and had a strong sense of self-assurance
Then the busy years went rushing by us
Time passed quickly and we got caught up in our responsibilities and obligations
We lost our starry notions on the way
We became jaded and cynical as the reality of life set in
If by chance I'd see you in the tavern
If we happened to run into each other again
We'd smile at one another and we'd say
We would reminisce about the good old days
Just tonight I stood before the tavern
I recently visited the place where we used to have fun
Nothing seemed the way it used to be
Things have changed and it's not the same anymore
In the glass I saw a strange reflection
I didn't even recognize myself anymore
Was that lonely woman really me
I felt isolated and disconnected from my former self
Through the door there came familiar laughter
I heard the sound of people having a good time, just like we used to
I saw your face and heard you call my name
I recognized an old friend and they recognized me as well
Oh my friend we're older but no wiser
We've aged but we still haven't figured everything out
For in our hearts the dreams are still the same
We still have hope and aspirations, just like we did when we were young
Contributed by Samuel F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.