I’m starting to think I’ve underestimated the song “Candy,” a 1990 duet sung by Iggy Pop and Kate Pierson of B-52s fame.
Pierson performs “Candy” like an actress, moving between ironic spoken word and a good-girl-turned sad keening. She brings a cinematic feel to a ballad where two onetime lovers carry not a torch but a Zippo dangerously short on butane.
In this 1990 vid, Iggy Pop is handsome, in that hard-living, ropy way of his. More importantly, he’s in great voice. His baritone clambers along the upper registers with agility. He does that thing where his voice is conversational, bordering on lacking in affect. As for his side of the melody, he carries the tune like a cross, punching at notes more than reaching them. It’s somehow deeply satisfying.
As for the song’s theme–an old flame rekindled, an old relationship rehashed, a lost opportunity revisited–it’s both archetypal and sweet. Everyone likes to root for an underdog. particularly when he’s famous for a song called, “I Wanna Be Your Dog.”
—Sarah Torribio
Listen to more songs of the day HERE
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