Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)
Encyclopedia
"Lay Down" was the second single from Melanie
's 1970 album Candles in the Rain
. The song proved to be her breakthrough hit in the United States, climbing to #6 on the U.S. Billboard charts and #3 on the U.S. Cash Box charts.
The song, released in March 1970, was a collaboration with the Edwin Hawkins Singers, who provide gospel vocals in the background of each chorus. Melanie wrote the song after performing at Woodstock the year before; the song's lyrics describe what she felt as she looked out at the sea of people attending the music event.
It is also associated with certain events occurring during the November 1969 Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam
.
It became a Top Ten hit across the world, perhaps most notably in the United States, where it was a Cash Box Charts fixture for 17 weeks, and in Australia, where it stayed on the Go-Set
charts for 23 weeks.
Melanie Safka
Melanie Anne Safka-Schekeryk is an American singer-songwriter. Known professionally as simply Melanie, she is best known for her hits "Brand New Key", "Ruby Tuesday" and "Lay Down ".-Early career:...
's 1970 album Candles in the Rain
Candles In The Rain
Candles in the Rain is singer Melanie's third album, released in 1970. The album produced Melanie's first Top Ten single in North America, "Lay Down ", which was inspired by the crowd's reaction to her performance at Woodstock...
. The song proved to be her breakthrough hit in the United States, climbing to #6 on the U.S. Billboard charts and #3 on the U.S. Cash Box charts.
The song, released in March 1970, was a collaboration with the Edwin Hawkins Singers, who provide gospel vocals in the background of each chorus. Melanie wrote the song after performing at Woodstock the year before; the song's lyrics describe what she felt as she looked out at the sea of people attending the music event.
It is also associated with certain events occurring during the November 1969 Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam
Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam
The Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam was a large demonstration against the United States involvement in the Vietnam War that took place across the United States on October 15, 1969. The Moratorium developed from Jerome Grossman's April 20, 1969, call for a general strike if the war had not...
.
It became a Top Ten hit across the world, perhaps most notably in the United States, where it was a Cash Box Charts fixture for 17 weeks, and in Australia, where it stayed on the Go-Set
Go-Set
Go-Set was the first Australian pop music newspaper, published weekly from 2 February 1966 to 24 August 1974, and was founded in Melbourne by Phillip Frazer, Peter Raphael and Tony Schauble...
charts for 23 weeks.
Charts
| Chart (1970) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart | 3 |
| Canadian Singles Chart | 5 |
| Dutch Singles Chart Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting... |
1 |
| French Singles Chart | 4 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
6 |
| U.S. Cash Box Charts | 3 |
Covers
- SkiffleSkiffleSkiffle is a type of popular music with jazz, blues, folk, roots and country influences, usually using homemade or improvised instruments. Originating as a term in the United States in the first half of the twentieth century, it became popular again in the UK in the 1950s, where it was mainly...
-influenced Pennsylvanian indie rock group The Strapping FieldhandsThe Strapping FieldhandsThe Strapping Fieldhands are an American indie rock band based in Pennsylvania, and are associated with the Siltbreeze label and American lo-fi psych scene. The band's first live incarnation was a three-piece opening for The Frogs...
recorded a no-fiNo-fiNo-Fi is a term used to describe music or media created outside conventional technical standards.-The name:Where "Hi-fi" and "Lo-fi" are short for "High Fidelity" and "Low Fidelity", respectively, "No-fi" is a play-on-words intended to be interpreted as meaning "No Fidelity".-The sound:No-Fi is an...
version of the song on their 1994 EPExtended playAn EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
"In The Pineys". The EP, released on Siltbreeze Records, also closes with a shambolic reprise of the song. - Australian artist Max SharamMax SharamLeanne Maree "Max" Sharam is an Australian musician, writer and artist. In the mid-1990s, Sharam had three top 40 hit singles, "Coma", "Be Firm" and "Lay Down" from her top 10 album, A Million Year Girl...
released it as a single from her 1995 album A Million Year GirlA Million Year Girl-Charts:-Personnel:* Tony Allayialis – vocals* Wendy Berge – viola* Aud Bill – double bass* Tim Brewer – piano* Amanda Brown – mandolin, violin* Lucie Miller – celli viola* Ian Cooper – violin...
. The single reached #36 on the ARIA ChartsARIA ChartsThe ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...
in November that year. - Meredith BrooksMeredith BrooksMeredith Ann Brooks is an American singer/songwriter and guitarist. She is best known for her 1997 hit song "Bitch", for which she was nominated for a Grammy Award.- Early life :...
, with Queen LatifahQueen LatifahDana Elaine Owens , better known by her stage name Queen Latifah, is an American singer, rapper, and actress. Her work in music, film and television has earned her a Golden Globe award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Image Awards, a Grammy Award, six additional Grammy nominations, an Emmy...
, released it as a single from her 1999 DeconstructionDeconstructionDeconstruction is a term introduced by French philosopher Jacques Derrida in his 1967 book Of Grammatology. Although he carefully avoided defining the term directly, he sought to apply Martin Heidegger's concept of Destruktion or Abbau, to textual reading...
album.