"Candyman" is a song by American singer Christina Aguilera from the second disc of her fifth studio album, Back to Basics (2006). "Candyman" was planned to be released as the second single from Back to Basics; however, RCA Records decided to release "Hurt" instead. Subsequently, the track was released on November 19, 2006, as the third single from the album. "Candyman" is described as a pop and jazz song that imitates swing music whose lyrics are about sex.
"Candyman" received praise for its musical style while some criticized the sexual references. Commercially, the single peaked within the top 10 in Australia, Canada, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, New Zealand and Romania, as well as the top 20 in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. In the United States, it peaked at number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for selling one million copies in the country. "Candyman" is also certified Gold in seven additional countries.
A music video for the song was co-directed by Aguilera and Matthew Rolston. The video received an MTV Video Music Award nomination for Best Direction at the 2007 award ceremony. The single achieved a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 2008 ceremony. The song was on the setlist of Aguilera's Back to Basics Tour (2006–2008) and has been covered by Alexandra Burke and the Glee cast.
Music and lyrics
"Candyman" was described as a pop song by Leah Greenblatt from Entertainment Weekly; Stylus Magazine's Thomas Inskeep opined that it imitated swing music, while Joan Anderman from The Boston Globe commented that Perry and Aguilera attempted to modernize early 20th century pop and blues "only to end up imitating the Andrews Sisters," and Slant Magazines Sal Cinquemani characterized the song as standard jazz and blues. "Candyman" is composed on the key of E major. The song has a moderate tempo of 172 beats per minute. Aguilera's vocals on the song span two octaves from the low-note of G3 to the high-note of G5. The song opens and concludes with the lyrics, "Tarzan and Jane were swingin' on a vine / Sippin' from a bottle of vodka double-wine", which was credited as a sample used from "Tarzan & Jane Swingin' on a Vine" from the 1998 album Run To Cadence With U.S. Marines. Lyrically, "Candyman" talks about sex; Jenny Eliscu for Rolling Stone quoted the lyrics "He's a one-stop shop / Makes the panties drop" and deemed it "nasty". Sputnikmusic's Amanda Murray described its lyrics as "dumb and cheekily vulgar".
Jim McMillen played the trombone, while Ray Herrmann and Glen Berger performed the saxophone, and Chris Tedesco played the trumpet. Perry also played the piano, mellotron, bass, and served as the musical director. Nathan Wetherington played the drums. According to Aguilera and Perry, the song was a tribute to the Andrews Sisters' song, "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy".
Release
"Candyman" was planned to be released as the second single from Back to Basics in late 2006. In July 2006, Aguilera told Seventeen that "Candyman" would be released as the follow-up single to "Ain't No Other Man". However, RCA Records chose "Hurt" to be released as the second single off the album; therefore, "Candyman" was released as the third. The song was sent to contemporary hit and urban contemporary radio stations in the United States on February 27, 2007. In Germany, the single was released for digital download on April 6, 2007. One day later, "Candyman" was released as a CD single in France and Germany. On April 10, the song was available as a CD in the United States. A digital EP was released via iTunes Stores in European countries consisting of Belgium, France, Germany, Spain, and Sweden. On the same day, the digital version of "Candyman" was released in France. It was also available as a maxi single there on September 1, 2007. In the United States, a remix EP was released digitally on May 1, 2007.