"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 m ...

-only

split-single In internal combustion engines, a split-single design is a type of 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 motorcycles and ca ...

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, pe ...

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 Wales ...

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 Northwe ...

and

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...

. It was released in January 1991 on

Sub Pop Sub Pop is a 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, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the grunge movement. They are often ...

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, Scotland 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 ba ...

, 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 a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

. It was written by the

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 Scotland, 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 We ...

, 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 The ...

, 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. According to Michael Azerrad's 1993 Nirvana biography ''Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana'', the band's singer and guitarist

Kurt Cobain Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994) was an American musician who served as the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Nirvana. Through his angst-fueled songwriting and anti-establishment persona ...

was opposed to the release of the track, feeling that this version was not strong. However, the

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

constituted part of the band's buyout deal from their former

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

Sub Pop Records Sub is a common abbreviation of words beginning with the prefix "sub-". Sub or SUB may also refer to Places * Juanda International Airport, Surabaya, Indonesia, IATA code SUB Computing and technology * , an HTML tag for subscript * SUB designat ...

. "Candy/Molly's Lips" was Nirvana's final release on Sub Pop Records. 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 current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

for

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

in October 1990 during drummer Dave Grohl's first recording session with the band. It appeared on the 1992 tour EP ''

Hormoaning ''Hormoaning'' is an 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 songs on ''Hormoan ...

'', 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", B-sides, demos, outtakes, cover versions, and radio broadcast recordings, and as such is not the official follow-up to the band's br ...

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

promotional single A promotional recording, or 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 ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, to promote ''Incesticide''.

Composition

"Molly Lips" is an uptempo

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

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

sheet music Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses List of musical symbols, musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chord (music), chords of a song or instrumental Musical composition, musical piece. Like ...

published at Musicnotes.com by

Universal Music Publishing Group Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) is a North American music publishing company and is part of the Universal Music Group. It was formerly known as MCA Music Publishing until it merged with PolyGram. Universal Music Publishing is the worl ...

, it is written in the

time signature The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...

common time The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...

, with a fast

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

of 160

beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ( ...

. "Molly Lips" is composed in the

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

G Major G major (or the key of G) is a major scale based on G, with the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has one sharp. Its relative minor is E minor and its parallel minor is G minor. The G major scale is: Notable compositi ...

, while Kurt Cobain's

vocal range Vocal range is the range of pitches that a human voice can phonate. A common application is within the context of singing, where it is used as a defining characteristic for classifying singing voices into voice types. It is also a topic of stud ...

spans from the low-note of F₃ to the high-note of E₄. The song follows a basic sequence that alternates between the chords of G₅ and C₅ during the verses, at its chorus and all throughout as its

chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice ...

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 number A matrix number is an alphanumeric code (and on occasion, other symbols) stamped or handwritten (or a combination of the two) into the run-out groove area of a phonograph record. This is the non-grooved area between the end of the final band on ...

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 is also notorious for being The Fluid's most famous release, due to the fact it was split with Nirvana and exposed them to a wider audience. In 2017, to mark what would have been Kurt Cobain's 50th birthday, the

Phonographic Performance Limited Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) is a British music copyright collective. It is a private limited company that is registered in the UK. PPL was founded by Decca Records and EMI and incorporated on 12 May 1934, and undertakes collective ...

released a list of the top twenty most played Nirvana songs on the TV and radio in the 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'

, at the 1991

Reading Festival The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Festiv ...

Reading, Berkshire Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, Southeast England, southeast England. Located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the rivers River Thames, Thames and River Kennet, Kennet, the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 mot ...

. It was again performed live with Kelly on December 5, 1991 in

London, England London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

. 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