Lay Down (Candles In The Rain)/ Candles In The Rain

After seeing this song's lyrics on its picture sleeve, I realized I'd been mistaken all these years about one line, and I was enlightened about another I could never understand. I always thought Melanie was acting in the vanguard of the budding women's movement by singing: "We were so close, there was no room / We bled inside each others wombs." Though admirable, I thought the writer was leaving out half the population at Woodstock with that sentiment. Well, turns out I was wrong about that most significant word, "womb." She is really singing "wounds"! \r\n

And the mysterious line at the end of the chorus is now clear:

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Let your white birds smile up at the ones who stand and frown.

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It's so great to be able to cross those mysteries off my list. :-)

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The Stereo A side features backing vocals by the Edwin Hawkins Singers. (The B side is Mono.) Note: This copy comes in a vintage Buddah Records factory sleeve. (This scan is a representative image from our archives.