Melanie featuring The Edwin Hawkins Singers: Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)

Continuing my focus on artists who died in 2024, today I present a song by Melanie, a soft rock/folk singer who died on January 23, 2024. Anyone who grew up in the ’70s knows the song “Brand New Key” by Melanie, but my favorite of her songs has always been “Lay Down (Candles in the Rain).” Featuring the iconic voices of The Edwin Hawkins Singers, the song presents her feelings while she looked out at the massive Woodstock crowd while she performed at the festival in 1969. I am not a child of the ’60s nor a fan of the Haight-Ashbury sound, and I could take or leave many of the music and artists who performed at Woodstock, but this song is a wonderful anthem for defining the struggle for peace and equality that defined the late ’60s. The poetic lyrics set against the back drop of a powerful gospel choir is a timeless plea for peace that still hits the mark over 50 years later.

We were so close, there was no room
We bled inside each other’s wounds
We all had caught the same disease
And we all sang the songs of peace
Some came to sing, some came to pray
Some came to keep the dark away

• Uncategorized