Talk:Brand New Key

Freudian Symbolism?

Freudian symbolism, my foot. What did Freud have to say about rollerskates? Symbolism didn't start with Freud, you know. Maikel 09:14, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

This article, a review of her comeback concert, says that she said it's about sex...: "She explains that Brand New Key is about sex and was written as Cajun swamp blues but cutesied up by a record-producer husband - then she sings the cute version."
But that seems to directly contradict the BBC interview mentioned in the wiki. So who knows. Meichigo 21:47, 15 October 2007 (UTC)

It's not the roller skates that are symbolic. It's the lock in the quad skates. Key into lock, see? Eligius (talk) 08:22, 2 June 2010 (UTC)

As someone who actually once owned roller skates and a key, the attempted sexual allusion is totally incorrect.Backward, in fact. The skate has the male part, a prong (if I may use the word), which fits into a groove-like hole on the key.One tightens the key to lock the skate's clamps on the edge of the sole on the Buster Browns (it did not work on sneakers but kids rarely wore tennis shoes back then). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.229.217.188 (talk) 01:46, 22 April 2012 (UTC)

Yes, but the common impression is that the key goes into the roller skate. North8000 (talk) 13:54, 6 May 2012 (UTC)

• To quote another Melanie song, "Psychotherapy", "a thing's a phallic symbol if it's longer than it's wide". YMMV -- Bobyllib (talk) 12:56, 6 May 2012 (UTC)

This discussion actually betokens a broader, older question--whether a poem means what the poet intended or what readers/listeners perceive it as meaning. Consider Robert Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" and Frost's denial that he intended any "death wish" on the part of the narrator, something which many readers and critics aver is in the poem. With reference to "Brand New Key" one should consider the rather bland and circuitous wording of Melanie's response to the supposed analogous language in the lyrics. Even if she could have been more blunt and cogent in denying that she was even thinking of such an analogy, the fact remains that many people perceive that analogy as being there. Lyrics mean what they mean to the people who read or hear them regardless of what the artist thought s/he had in mind or will admit. Rammer (talk) 02:15, 5 May 2012 (UTC)

Joplin

i thought that janis joplin was some how involved with the rollerskate song. any info would b appreciated -- 20:18, 12 July 2007 71.60.111.212

---

Janis never did "Leaving On A Jet Plane", Peter Paul & Mary did. Nor, did she sing "Son of a Preacher Man". (That was Dusty Springfield)

More songs that Janis never recorded:

- The Rose (Bette Midler) - Entertainer (Scott Joplin) - She NEVER recorded with Bob Dylan, but was on the same label, Columbia - White Rabbit (Jefferson Airplane) - Brand New Key (Melanie)- Ragtime (Again, Scott Joplin)

If you're not sure, everything that Janis did is listed on the discography pages on our site. You can go to Compilations, and look at the listing, but won't find anything listed that she hasn't sung. (source: janisjoplin.net) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Wampie (talk • contribs) 22:56, 15 September 2007 (UTC)

"New key" = "nookie"

Published source for this theory? Gordonofcartoon 12:25, 8 October 2007 (UTC)

None of the information about "innuendo" is cited. It's not presented as fact; it's presented as interpretation. I'll concede that it technically fails WP:V, but it doesn't pretend to be fact, just as no interpretation of a song, poem, novel, painting or any other art can be considered fact. If the "nookie" statement is deleted for lack of a source, the whole paragaph should go, as should about 50% of interpretive statements for articles about other creative endeavors. Ward3001 14:41, 8 October 2007 (UTC)

The bigger issue over "nookie" is that it's a very specifically British piece of slang for sexual intercourse, pretty much unknown in the USA. Why would an American songwriter intend "new key" to be associated with "nookie"? And in any event, "new key" and "nookie" are pronounced in different ways, the "nook" in "nookie" rhyming with "book" or "look".

Sure, it's an interpretation, but not one that can be considered to have any validity in respect of an encylopaedia article which ought to be concerned with matters of fact that can be backed up with citations.213.132.48.105 (talk) 13:04, 19 September 2009 (UTC)

I don't think that "nookie" is really British only... AnonMoos (talk) 15:04, 20 September 2009 (UTC)

So she was trying to say "ive got a brand nookie"? what would that be, a fleshlight? this is silly pop culture speculation. Ive never heard it myself.Mercurywoodrose (talk) 02:04, 10 August 2012 (UTC)

I think that sexual meaning is widely acknowledged as a possible or probable meaning. As covered in this article, she acknowledged it herself. But it doesn't need any word similarity to "nookie" to do that, and I've never heard of that word similarity angle anywhere except here. North8000 (talk) 10:51, 10 August 2012 (UTC)

I don't believe that the word "Nookie" was specifically British. My dad used it, his dad used it, and I remember very well. That was in the 60's before the song came out. You'd be hard pressed to make me believe it for a second.Foolishfish (talk) 20:57, 27 January 2013 (UTC)

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BNP Song

There is also a version of the song written either by or for the BNP. See http://www.bnp.org.uk/2007/12/14/brand-new-leather-jacket/ —Preceding unsigned comment added by Xsamix (talk • contribs) 22:41, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

If she doesn't have a key

to tighten her skates, then how did she "roller skated to your door at daylight"? 95.55.131.69 (talk) 08:07, 2 January 2013 (UTC)

You might be overthinking it... -- AnonMoos (talk) 07:32, 28 January 2013 (UTC)

Pretty simple, I think. Key tightens skates onto shoes... shoelaces tighten laces onto feet. No need to remove the skate from the shoe to remove the shoe from the foot, or indeed to put it back on again. Jack of Many (talk) 16:25, 16 September 2013 (UTC)

But how did she get the skates on in the first place? By the way, why would someone have a rollerskate key and no rollerskates? TheScotch (talk)

Sexual innuendo not intended

Melanie's description of the origins of the song really do show that there is no sexual innuendo intended. To say that "Many listeners detect sexual innuendo in the lyrics" implies that it is actually there. It would be better to say that "Although there is no indication that sexual innuendo was intended, some listeners believe that they detect sexual innuendo in the lyrics".Royalcourtier (talk) 01:17, 30 April 2016 (UTC)

There is no source for the opening claim that "Many listeners detect sexual innuendo in the lyrics, with the key in its lock thought to symbolize sexual intercourse, or in phrases such as "I go pretty far" and "I've been all around the world". So I've added a tag there. And what Melanie says - "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" - is not much of an acknowledgement, is it? So unless we can find a good source for the claim, even for "some listeners" it should be removed. I can see that some framing of Melanie's comment might be needed, but not quite as strongly as this. In fact, where and when was it ever banned? Martinevans123 (talk) 08:38, 30 April 2016 (UTC) p.s. note that the source posted in 2007 in "Freudian Symbolism?" above, to a Telegraph article, no longer works.

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Feminism?

A lot of talk about possible sexual symbolism here, but the way I remember it, this song was supposed to be feminist. The line “some people say I done all right for a girl” is pretty striking. TheScotch (talk) 07:59, 1 February 2024 (UTC)