Throwback Thursday: Mandy Moore, ‘Candy’

Welcome to Throwback Thursday, a weekly series showcasing an album, single, music video or performance of a bygone era and its personal and/or cultural significance.

What does it mean to miss someone like candy? Forget about asking Mandy Moore. Two decades since the song débuted (officially on August 17, 1999), not even she has a clue.

The most saccharine of the late nineties pop princesses, Moore went from singing “Adelaide’s Lament” in a local production of “Guys and Dolls” to rhyming her name with a sugary treat. Not many cared for a taste of the new pop confection. Not because “Candy” boasted an odd flavor combination. The track was bubblegum pop as bubblegum pop could be — from its vibrant synths that contain more than a hint of Robyn’s, another nineties pop princess, “Do You Know (What It Takes),” to the questionable simile at the heart of its lyrical detailing of a teenage push-and-pull romance.

Surprisingly, not a crumb of candy was packed among the assortment of crop tops, cargo pants, a Sony CD Walkman, a lime green Volkswagen Beetle, a Cadillac Jack’s parking lot dance number and an empty pool stunt featuring skater boys in the music video.

“Candy” was sweet, perhaps too sweet for a late-summer delicacy. Everybody with a sweet tooth had already taken their bites of the candy shop’s earlier offerings. While cooked up from similar ingredients, the other sugar-coated goodies were spiked with teenage lust. Not a drop too much that they couldn’t be served without a “parental warning” sticker; not a drop too little that they lost their kick.

Moore did try to infuse the song with a new flavor. A 1999 MadTV performance saw the pop princess popping the bubble and dousing the song with a rock punch, with the help of a full backing band, whom the backup dancers were traded in for. If this were the original flavor, would more people have craved for it?

Perhaps not. The pop toothache was still five years into the future.

“Candy” is still sweet, twenty summers after its best-by date. Its brand of sweetness is rarely found these days. Whether it’s a shame or good riddance depends on someone’s musical taste buds. I lean toward the former. I crave for it. Maybe that’s what it means to miss someone like candy.

Watch below:

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