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Candy Jail Lyrics
Pain works on a sliding scale
So does pleasure in a candy jail
True love doesn't come around any more than fate allows on a Monday in Ft. Lauderdale
I came all this way to see your grave
To see your life as written paraphrased
I have tried be it is written in the furnace of affliction
This is what you couldn’t face
Life in a candy jail
Peppermint bars
Peanut brittle bunk beds and marshmallow walls
Where the guards are gracious
And the grounds are grand
And the warden keeps the data on your favorite brands
Jelly beans and cookie dough
Country restroom on a radio
I got a number on my name
It’s hard to rise above the shame
I’m a branded man made in the mold
These terms engulf the waking mind.
Like cherry, grape and lemon-lime
Like candy corn and licorice
Like bubble gum and Swedish fish
It happens to me all the time
Living in a candy jail
With peppermint bars
Peanut brittle bunk beds
And marshmallow walls
Where the guards are gracious
And the grounds are grand
And the warden really listens
And he understands
It just feels like a song about sobriety to me. Drugs/ alcohol are on the outside of the candy jail and he's on the inside. Everything is supposed to be great, but it's too sweet.
Love the posts above and I agree that this is a wonderful song. I couldn't figure out what a Candy Jail was until this morning when I was listening to my mp3 player and walking into work. I think a Candy Jail could certainly be addiction as suggested above, but I think it could really be anything that folks do because they feel trapped by the rewards being offered. Like work. Golden handcuffs, so to speak. I am trapped in this cubicle because I am chasing the golden goose, trying to make that next mortgage payment, buy that guitar I've had my eye on, etc. I agree that Addiction may have been what David was thinking when he wrote it, but for me, my job is my Candy Jail.
It's amazing how f*cking fantastic David Berman is.
@MattZ i love this comment and completely agree. Even though I'm over a decade late. But to me a candy jail was a relationship. A relationship brings you pleasure but sometimes that pleasure is at the bottom of that sliding scale. And sometimes you can even feel trapped in love
@MattZ i love this comment and completely agree. Even though I'm over a decade late. But to me a candy jail was a relationship. A relationship brings you pleasure but sometimes that pleasure is at the bottom of that sliding scale. And sometimes you can even feel trapped in love
also this...
Track 8: CANDY JAIL
– “I have tried thee, it is written, in the furnace of affliction”
From Isaiah 48:8-10:
8 “Even from long ago your ear has not been open, Because I knew that you would deal very treacherously; And you have been called a rebel from birth. 9 “For the sake of My name I delay My wrath, And for My praise I restrain it for you, In order not to cut you off. 10 “Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. 11 “For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act; For how can My name be profaned? And My glory I will not give to another.”
– “Country-Restroom on the radio”
“Country and Restroom” is a Roger Miller-ism.
– “I got a number on my name/ it’s hard to rise above the shame. / I’m a branded man made in the mold”,
references Merle Haggard’s song “Branded Man” from 1967:
“I'd like to hold my head up and be proud of who I am But they won't let my secret go untold I paid the debt I owed them, but they're still not satisfied Now I'm a branded man out un the cold When they let me out of prison, I held my head up high Determined I would rise above the shame But no matter where I'm living, the black mark follows me I'm branded with a number on my name”
brightestyoungthings.com/live-dc/david-berman-the-corcoran/
here i finally found the thing i was looking for. his name was jeremy blake and him and his wife commited suicde. he was close to berman. some of his videos can be found on youtube.
I'm thinking this is about rehab. From the perspective of a guy in rehab, who made it to a safe harbor and avoided the fate of other addicts (I came all this way to see your grave...this is what you couldn't face).
"The warden really listens and he understands." Addiction counselors are typically ex-addicts.
The dark side of this song is that everywhere this guy looks, he's thinking about the "candy."
its a shame thing, a private issue. Berman visits this sort of stuff all the time - "cum" refrained throughout The Natural Bridge, "are you honest when no one is looking?"- American Water.
It's just an embarrassing part of many people's lives as they wrestle with eating, how people perceive them, etc.
I thought I heard this was about his friend that died recently. I forget his name but he was a film maker and made a few trippy music videos.
also this...
Track 8: CANDY JAIL
– “I have tried thee, it is written, in the furnace of affliction”
From Isaiah 48:8-10:
8 “Even from long ago your ear has not been open, Because I knew that you would deal very treacherously; And you have been called a rebel from birth. 9 “For the sake of My name I delay My wrath, And for My praise I restrain it for you, In order not to cut you off. 10 “Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. 11 “For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act; For how can My name be profaned? And My glory I will not give to another.”
– “Country-Restroom on the radio”
“Country and Restroom” is a Roger Miller-ism.
– “I got a number on my name/ it’s hard to rise above the shame. / I’m a branded man made in the mold”,
references Merle Haggard’s song “Branded Man” from 1967:
“I'd like to hold my head up and be proud of who I am But they won't let my secret go untold I paid the debt I owed them, but they're still not satisfied Now I'm a branded man out un the cold When they let me out of prison, I held my head up high Determined I would rise above the shame But no matter where I'm living, the black mark follows me I'm branded with a number on my name”
"This is what you couldn’t face... life in a candy jail, etc."
After thinking about it more and reading Skip's comments, then yes, it seems like the chorus is talking about what his friend couldn't do, which was to be trapped in a candy jail, i.e. sobriety. Did his friend OD?
The Holocaust?!?
to me the candy jail is drug abuse. drugs feel good, they make you temporarily happy, let you escape, etc, but you're completely imprisoned by them.
so apparently the friend who died couldn't deal with living a life controlled by addiction, so he ended things.