The Velvet Underground’s ode to trans icon Candy Darling challenged norms way back in 1969
Subscribe to our daily newsletter for your front-row seat to all things entertainment with a sprinkle of everything else queer.“Candy Says” is beloved by fans and celebrated by queer listeners for its thoughtful portrayal of gender dysphoria before it was widely discussed or understood in the mainstream.
Written by Lou Reed and sung by bandmate Doug Yule, the song stands out as one of Reed’s tracks explicitly written from the perspective of a female character, in this instance, Andy Warhol starlet Candy Darling.An American actress and renowned figure in the Warhol scene, Candy Darling spent her formative years on Long Island, where her fascination with the glamorous personas of Hollywood, notably Kim Novak, fueled her dreams of stardom.
Exploring her gender identity from a young age, she frequented a local gay bar called The Hayloft as a teenager and immersed herself in the vibrant scene of Greenwich Village by her twenties.
Amongst drag queens, fellow trans women, and artists, she found her community, and in doing so, caught the eye of iconic artist and pop art provocateur Andy Warhol.Warhol cast Darling in his film “Flesh” and later a prominent role in “Women in Revolt,” solidifying her status as a fixture at The Factory.
