At the age of 43, Iggy Pop finally earned his first gold album in 1990. After 20 years in the music business, he'd released a mainstream rock album called "Brick by Brick." The album also spawned his first top 40 hit, a haunting song called "Candy." It opens with a clap of thunder, and then a spoken-word verse which sets its mood of sad nostalgia.

"It's a rainy afternoon in 1990," Pop sings, though it's followed by a startling moment of intimacy. Iggy reportedly recorded different versions of the song, so local radio stations could make their listeners think the song was set in their city. ("It's a rainy afternoon in San Francisco...") In the album version, Iggy sings that it's a rainy afternoon in the big city, then thoughtfully adds "Geez, it's been 20 years."

"Candy... You were so fine."

Iggy sings over a worried bass line about the woman who "burned my heart with a flickering torch." Sounding lost, he remembers that no one else could see his dream, but she'd given him love - twenty years ago. "All my life you're haunting me," he sings with conviction in the chorus, saying "life is crazy" - and he can't let her go. There's another roll of thunder, and suddenly a woman's voice enters the song.

Sounding just as hard and just as lost, it's Kate Pierson of the B-52's, supplying the voice of the long-ago woman in her own spoken-word solo. "Yeah, well it hurt me real bad when you left," she says with an edge, after a moment's hesitation. "Hell, I'm glad you got out, but... But I miss you." And then she sings the next verse, her angst and her edge lighting it up like a red neon sign.

"I've had a hole in my heart for so long.
I've learned to fake it and just smile along."

She talks about how "down on the streets" the men are only interested in games, not love. And then together they sing the chorus in two-part harmony.

"I can't let you go... I love you so...

The lyrics change subtly the second time, to "Life is crazy. I know, baby..." And when they get to the end, Pierson holds the last note a full four measures, finally breaking off into a desperate "oh, oh, oh, oh" before they sing it together a second time. And then a third.

"Candy, Candy, Candy, I can't let you go..."

There's no happy ending, and no resolution for their torture. In a way, that's way makes it such a hard-hitting song. In the video they both sing it in the same room, but as though they don't see each other. But at the end of the video it turns out they're still just as far away...

And they'd only imagined it.

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