Sugar

Album: Not Your Kind of People (2012)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This dark, sensual electronic ballad finds Shirley Manson singing about what appears to be a sex worker. "Look but don't touch till the light goes on," she whispers. Guitarist told Duke Erikson told MusicRadar.com how the song came together: "I had come up with an idea on acoustic guitar, very simple," he said, "so I recorded it with a little rhythm track, did the first verse and basically the arrangement for the song. Shirley loved it and immediately started singing – I think she must had had some words already written."

    "Originally, I had a straighter rhythm, but we started messing around with a dubby kind of irregular pattern," he continued. "I played drums on the song - I cut them at Smart Studios in Madison. Mike Zirkel, the engineer there, got me set up, I played some stuff, and we picked what worked. The drums aren't very prominent, but they serve their purpose."

    Erikson concluded: "The song could still work as a straight-ahead acoustic samba. But as it happens with all our tunes, we stretched it out and looked for as many sounds as we could, without harming the song. It's easy with experimentation to lose the song, so we try to be aware of that."
  • Speaking to Idolator.com, Erikson described Manson's vocal as "quite amazing."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Wherefore Art Thou Romeo Lyric

Wherefore Art Thou Romeo LyricMusic Quiz

In this quiz, spot the artist who put Romeo into a song lyric.

Boy Bands

Boy BandsFact or Fiction

From NKOTB to 1D, how well do you know your boy bands?

Neal Smith - "I'm Eighteen"

Neal Smith - "I'm Eighteen"They're Playing My Song

With the band in danger of being dropped from their label, Alice Cooper drummer Neal Smith co-wrote the song that started their trek from horror show curiosity to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Rufus Wainwright

Rufus WainwrightSongwriter Interviews

Rufus Wainwright on "Hallelujah," his album Unfollow The Rules, and getting into his "lyric trance" on 12-hour walks.

David Gray

David GraySongwriter Interviews

David Gray explains the significance of the word "Babylon," and talks about how songs are a form of active imagination, with lyrics that reveal what's inside us.

Richard Butler of The Psychedelic Furs

Richard Butler of The Psychedelic FursSongwriter Interviews

Psychedelic Furs lead singer Richard Butler talks about their first album since 1991 and explains what's really going on in "Pretty In Pink."