There was more going on with Melanie than that one obnoxious novelty hit. “Lay Down (Candles In The Rain)” was one of the more powerful songs of the very early seventies, owing a lot to the gospel harmonies of the Edwin Hawkins singers backing her up, true, but it’s a great period piece that has aged well. She was quite a beautiful girl, too, with a unique voice and a style of her own. I actually liked "Lay Down" when it was a hit in 1970, even though it was a tune from "the other side." It seems to have been inspired by the "Moratorium" anti-Vietnam War protests of October, 1969.