"Candy"/"Molly's Lips" is a

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...

-only

split-single In internal combustion engines, a split-single design is a type of two-stroke engine, two-stroke where two cylinders share a single combustion chamber. The first production split-single engine was built in 1918 and the design was used on several ...

from the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

bands

the Fluid The Fluid was an American rock band from Denver which formed in 1985, disbanded in 1993, but reconvened in 2008. The group cited the Rolling Stones and MC5 as inspirations for their sound, and was the first group based outside the Pacific North ...

and

Nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...

. It was released in January 1991 on

Sub Pop Sub Pop is an independent record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana (band), Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the gru ...

records and includes two live tracks: "Candy" by the Fluid; and "Molly's Lips", a cover of a song by

the Vaselines The Vaselines are a Scottish alternative rock band. Formed in Glasgow in 1986, the band was originally a duo between its songwriters Eugene Kelly and Frances McKee, but later added James Seenan and Eugene's brother Charlie Kelly on bass and dr ...

, performed by Nirvana.

Background

"Candy" first appeared on the Fluid's 1990 EP, ''Glue''. The EP was re-released on CD in 1993 along with their 1989 album, ''Roadmouth''. "Molly's Lips" was recorded live on February 9, 1990, at the Pine Street Theatre in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

. It was written by

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

band

about

Molly Weir Mary Weir (17 March 1910 – 28 November 2004), known as Molly Weir, was a Scottish actress. She appeared as the character Hazel the McWitch in the BBC TV series '' Rentaghost''. She was the sister of naturalist and broadcaster Tom Weir. Biog ...

, according to band member

Eugene Kelly Eugene Kelly (born 9 August 1965) Eugene Kelly allmusic biography. is a Scottish musician who is a member of the group The Vaselines, a founding member of the now disbanded Eugenius and has had a number of solo releases. Eugene Kelly formed Th ...

, presumably because her ''

Rentaghost ''Rentaghost'' is a British children's television comedy show, originally broadcast by the BBC between 6 January 1976 and 6 November 1984. The show's plot centred on the antics of a number of ghosts who worked for a firm called Rentaghost, which ...

'' television character Hazel McWitch typically appeared in whiteface with emphatic red lips, and described by Kelly as what he "would like to do up a dark alley with her one night." According to

Michael Azerrad Michael Azerrad is an American author, music journalist, editor, and musician. As a graduate of Columbia University, he has written for publications such as ''Spin'', ''Rolling Stone'', and ''The New York Times''. Azerrad's 1993 biography '' Com ...

's 1993 Nirvana biography '' Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana'', the band's frontman

Kurt Cobain Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – ) was an American musician. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter, and a founding member of the grunge band Nirvana (band), Nirvana. Through his angsty songwriting and anti-establis ...

was opposed to the release of the track, feeling that this version was not strong. However, the single constituted part of the band's buyout deal from their former

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

; "Candy/Molly's Lips" was Nirvana's final release there. The word "Later" is etched into the single's run-out groove. A remix of this version of "Molly's Lips" was included on the 2009 reissue of the Nirvana debut album ''Bleach''. Nirvana also recorded a studio version of "Molly's Lips" on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

for

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

in October 1990 during drummer

Dave Grohl David Eric Grohl (; born January 14, 1969) is an American musician. He founded the rock band Foo Fighters, of which he is the lead singer, guitarist, principal songwriter, and only consistent member. From 1990 to 1994, he was the drummer of th ...

's first recording session with the band. It appeared on the 1992 tour EP ''

Hormoaning ''Hormoaning'' is an extended play (EP) by the American rock band Nirvana. It was released on January 27, 1992, through DGC Records and Geffen Records. It was released in Australia and Japan only, during the band's tour there. Songs Four of the s ...

'' and was included on the rarities compilation ''

Incesticide is a compilation album by the American rock band Nirvana. It consists of their 1990 non-album single " Sliver", including its B-side, along with demos, outtakes, and recordings from BBC Radio sessions. It was released on December 14, 1992, in E ...

''. This version was released as a 12" vinyl

promotional single A promotional recording, promo, or plug copy is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as mu ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, to promote ''Incesticide''.

"Molly's Lips" composition

"Molly's Lips" is an uptempo

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

song that lasts for two minutes and nineteen seconds. According to the

sheet music Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chords of a song or instrumental musical piece. Like its analogs – printed Book, books or Pamphlet, pamphlets ...

published at Musicnotes.com by

Universal Music Publishing Group Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) is a global music publishing company and is part of the Universal Music Group. Universal Music Publishing has been ranked the #1 music publisher in market share by Billboard for multiple consecutive quart ...

, it is written in Time signature#Frequently used time signatures, common time, with a fast tempo of 160 Tempo#Beats per minute, beats per minute. "Molly's Lips" is composed in G major, while Kurt Cobain's vocal range spans from the low-note of F (musical note), F₃ to the high-note of E (musical note), E₄. The song follows a basic sequence that alternates between the power chords of G₅ and C₅ throughout the whole song as its chord progression.

Release and promotion

The single was only released on 7 inch vinyl, and in limited numbers of 7500. The first 4000 copies were pressed on green swirled vinyl, the final 3500 pressed on black vinyl. Counterfeit versions of the single also pressed on black vinyl exist, but can be distinguished from the real version as the Matrix numbers, matrix number is different. The live version of "Molly's Lips" by Nirvana was exclusive to the single, though was subsequently released on the 2009 ''Bleach'' reissue. The single later became the Fluid's most famous release, as their appearance with Nirvana exposed them to a wider audience. In 2017, to mark what would have been Kurt Cobain's 50th birthday, the Phonographic Performance Limited released a list of the top twenty most played Nirvana songs on the TV and radio in the United Kingdom, UK in which "Molly's Lips" was ranked at number eighteen.

Charts

Accolades

Live performances

Apart from this 1990 live version, released on limited edition single in 1991, Nirvana performed "Molly's Lips" several other times in concert from 1989 to 1993. On August 23, 1991, it was performed live with its author, the Vaselines' Eugene Kelly, at the 1991 Reading Festival in Reading, Berkshire. It was again performed live with Kelly on December 5, 1991 in London, England. On both occasions, Kelly and Cobain shared vocal duties.

Track listing

#"Candy (Live)" by the Fluid – 3:15 #"Molly's Lips (Live)" by Nirvana – 2:00

Recording and release history

Studio versions

Live versions

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Candy Molly's Lips Songs about kissing Nirvana (band) songs Grunge songs American punk rock songs Split singles 1991 singles Sub Pop singles 1991 songs