AllMusic

Lou Reed had a strong interest in the less-conventional side of human behavior as far back as anyone has cared to look, so it was his good fortune to have Andy Warhol as a mentor, who attracted as remarkable a collection of self-styled eccentrics as ever gathered in one place during the 1960s (no small accomplishment, given the time and place). But while he was best known for recording the activities of the Warhol crowd at face value, Reed was capable of seeing the humanity behind their poses, and he rarely did so better than on "Candy Said," the first track on the Velvet Underground's self-titled third album. While their previous set, White Light/White Heat, sounded like one long and very wild, speed-fueled party, The Velvet Underground suggested the quiet morning after, while "Candy Says" records the sort of thoughts that might pass through the mind of Candy Darling as he/she first rose to the new day. It's not difficult to imagine drag queen Candy saying, "I've come to hate my body/And all that it requires in this world," but it just a bit more surprising to hear him/her say: "I'm gonna watch the bluebirds fly/Over my shoulder/I'm gonna watch 'em pass me by/Maybe when I'm older," which suggested a weariness with the decadence of the underground lifestyle not yet common on the scene at that time. It would be over a decade before Reed himself would willingly leave his life of drugs and debauchery behind, but on "Candy Says" he sounded as if he already knew that it had its limitations -- a remarkable admission at the time.