Melanie, the husky-voiced singer-songwriter who was one of the surprise stars of the Woodstock music festival in 1969 and two years later had a No. 1 single with the disarmingly childlike “Brand New Key,” died Tuesday. She was 76 years old.
His death was announced on social media by his children, Leilah, Jeordie and Beau Jarred. Neither the cause nor the place were cited.
Melanie, born Melanie Safka in 1947, was only 22 years old but was already present on the New York folk scene when she appeared at Woodstock. She was one of only three women to perform unaccompanied at the festival and, as she later recalled, she was petrified at the idea of performing in front of a crowd much larger than the café audiences she was used to.
It started to rain before she went on stage, and she would later say that seeing people in the crowd lighting candles inspired her to write “Lay Down (Candles in the Rain),” which she recorded to gospel-style accompaniment by the Edwin Hawkins Singers. . Released in 1970, it became her first hit, peaking at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Their biggest hit, “Brand New Key,” captivated listeners with its simplicity, but generated controversy (and was said to have been banned by some radio stations) because some people heard sexual innuendos in lyrics such as “I've got a new pair.” of skates/You have a new key.” She acknowledged that the words could be interpreted that way, but insisted that was not her intention.
“'Brand New Key' I wrote in about 15 minutes one night,” he told an interviewer. “I thought it was cute; kind of an old '30s tune.
“I suppose a key and a lock have always been Freudian symbols,” he continued, “and quite obvious ones at that. There was no deep, serious expression behind the song, but people read things into it.”
