Bleeding Inside Wounds
Lay Down (Candles in the Rain) - Melanie (1970)
There is so much great music that slips through the cracks.
On New Year's Day, I heard a song I had never encountered, and it was stunning.
Melanie Safka, known simply as Melanie, rose as a singer-songwriter in the late 1960s. Born in Astoria, Queens, in 1947, she started performing in folk clubs in Greenwich Village. Her big break was at Woodstock in 1969, where she was one of only three solo women to perform alongside Janis Joplin and Joan Baez. The event inspired her and seems to elevate “Lay Down,” boosted further by the majestic vocals of The Edwin Hawkins Singers.
Released in 1970 as part of her Candles in the Rain album, the song radiates rare poetic emotion. It remains unpretentious yet bold. Melanie’s raw, passionate emotional urgency feels entirely her own—a powerful effort to push the boundaries of sentiment. She doesn’t wait for inspiration; she inspires us to observe, with the right perspective, that something greater exists out there.
Melanie died in January 2024 at age 76.
Enjoy:
One of the untold truths from that era (and I suppose any era in music or the arts) is that a handful of artists absorb the spotlight and many talents go unheralded or receive their proper attention. Thanks for highlighting a lesser-known great.