I had a ball last year writing a piece declaring that Howard Jones’ “Like to Get to Know You Well” is the most 1980s song ever. The notion of it still cracks me up because while it’s obviously a ludicrous assertion, there’s a certain core sound and sensibility about it that feels true.
Now on a roll, that led me to move a decade ahead and consider what might be “the most ‘90s song ever.”
Now keep in mind here, that in no way am I seeking out an obvious choice. If such a thing even existed, I could go grunge anthem with Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” or Elton John’s “Candle in the Wind” if I’m looking for pure sales power (33 million copies sold, I found out via lazy AI overview search on Google!).
But that’s not how we do it here at Pop Thruster HQ.
Cake’s indie rock vibes, maybe-ironic-maybe-not cover of Gloria Gaynor’s disco anthem, “I Will Survive,” is more along the lines of what we’re looking for here.
Throw everything else overboard, and I just dig the hell out of this cover – the slowed down tempo and acoustic guitar are an inspired choice, and John McCrea’s voice is simply perfect for this arrangement. I deeply believe it’s by far the best song Cake – an outstanding band with two albums selected for the best 1,000 albums ever – ever recorded.
There are plenty of other worthy nominees – Edwyn Collins’ “A Girl Like You” (from the Empire Records soundtrack) and The Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony” among them – but let’s get to our clear winner: Marcy Playground’s “Sex & Candy.”
Now, if you’re under 40 (35? 30?) or so, it’s very reasonable for you to ask, “Marcy who? Sex and what?”
Stick with me here.
Head back to the ‘90s, and we’re in the Gen X homeland. Which means irony, disaffectedness for days, and a cringing aversion to “selling out” that would make no sense to today’s influencer-drenched Gen Z culture.
On top of simply being a very catchy and high-quality mid-tempo rock song, “Sex & Candy” weirdly embodies the Gen X ethos on something of a vibes level.
Much like how Seinfeld – arguably the most popular comedy show of the decade (let’s call Friends and its enduring fandom a close second?) – was famously a “show about nothing,” “Sex & Candy” is also delightfully about nothing.
“Disco lemonade,” “double cherry pie,” some woman is casting devious stares, okay great. And meanwhile our dude, the song’s narrator, is sitting around (downtown by himself, he makes sure we hear twice) doing what about it? Nothing.
“Momma, this surely is a dream, dig it” he concludes.
If it’s a song about nothing, it’s also one that I weirdly related to back in the day at the same time. I lived in New York City after college for a spell, and I was, shall we say, a mostly unattached young bachelor during that time period. I felt cast about a city full of millions of incredible-looking women and yet there I was… yes, on many a spell I was hanging around, downtown by myself.
And then there’s something about singer John Wozniak’s voice as well – much like McCrea’s take on “I Will Survive,” he sounds almost but not quite bored while he sings the song.
Which is about as on the money Gen X as you can possibly get.
And then throw on top of the pile, the cherry at the top of the double cherry pie if you will, that “Sex & Candy” is about as strikingly one hit wonder as it gets.
Marcy Playground never even had the chance to sell out, which is sort of perfect.
But look, “Sex & Candy” remains a surprisingly fresh-sounding pop song that zooms us back to a specific generation and ‘90s state of mind. Which I think makes it well qualified to be anointed as the most 1990s song ever.