Music Review: Mandy Moore "Candy"

Candy
Album: So Real
Year: 1999

Mandy Moore can't get enough of her new boyfriend's kisses in the suggestive "Candy."

Keen strings open the single while a flirty keyboard plays in the background. It leads to a thrusting drum beat to which Moore "ooohs" and says in her pubescent voice, "give it to me" four times. It sets a disconcerting tone, given her virginal vocals.

In the first verse, she says the can't live without his affection. It melts her like a puddle. When he's away, she longs for his touch again. She's always asking when he can come over again.

"I'm so addicted/To the lovin' that you're feeding to me/Can't do without it/This feeling's got me weak in the knees/Body's in withdrawal/Everytime you take it away/Can't you hear me callin'/Begging you to come out and play?"

In the chorus, she tells him to reveal his face to her. She's fond of him. She then compares her pining to not having the necessary sugar rush during the day.

"So baby come to me/
Show me who you are/Sweet to me/Like sugar to my heart/I'm cravin' for you/I'm missin' you like candy."

In the second verse, she says she's obsessed with him and willing to do whatever it takes to be close to him again. She aggressively pursues him in order to prove her seductive prowess.

"Sweet, sweet lovin'/Got me going to the extreme/Won't go without it/This vibe has got a hold on me/Satisfying, baby/Let me show you what I'm made of/No doubt about it boy/Got me feeling crazy/
Can't get enough."

To build the dance beat, a couple more 'baby's' are sung before the chorus starts. It's sung twice.

After saying "now give it to me," Moore has a spoken section in the bridge. She whispers in a knowing tone that the guy is aware she's alive. She will date him for a long time. She signs her vocal love note with "love always, Mandy." The sings the last two lyrics from the chorus.

"You know who you are/Your love's as sweet as candy/I'll be forever yours/Love always, Mandy/Boy I'm cravin'/
Missin' you like candy."

The chorus is repeated twice to end the single.

There isn't much to "Candy" lyrically. The verses simply restate the same points mentioned in the chorus. But it also seems to hint at something more. However, it's the one of the best European songs not originating from an European singer. It would've fit Bananarama or Kylie Minogue perfectly in the 80s. The single takes the fine points of European dance (the double entendres, dominant drum beat, unabashed cheesiness) and updates it.

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