26 December 2007

"don't take the candy" || wolf & wolf || 1983


Gosh, where to even begin with today's track?

To say that this song is bizarre would be the litote to end all litotes. It would be like saying that Warheads are "a little sour," or that Brokeback Mountain is "a little gay."

Get it? The song is effing peculiar.

The story is that of a young girl from Idaho who moves to L.A. to become a star, but soon finds herself the victim of a "candy uncle," who's offered her candy that just "ain't sweet." The singer apparently tried to warn the girl about the infamous L.A. Candy Uncles, but said warnings went unheeded and the girl shall never again roam the potato pastures of Idaho.

"Don't take the candy from the uncle in the street." Okay, I can do that. But wait, what uncle are we talking about here? Does she mean bad agents? Bad lawyers? Porno directors? Pedophiles?!

And what became of our young actress? Is she just a failed actress? A waitress? A porn star? (read: A failed actress.) Is she dead?

The thing that makes the song so creepy is its open-endedness. It would appear that not even the singer is sure what happened to the girl.

Believe me, at first listen, this song is ridiculous. But if you give it a chance, it is actually a pretty interesting story, and one that's no doubt happened millions of times to young ladies with Hollywood aspirations. The bizarre way in which the tale is told is what really makes this track unique.

Listen to it here.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Warheads! I completely forgot about them. I love the melodrama of the lyrics against the new wave music. I'm definitely not taking any candy from any uncles though.

ross johnston said...

thanx soooo much 4 letting me hear "candy uncle" again! was quite fond of this song in its day. perused some of the rest of your blog & came across Ta Mara & the seen...have 12"s of both affection & everybody dance if youd like ill happily dupe you both onto CD.
I want no $ but would do it as favor from one obscure music afficianado 2 another
lemme know...