So Like, So Like, "So Like Candy"

 

I have had the McCartney/Costello demos in heavy rotation since the very first bootleg appeared on the Vigotone label in 1998. There was no guarantee that anything these two geniuses produced together would be any good. As it turned out, almost every track, whether in demo form or as a finished master appearing on their individual solo albums, was something special, at least to my ears. A few tracks, especially the demos, sounded eerily like Elvis was channeling a former partner of Mr. McCartney.

That said, I listened to them, as well as the officially released 1988 "Flowers In The Dirt" demos last weekend. The 1988 demos fall between the acoustic demos made by the duo, and the masters. The 1988 demos, I believe, were recorded by Paul, with his band, as the next guiding step in deciding what would be included on the 1989 album. All but three, "Tommy's Coming Home," "Twenty Fine Fingers" and "I Don't Want To Confess" found their way out, and I think all of these songs, including the three unreleased cuts, whether on Paul's records or Costello's records, are some of the finest material of their career.

I was particularly interested in "So Like Candy."

Up top is the McCartney/Costello acoustic demo. What came after stayed pretty faithful to that original demo arrangement, except for a few things. 

 

The 1988 demo by Paul, directly above, though not a happy tune, seems a little more upbeat. It still plays like a ballad, but the 1988 demo has an almost jaunty feel to the chorus that I don't think works. It also has a nice call and response on the second chorus, that I quite like. Another thing that stands out, both the acoustic demo and the 1988 demo share something that the final master on Costello's "Mighty Like A Rose" does not. The final line of the bridge, "so she turns and melts away" stays on the major chord like the verse before it, whereas on the Costello studio version, it goes to the minor on the last word "away," making it far more intense to my ears. 

I often wondered if Costello originally came up with that minor on the bridge, only to have it vetoed by Paul for sounding too much like Lennon, but then just added it back while recording his version. Or was  Costello inspired to change it during his recording, so it absolutely sounded like Lennon.

Here are all three for your listening pleasure.