Lay It All Down
In 1970, a "new" voice came into my world. Melanie had already made it into the American music scene at Woodstock, but I was just in junior high at the time - I was still to develop an appreciation for the music from Woodstock. This song and other events in 1969 and 1970 started me down that road, though.
Lay Down (Candles in the Rain) came out on radio stations in the Twin Cities area right about the same time as the four college kids were killed at Kent State in May 1970. A lot of us who had previously been not all that interested in current events suddenly started to care. I think that after Kent State, some of us who previously didn't "get it" about what was going on with the Vietnam war and the peace movement started "getting it."
Lay Down was a part of that for me. It was on the radio all that summer, rising to Number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and all the way to Number 1 on WDGY, one of the two Twin Cities rock stations at the time. It was a hot commodity all over the world. I bought to 45 and listened to it over and over again for months after that.
Melanie and the Edwin Hawkins Singers belting out the chorus of the song helped add emotion and context to all of what was going on in our seemingly shattering world.
For some reason, I never liked anything that Melanie did after that all that much. I never bought any of her albums, and didn't get Lay Down in CD format until I found it on one of those Super Hit of the Seventies CD's.
That led to a pleasant surprise for me now ... I found another video of the song on YouTube, Candles In The Rain - Lay Down (Candles In The Rain).
First of all, the B-side of the 45 had Melanie's spoken song, Candles in the Rain, on it. I had loved that song and listened to it a lot on the 45 (much to my father's chagrin), but it wasn't included on the Super Hits CD. This video that I just found starts out with Candles in the Rain.
Then to top that off, the above video ends with Lay Down (Candles in the Rain) but it is a long version!! I never knew a long version existed because I had never bought any of Melanie's albums. So now, almost 50 years later, I discover it!
Groovy, man!! Outtasite!
Melanie's Website: http://www.melaniesafka.com/
Lay Down (Candles In The Rain) Melanie Safka
Lay down, lay down, lay it all down Let your white birds smile up At the ones who stand and frown
Lay down, lay down, lay it all down Let your white birds smile up At the ones who stand and frown
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
Lay down, lay down, lay it all down Let your white birds smile up At the ones who stand and frown
Lay down, lay down, lay it all down Let your white birds smile up At the ones who stand and frown
So raise candles high 'Cause if you don't we could stay black against the night Oh, raise them higher again And if you do we could stay dry against the rain
Lay down, lay down, lay it all down Let your white birds smile up At the ones who stand and frown
Lay down, lay down, lay it all down Let your white birds smile up At the ones who stand and frown
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
Lay down, lay down, lay it all down Let your white birds smile up At the ones who stand and frown
Lay down, lay down, lay it all down Let your white birds smile up At the ones who stand and frown
