"Brand New Key" is a pop song written and sung by the American

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

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 A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' ranked it as the No. 9 song of 1972. It also scored No. 1 in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart.

Overview

The song is sung from the viewpoint of a girl with

roller skates Roller skates are boots with wheels mounted to the bottom, allowing the user to travel on hard surfaces similarly to an ice skater on ice. The first roller skate was an inline skate design, effectively an ice skate with a line of wheels replac ...

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 New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
and we were going to a
flea market A flea market (or swap meet) is a type of street market that provides space for vendors to sell previously owned (secondhand) goods. This type of market is often seasonal. However, in recent years there has been the development of 'formal' ...
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 McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...
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.

The song has been described as

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom.S. Frith, W. Straw, and J. Street, eds, ''iarchive:cambridgecompani00frit, The Cambridge Companion to Pop ...

, and

soft rock Soft rock (also known as light rock or mellow rock) is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in the United States and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, mel ...

. It was arranged by

Roger Kellaway Roger Kellaway (born November 1, 1939) is an American composer, arranger and jazz pianist who has recorded over 250 albums, and composed over 20 film scores Life and career Kellaway was born in Waban, Massachusetts, United States. He is an alum ...

Possible sexual innuendo

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

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

Cover versions

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 Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the bands Nazz and Utopia. He is known for his sophistica ...

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 The Dollyrots are an American punk rock band formed in 2000, composed of Kelly Ogden (bass, lead vocals) and Luis Cabezas (guitars, backing vocals). They have released nine studio albums under Panic Button Records, Panic Button (part of Lookout R ...

, included a version on their album ''

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. Tracks featured in TV shows include "Because I'm Awesome", featured on ''Ugly Betty'' and "Watc ...

''. The 2006 ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...

'' runner-up,

Katharine McPhee Katharine Hope McPhee (born March 25, 1984) is an American actress and singer. In May 2006, she was the runner-up on the fifth season of ''American Idol.'' Her eponymous debut album was released on RCA Records in January 2007, and debuted at n ...

, covered the song as the bonus track on her 2010 '' Unbroken'' album.

Olivia Newton-John Dame Olivia Newton-John (26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022) was a British and Australian singer and actress. With over 100 million records sold, Newton-John was one of the List of best-selling music artists#100 million to 119 million record ...

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. The New York-based singer Jaymay covered the song in 2013.

Ray Conniff Joseph Raymond Conniff (November 6, 1916 – October 12, 2002) was an American bandleader and arranger best known for his Ray Conniff Singers during the 1960s. Biography Conniff was born November 6, 1916, in Attleboro, Massachusetts, United S ...

& 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 16 on ABC and later went on to win.

The Wiggles The Wiggles are an Australian children's music group formed in Sydney in 1991. As of 2022, the group members are Anthony Field, Lachlan Gillespie, Simon Pryce, Tsehay Hawkins, Evie Ferris, John Pearce (entertainer), John Pearce, Caterina Mete ...

covered it on their 2022 album ''Rewiggled''.

Parodies

A version of the song entitled the "

Combine Harvester The modern combine harvester, also called a combine, is a machine designed to harvest a variety of cultivated seeds. Combine harvesters are one of the most economically important labour-saving inventions, significantly reducing the fraction of ...

", with new rustic-themed lyrics by Irish songwriter Brendan O'Shaughnessy (including "I've got a brand new

combine harvester The modern combine harvester, also called a combine, is a machine designed to harvest a variety of cultivated seeds. Combine harvesters are one of the most economically important labour-saving inventions, significantly reducing the fraction of ...

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.

References in popular culture

Podcast

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

Movies

Melanie's version is heard in the 1997 film ''

Boogie Nights ''Boogie Nights'' is a 1997 American drama film written, directed, and co-produced by Paul Thomas Anderson. It is set in Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley and focuses on a young nightclub dishwasher who becomes a popular star of pornographic ...

'' as Dirk Diggler (

Mark Wahlberg Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg (born June 5, 1971), formerly known by his stage name Marky Mark, is an American actor, producer, and former rapper. Mark Wahlberg filmography, His work as a leading actor, leading man spans the Comedy film, come ...

) has his "audition" with Rollergirl (

Heather Graham Heather Joan Graham (born January 29, 1970) is an American actress. The accolades she has received include nominations for two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Critics' Choice Movie Award, and an Independent Spirit Award. After appearing in tel ...

) in front of Jack Horner (

Burt Reynolds Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. (February 11, 1936 – September 6, 2018) was an American actor most famous during the 1970s and 1980s. He became well known in television series such as ''Gunsmoke'' (1962–1965), '' Hawk'' (1966) and '' Dan Augus ...

). It can also be heard in ''

Jackass 3D ''Jackass 3D'' (known as ''Jackass 3'' on home media) is a 2010 American 3-D film, 3D reality film, reality comedy film directed by Jeff Tremaine. It is the third installment in the Jackass (franchise)#Films, ''Jackass'' film series, and the sequ ...

'' as the cast members try launching themselves into the inflatable swimming pool.

TV shows

On April 4, 2016,

Jimmy Fallon James Thomas Fallon (born September 19, 1974) is an Americans, American comedian, television host, actor, singer, writer, and producer. Best known for his work in television, Fallon's breakthrough came during his tenure as a cast member on the ...

lip synced the song during a "Lip Sync Battle" on ''

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by actor and comedian Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It i ...

'', while he competed with actress

Melissa McCarthy Melissa Ann McCarthy (born August 26, 1970) is an American actress, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Melissa McCarthy, numerous accolades, including two Primetime Emmy Award ...

. During the 16th season of ''

'', contestant Maddie Poppe performed the song during the Top 24 elimination round. 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 David Foley (born January 4, 1963) is a Canadian actor, stand-up comedian, director, producer, and writer. He is known as a co-founder of the comedy group The Kids in the Hall, who have appeared together in a number of television, stage and fil ...

) playing the song over and over again in the aftermath of an apocalypse caused by a "DNA Bomb". The song is also heard in ''

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 31, 1999, following Super Bowl XXXIII, with the rest of the first season airing from April 11, 1999. Th ...

'' season 20, episode 18, "Girlfriend, Eh?".

The Voice

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

External links

* {{authority control 1971 singles 1972 singles 1976 singles British pop songs Melanie (singer) songs Number-one singles in New Zealand Number-one singles in South Africa Number-one singles in Australia Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles 1971 songs Obscenity controversies in music