Candy Says

"Candy Says" is a song written by Lou Reed. The song is the first track on the Velvet Underground's self-titled third album.[2] It is one of four songs Lou Reed explicitly wrote in the voice of a female character, in the case of "Candy Says", a transgender woman, telling her experiences. Each would begin with the woman's name and then be followed by the verb "says". "Stephanie Says" was the first (later adapted into "Caroline Says" on his solo album Berlin).

"Candy Says"
Song by The Velvet Underground
from the album The Velvet Underground
ReleasedMarch 1969
RecordedNovember – December 1968
T.T.G. Studios,[1] Hollywood
Sunset and Highland Sound, Hollywood
Length4:05
LabelMGM Records
Songwriter(s)Lou Reed
Producer(s)The Velvet Underground

The song addresses Candy Darling's desire to escape her birth gender. Lou Reed insisted that Doug Yule take the lead vocal on the song.

Lou Reed said the song was also "about something more profound and universal, a universal feeling I think all of us have at some point. We look in the mirror and we don't like what we see...I don't know a person alive who doesn't feel that way."[3]

Alternate versions

Anohni's 2003 live version of the song was featured in the 2022 interactive film video game Immortality.

References
  1. Discogs - T.T.G. Studios (Hollywood) profile and discography
  2. The Guardian, December 7 2015
  3. 'Lou Reed, a Life', Anthony DeCurtis, p.121
  4. Greene, Andy (27 October 2015). "Flashback: Lou Reed Plays 'Candy Says' At his Final Performance". Rolling Stone.
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