Music 60's and 70's

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.

According to Recording Industry Association of America, King has sold 19.6 million records in the United States. She is also recognized as the most successful female songwriter of the 20th century, having written or co-written 118 hits on the Billboard Hot 100.