Sugar and Spice

Album: Knees and Elbows (2013)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This angst-ridden ballad finds the 12-year-old Willow dejectedly reflecting on what society expects from tweens like her. "Inject my soul with darkness. I tried to be sugar and spice," she rasps, "but I'm melancholy and can't do anything right. Take a swing at me, I'll fight to the death, my light is bright." What happened to the upbeat little girl who sung about paying "no attention to them haters?"
  • The song was premiered through Willow's official Soundcloud and Tumblr pages. Interestingly in an Emo way, the singer's username on the sites has been registered as Arbre Mort, which translates as "dead tree." She signs off her Arbre Mort profile with "Maulheureux Bound," the first word being French for "misery."
  • The song's haunting rhythm was borrowed from Radiohead's "Codex," a track from their 2011 album The King of Limbs.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Deconstructing Doors Songs With The Author Of The Doors Examined

Deconstructing Doors Songs With The Author Of The Doors ExaminedSong Writing

Doors expert Jim Cherry, author of The Doors Examined, talks about some of their defining songs and exposes some Jim Morrison myths.

Strange Magnetics

Strange MagneticsSong Writing

How Bing Crosby, Les Paul, a US Army Signal Corps Officer, and the Nazis helped shape rock and Roll.

Curt Kirkwood of Meat Puppets

Curt Kirkwood of Meat PuppetsSongwriter Interviews

The (Meat)puppetmaster takes us through songs like "Lake Of Fire" and "Backwater," and talks about performing with Kurt Cobain on MTV Unplugged.

Alice Cooper

Alice CooperFact or Fiction

How well do you know this shock-rock harbinger who's been publicly executed hundreds of times?

Charlie Daniels

Charlie DanielsSongwriter Interviews

Charlie discusses the songs that made him a Southern Rock icon, and settles the Devil vs. Johnny argument once and for all.

Ian Gillan of Deep Purple

Ian Gillan of Deep PurpleSongwriter Interviews

Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan explains the "few red lights" in "Smoke On The Water" and talks about songs from their 2020 album Whoosh!