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Brand New Key

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"Brand New Key"
Single by Melanie
from the album Gather Me
B-side"Some Say (I Got Devil)"
ReleasedOctober 1971
Genre
Length2:26
LabelNeighborhood
Songwriter(s)Melanie Safka
Producer(s)Peter Schekeryk
Melanie singles chronology
"Ruby Tuesday"
(1970) 		"Brand New Key"
(1971) 		"The Nickel Song"
(1972)
Official audio
"Brand New Key" on YouTube

"Brand New Key" is a pop song written and sung by American folk music singer Melanie. Initially a track of Melanie's album Gather Me, produced by Melanie's husband Peter Schekeryk, it was known also as "The Rollerskate Song" due to its chorus. It was her greatest success, scoring No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart during December 1971 and January 1972. Billboard ranked it as the No. 9 song of 1972. It also scored No. 1 in Canada and Australia and No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart.

Overview

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The song is sung from the viewpoint of a girl with roller skates trying to attract the attention of a boy.

In an interview with Examiner.com, Melanie described the inspiration for the song:

I was fasting with a 27-day fast on water. I broke the fast and went back to my life living in New Jersey and we were going to a flea market around six in the morning. On the way back… and I had just broken the fast, from the flea market, we passed a McDonald's and the aroma hit me, and I had been a vegetarian before the fast. So we pulled into the McDonald's and I got the whole works... the burger, the shake, and the fries... and no sooner after I finished that last bite of my burger… that song was in my head. The aroma brought back memories of roller skating and learning to ride a bike and the vision of my dad holding the back fender of the tire. And me saying to my dad... "You're holding, you're holding, you're holding, right?" Then I'd look back and he wasn't holding and I'd fall. So that whole thing came back to me and came out in this song.[1]

The song has been described as folk music, pop music, and soft rock.[2] It was arranged by Roger Kellaway.[3]

Possible sexual innuendo

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Melanie has acknowledged the possibility of detecting sexual innuendo in the lyrics, but has denied any deeper meaning:

[The song], "Brand New Key", I wrote in about fifteen minutes one night. I thought it was cute; a kind of old thirties tune. I guess a key and a lock have always been Freudian symbols, and pretty obvious ones at that. There was no deep serious expression behind the song, but people read things into it. They made up incredible stories as to what the lyrics said and what the song meant. In some places, it was even banned from the radio. My idea about songs is that once you write them, you have very little say in their life afterward. It's a lot like having a baby. You conceive a song, deliver it, and then give it as good a start as you can. After that, it's on its own. People will take it any way they want to take it.[4]

Track listings and formats

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  1. "Brand New Key"  – 2:26
  2. "Some Say (I Got Devil)"  – 3:07

Charts

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Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[21] Gold 1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Cover versions

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Country singer Deana Carter covered the song on her 1999 top-10 album Everything's Gonna Be Alright. The cellist band Rasputina had a version on the album Thanks for the Ether. Todd Rundgren played a cover on his 2018 tour. On August 1, 2018, at Daryl's House Club in Pawling, New York, Melanie joined Rundgren onstage to sing "Brand New Key".

A female-fronted punk trio, the Dollyrots, included a version on their album Because I'm Awesome. The 2006 American Idol runner-up, Katharine McPhee, covered the song as the bonus track on her 2010 Unbroken album. Olivia Newton-John covered the song on the soundtrack album for the film A Few Best Men in 2012. Jessica Frech covered the song on her 2012 Reality album.[22] The New York-based singer Jaymay covered the song in 2013.[23] Ray Conniff & The Singers did a cover version on their album I'd Like To Teach The World (In Perfect Harmony) album in 1971. Maddie Poppe covered it in the top-24 stage of American Idol season 1 on ABC and later went on to win. The Wiggles covered it on their 2022 album Rewiggled.

Parodies

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A version of the song entitled the "Combine Harvester", with new rustic-themed lyrics by Irish songwriter Brendan O'Shaughnessy (including "I've got a brand new combine harvester An' I'll give you the key"), was recorded by Irish comedian Brendan Grace, reaching No. 1 on the Irish Charts during 1975. In 1976 the same parody was covered in the UK as "The Combine Harvester", by Scrumpy and Western band the Wurzels, reaching number one on the UK Singles Chart for two weeks in June.[24]

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Podcast

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Theme song of the podcast Wife of the Party hosted by LeeAnn Kreischer, popular comedian Bert Kreischer's wife.[25]

Movies

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Melanie's version is heard in the 1997 film Boogie Nights as Dirk Diggler (Mark Wahlberg) has his "audition" with Rollergirl (Heather Graham) in front of Jack Horner (Burt Reynolds).[26] It can also be heard in Jackass 3D as the cast members try launching themselves into the inflatable swimming pool.

TV shows

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On April 4, 2016, Jimmy Fallon lip synced the song during a "Lip Sync Battle" on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, while he competed with actress Melissa McCarthy.[27]

During the 16th season of American Idol, contestant Maddie Poppe performed the song during the Top 24 elimination round.[28]

The song is played during the "Apocalypse DJ" running sketch portion of the third episode of the 2022 The Kids in the Hall revival series. The sketches depict a radio DJ (played by Dave Foley) playing the song over and over again in the aftermath of an apocalypse caused by a "DNA Bomb".[29]

The song is also heard in Family Guy season 20, episode 18, "Girlfriend, Eh?".[30]

The Voice

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On the October 17, 2016, episode of singing competition television show The Voice, Team Miley (Cyrus) contestants Darby Walker and Karlee Metzger performed the song in a Battle round.

In the first online episode of the Comeback Stage of the singing competition television show The Voice, no-chair reject Klea Olson performed the song as part of a Battle round against fellow Team Bebe (Rexha) members Nathan and Chesi Arnett, who performed the song "Tulsa Time".

References

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  1. ^ Ray Shahso (August 12, 2013). "The Classic Rock Music Reporter: 'Melanie' Safka Exclusive: 'My Mother Drove Me to Woodstock' (Part 1)". classicrockmusicwriter.com. Retrieved January 16, 2014.
  2. ^ "Brand New Key". AllMusic.
  3. ^ "Melanie - Gather Me". www.superseventies.com.
  4. ^ ""Brand New Key" - Melanie". Superseventies.com. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
  5. ^ Brand New Key (United States 7" vinyl liner notes). Melanie. Neighborhood Records. 1971. NRA-4201.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  6. ^ a b Steffen Hung. "Forum - 1970 (ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts)". Australian-charts.com. Archived from the original on 2016-06-02. Retrieved 2016-10-03.
  7. ^ "RPM Top 100 Singles - January 8, 1972" (PDF).
  8. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Brand New Key". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved July 12, 2018.
  9. ^ "Dutch Top 40 - Melanie, Brand New Key". top40.nl.
  10. ^ "flavour of new zealand - search listener". Flavourofnz.co.nz. Retrieved 2016-10-03.
  11. ^ "South African Rock Lists Website - SA Charts 1969 - 1989 Songs (A-B)". www.rock.co.za.
  12. ^ "MELANIE". officialcharts.com.
  13. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993. Record Research. p. 161.
  14. ^ "70s Files". Archive.is. Archived from the original on 2019-09-26. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
  15. ^ Billboard Index worldradiohistory.com
  16. ^ "RPM Top Singles of '71 - January 8, 1972" (PDF).
  17. ^ "Top 20 Hit Singles of 1972". Retrieved 2 September 2018.
  18. ^ "Top 100 Hits of 1972/Top 100 Songs of 1972". musicoutfitters.com. Archived from the original on 2017-04-27. Retrieved 2015-03-10.
  19. ^ "Top 100 Year End Charts: 1972". Cashbox Magazine. Archived from the original on 2012-08-14. Retrieved 2015-05-21.
  20. ^ "Billboard Hot 100 60th Anniversary Interactive Chart". Billboard. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  21. ^ "American single certifications – Melanie – Brand New Key". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
  22. ^ "Chart Beat Meet & Greet: Jessica Frech (Exclusive Video) – Chart Beat". Billboard. March 20, 2012. Retrieved April 16, 2012.
  23. ^ "Jaymay Singin' Melanie's Brand New Key in a Bathrobe". January 18, 2013. Archived from the original on 2021-12-12 – via YouTube.
  24. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 327. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  25. ^ "Wife of the party: # 1 - Bert Kreischer on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 2022-11-21.
  26. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Boogie Nights". AllMusic.
  27. ^ Lip Sync Battle with Melissa McCarthy. YouTube. April 4, 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-04-05.
  28. ^ "Maddie Poppe Sings 'Brand New Key' by Melanie - Top 24 Solos - American Idol 2018 on ABC". American Idol. 2018-04-15. Archived from the original on 2018-04-16. Retrieved 2018-04-26 – via YouTube.
  29. ^ Collis, Clark (May 26, 2022). "Dave Foley has no idea why everyone loves Kids in the Hall breakout sketch 'Doomsday DJ'". Entertainment Weekly.
  30. ^ "s20e18 - Girlfriend, Eh? - Family Guy Transcripts - TvT". Retrieved 2022-05-14.
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