Brand New Key
Encyclopedia
"Brand New Key" is a pop
song written by folk
singer Melanie
, which became a novelty hit in 1971-72. Taken from Melanie's album Gather Me
, it was also known as "The Rollerskate Song" due to its chorus. It was her biggest hit, reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100
singles chart in December 1971 and January 1972. It reached #1 in Canada
and Australia
, and #4 in the UK charts
. Melanie's version of "Brand New Key" was featured in the 1997 film Boogie Nights
as well as the 2010 film Jackass 3D
.
trying to attract the attention of a boy:
The roller skates in question would have been children's quad skates
, which were clamped to the soles of ordinary shoes. The clamps were tightened with a special "key" that was basically a very simple socket wrench
. The key was inevitably lost or misplaced, in which case a screwdriver or other tool could usually substitute though at some inconvenience. Although the lyrics claim that the roller skates are "brand new"; the girl presumably has lost her key:
in the lyrics, with the key in its lock thought to be symbolizing sexual intercourse
, or in phrases such as "I go pretty far" and "I've been all around the world".
Melanie has acknowledged the possibility of reading sexual innuendo in the song:
comedy folk act The Wurzels
and reached #1 for two weeks in June 1976. New rustic-themed lyrics by Brendan O'Shaughnessy included "I got a brand new combine harvester
/ An' I'll give you the key". The song was used prominently in the film Evil Aliens
.
Following the January 1994 attack on Nancy Kerrigan
, a parody of "Brand New Key" circulated on radio stations. The parody featured lyrics from Tonya Harding
's point of view, and included the chorus, "I've got a brand new pair of figure skates / You've got a busted knee; / They're gonna lock up my ex-husband and throw away the key."
With lyrics describing Best Film nominee Pan's Labyrinth
, Minnie Driver
sang a parody of the song at the 2007 Spirit Awards ("I blew a giant frog to smithereens / I got his golden key").
Supercute!
, an indie pop/psychedelic pop teenage band led by Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players
member Rachel Trachtenburg
, have covered
this song. They have also performed it live with English singer Kate Nash
.
Los Angeles pop-punk band The Dollyrots
covered the song in 2007 on their album Because I'm Awesome
. It was met with great enthusiasm during their 2010 UK tour with Bowling for Soup
, largely due to the commercial success of The Wurzels
' 1976 cover throughout England.
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
song written by folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
singer Melanie
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:...
, which became a novelty hit in 1971-72. Taken from Melanie's album Gather Me
Gather Me
-Track listing:#"Little Bit of Me"#"Some Day I'll Be a Farmer"#"Steppin'"#"Brand New Key"#"Ring Around the Moon"#"Ring the Living Bell"#"Railroad"#"Kansas"#"Some Say "#"Center of the Circle"#"What Wondrous Love"#"Baby Day"#"Tell Me Why"...
, it was also known as "The Rollerskate Song" due to its chorus. It was her biggest hit, reaching #1 on the 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...
singles chart in December 1971 and January 1972. It reached #1 in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, and #4 in the UK charts
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
. Melanie's version of "Brand New Key" was featured in the 1997 film Boogie Nights
Boogie Nights
Boogie Nights is a 1997 drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Set in Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley, the script focuses on a young nightclub dishwasher who becomes a popular star of pornographic films, and chronicles his rise and fall from the Golden Age of Porn of the 1970s...
as well as the 2010 film Jackass 3D
Jackass 3D
Jackass 3D is a 2010 American 3D comedy film and the fourth film in the Jackass series. It was released on October 15, 2010 by Paramount Pictures and MTV Films to American theaters and marked the 10th anniversary of the franchise, which started in 2000...
.
Overview
The song is lighthearted in tone, sung from the viewpoint of a girl with roller skatesRoller skates
Roller skates are devices worn on the feet to enable the wearer to roll along on wheels. A first basic type of roller skate consists of a boot with four wheels with ball bearings, arranged in the same configuration as the wheels of a typical car.-History:...
trying to attract the attention of a boy:
- I got a brand new pair of roller skates,
- You got a brand new key.
- I think that we should get together and try them out, to see ...
The roller skates in question would have been children's quad skates
Quad skates
The four-wheeled turning roller skate, or quad skate, with four wheels set in two side-by-side pairs, was first designed in 1863 in New York City by James Leonard Plimpton in an attempt to improve upon previous designs. The skate contained a pivoting action using a rubber cushion, and this allowed...
, which were clamped to the soles of ordinary shoes. The clamps were tightened with a special "key" that was basically a very simple socket wrench
Socket wrench
A socket wrench is a wrench with interchangeable heads called sockets that attach to a fitting on the wrench, allowing it to turn different sized bolts and other fasteners. The most common form is a hand tool popularly called a ratchet consisting of a handle with a ratcheting mechanism built in,...
. The key was inevitably lost or misplaced, in which case a screwdriver or other tool could usually substitute though at some inconvenience. Although the lyrics claim that the roller skates are "brand new"; the girl presumably has lost her key:
- I roller skated to your door at daylight[...]
- I'm okay alone, but you got something I need
Controversy
Some listeners detected innuendoInnuendo
An innuendo is a baseless invention of thoughts or ideas. It can also be a remark or question, typically disparaging , that works obliquely by allusion...
in the lyrics, with the key in its lock thought to be symbolizing sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...
, or in phrases such as "I go pretty far" and "I've been all around the world".
Melanie has acknowledged the possibility of reading sexual innuendo in the song:
Selected list of recorded versions
- 1995 Sharon, Lois & BramSharon, Lois & BramSharon, Lois & Bram is the name of a Canadian children's musical trio composed of Sharon Hampson , Lois Ada Lilienstein , and Bramwell "Bram" Morrison .-Group formation:Sharon Hampson, Lois Lillenstein, and Bram Morrison began their singing...
, on the album Let's Dance!Let's Dance!Let's Dance! is the seventeenth album by popular children's entertainers Sharon, Lois & Bram, originally released in the fall of 1995. This was the first Sharon, Lois & Bram album to feature a different repretoire of carefully selected pop tunes spanning over four decades of music from the 40s to... - 1996 Rasputina, on the album Thanks for the EtherThanks for the Ether- Personnel :* Norm Block – Drums* Tracy Boychuk – Art Direction* Jimmy Boyle – Executive Producer, Producer* Michael Brauer – Mixing* Greg Calbi – Mastering* Melora Creager – Art Direction, Cello, Producer, Vocals* Greg Gordon – Engineer* Julia Kent – Cello...
- 1998 Deana CarterDeana CarterDeana Carter is a country music artist who broke through in 1996 with the release of debut album Did I Shave My Legs for This?, which was certified 5× Multi-Platinum in the United States for sales of over five million...
, on the album Everything's Gonna Be Alright - 2006 Tara King Th, on the album A Sigh Of Relief
- 2007 The DollyrotsThe DollyrotsThe Dollyrots are an American pop punk band composed of Kelly Ogden and Luis Cabezas . They have released three studio albums and are currently signed to the Blackheart Records label.-Formation:...
, on the album Because I'm AwesomeBecause I'm AwesomeBecause I'm Awesome is the second studio album by the American punk band The Dollyrots. It was released on March 13, 2007 on Blackheart Records.... - 2008 Jennie Devoe, on the album Busted Flat
- 2009 Katharine McPheeKatharine McPheeKatharine Hope McPhee is an American pop singer, songwriter, actress, model, and television personality. She gained fame as a contestant on the fifth season of the Fox reality show American Idol in 2006, eventually finishing as the runner-up.Her self-titled debut album was released on RCA Records...
, on the album UnbrokenUnbroken (Katharine McPhee album)Unbroken is the second album from American Idol season five runner-up Katharine McPhee. The album was released on January 5, 2010 by Verve Forecast Records, her first album on the label. It debuted at #27 on the Billboard 200, selling 15,000 copies in its first week... - 2009 Adrien Reju, on the album A Million Hearts
Parodies and other versions
The parody song "Combine Harvester (Brand New Key)", produced by Bob Barrett, was released in the UK by West CountryWest Country
The West Country is an informal term for the area of south western England roughly corresponding to the modern South West England government region. It is often defined to encompass the historic counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset and the City of Bristol, while the counties of...
comedy folk act The Wurzels
The Wurzels
The Wurzels are a British Scrumpy and Western band...
and reached #1 for two weeks in June 1976. New rustic-themed lyrics by Brendan O'Shaughnessy included "I got a brand new combine harvester
Combine harvester
The combine harvester, or simply combine, is a machine that harvests grain crops. The name derives from the fact that it combines three separate operations, reaping, threshing, and winnowing, into a single process. Among the crops harvested with a combine are wheat, oats, rye, barley, corn ,...
/ An' I'll give you the key". The song was used prominently in the film Evil Aliens
Evil Aliens
Evil Aliens , is a British "splatstick" horror-comedy film directed by Jake West, in the tradition of films such as Braindead, House, and Evil Dead....
.
Following the January 1994 attack on Nancy Kerrigan
Nancy Kerrigan
Nancy Ann Kerrigan is a two-time American Olympic figure skating medalist and 1993 U.S. champion.-Early life and skating career:...
, a parody of "Brand New Key" circulated on radio stations. The parody featured lyrics from Tonya Harding
Tonya Harding
Tonya Maxine Harding is an American figure skating champion. In 1991 she won the U.S. Figure Skating Championships and placed second in the World Championships. She was the second woman, and the first American woman, to complete a triple axel jump in competition...
's point of view, and included the chorus, "I've got a brand new pair of figure skates / You've got a busted knee; / They're gonna lock up my ex-husband and throw away the key."
With lyrics describing Best Film nominee Pan's Labyrinth
Pan's Labyrinth
Pan's Labyrinth is a 2006 Spanish Spanish-language dark fantasy film, written and directed by Mexican film-maker Guillermo del Toro. It was produced and distributed by the Mexican film company Esperanto Films...
, Minnie Driver
Minnie Driver
Minnie Driver is an English actress and singer-songwriter. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the 1997 film Good Will Hunting, as well as for an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe for her work in the television series The Riches.- Early life...
sang a parody of the song at the 2007 Spirit Awards ("I blew a giant frog to smithereens / I got his golden key").
Supercute!
Supercute!
SUPERCUTE! is an American indie pop band from Brooklyn, New York composed of members Rachel Trachtenburg, Julia Cumming, Olivia Ferrer and Delilah Brierley . The band has toured twice with English singer-songwriter Kate Nash in 2010, released a self-titled EP and two non-album songs...
, an indie pop/psychedelic pop teenage band led by Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players
Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players
The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players describe themselves as an "indie-vaudeville conceptual art-rock pop band", from the United States. Originally from Seattle, Washington, they are now based in New York, New York.-Overview:...
member Rachel Trachtenburg
Rachel Trachtenburg
Rachel Sage Piña-Trachtenburg is an American musician, radio personality, model, singer, political and animal activist and actress from New York City. Trachtenburg is most notable for her key role as drummer and backup vocalist of the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players, a family band consisting...
, have covered
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
this song. They have also performed it live with English singer Kate Nash
Kate Nash
Kate Marie Nash is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. She had a UK no. 2 hit "Foundations" in 2007, followed by the platinum selling UK number 1 album Made of Bricks. She was named Best Female Artist at the 2008 BRIT Awards....
.
Los Angeles pop-punk band The Dollyrots
The Dollyrots
The Dollyrots are an American pop punk band composed of Kelly Ogden and Luis Cabezas . They have released three studio albums and are currently signed to the Blackheart Records label.-Formation:...
covered the song in 2007 on their album Because I'm Awesome
Because I'm Awesome
Because I'm Awesome is the second studio album by the American punk band The Dollyrots. It was released on March 13, 2007 on Blackheart Records....
. It was met with great enthusiasm during their 2010 UK tour with Bowling for Soup
Bowling for Soup
Bowling for Soup is an American pop-punk band which originally formed in Wichita Falls, Texas in 1994...
, largely due to the commercial success of The Wurzels
The Wurzels
The Wurzels are a British Scrumpy and Western band...
' 1976 cover throughout England.