Melanie, a Brand New Key hitmaker and Woodstock celebrity, passes away at age 76

On Tuesday, Melanie, the singer-songwriter with a unique husky voice, died away at the age of 76, leaving the music industry one of its giants. In a Facebook post on Wednesday, her children declared her death and said that she passed away quietly after a medical condition.

“Writing this piece has been the toughest for us because there are so many things we want to say at the beginning, and there isn’t a simple way to do it. On January 23, 2024, Mom quietly transitioned from this world to the next, according to the message.

Melanie, who was she?
Melanie, real name Melanie Safka, became well-known when she performed at the Woodstock festival in 1969 at the age of only 22. She had never performed for a crowd this size before and was a member of the New York folk scene.

She subsequently said that while she was frightened of performing live, the image of the audience holding candles in the rain impacted her much and gave her the idea for one of her best-known songs, “Lay Down (Candles in the Rain).”

She collaborated with the Edwin Hawkins Singers on the recording, giving her folk sound a gospel twist. Her first success, the song peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1970.

But “Brand New Key,” which topped the charts in 1971, was her greatest success. The song, which had a straightforward but appealing melody, was about a girl who wished to go skating with a male who owned her skates. At the time, the song caused controversy because some listeners and radio stations interpreted the lyrics as having a sexual connotation. Melanie refuted that this was her goal, claiming instead that the song was a lighthearted nod to the music of the 1930s that she created quickly.

In an interview, she gave her explanation: “One night, I wrote ‘Brand New Key’ in about fifteen minutes.” It was a kind of vintage ’30s song, which I found lovely. I suppose that a lock and a key have always been recognized as Freudian symbols—and very clear ones at that. The song didn’t have a profoundly serious message, but people made interpretations based on it.

In 2020, she was admitted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and in 2021, the World Arts Foundation presented her with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Her three children, who are also musicians, Leilah, Jeordie, and Beau Jarred, survive her.