Cotton Candy: Soft, Fluffy Songs That Feel Like Falling in Love – September Week 2 Playlist
Intro
Sometimes, finding a few things in life you’re truly passionate about really does matter. They’re the things that light up the little universe inside you, the things you can do over and over every single day and never get tired of! For Hsiao Chiu of Cotton Candy, that’s probably exactly how it works too: pouring everything into her passion, holding on for the sake of her dream. From 2007 right up to today, the duo Cotton Candy has always used their passion to make everyone fall for them, which got me curious about the story behind the band.
Meow meow, I’m Mydondon, just an ordinary person who loves sharing stuff online. Every week I share 7 songs with you all right here, so if you’re still interested, read on!
Cotton Candy – The First Meeting
This week’s theme is a duo I’ve been totally obsessed with lately: Cotton Candy (棉花糖)! Cotton Candy was formed in 2007 by band leader Shen Sheng-che (the Boss) and Chuang Chuan-ying (Hsiao Chiu, “Little Ball”). The way they first met was actually pretty special. Once, while working as an assistant to a Taiwanese music producer, Sheng-che was invited to judge a singing competition at Aletheia University, and that’s where he met Hsiao Chiu. She’s tiny, yet she belted out “You Got Me Drunk,” and that made him want to get to know her. Starting from helping record a single song demo, the two of them set off down the road that would become Cotton Candy.
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Cotton Candy – The Early Days
In their early days, Cotton Candy got their street-performer licenses and started singing on the streets while constantly writing songs of their own. Later, they were lucky enough to land a grant from the Executive Yuan to produce their first album, Little Flight. As a debut, it maybe hadn’t quite found its creative direction yet, but you can already catch a glimpse of the later Cotton Candy in there.
On this album, my favorite is the bonus track “2375,” which really lets you feel the bittersweet side of choosing a singer’s path. On the surface it all looks glamorous and bright, but in reality it comes with countless tears and sacrifices.
“The road home is so far / your determination, my own little world / the path to making wishes come true / means having to say goodbye to so much of the past / two thousand three hundred and seventy-five days have passed / the long road still stretches more than a thousand three hundred kilometers ahead / so how many more gallons of clear water will it take / to balance out the tears along the way.” Caught between her boyfriend and her path as a singer, Hsiao Chiu resolutely chose singing, giving up all sorts of things we’ll never know about. But that’s probably the pain hiding behind every person who works hard: to chase what you love, you bravely make the call, even if it means losing what you love.
There’s another track on the album that I think is a must-listen, called “With You Till the End of the World.” If you haven’t heard it yet, maybe now’s the time to give it a listen. “I’ll be with you till the end of the world / if I die, I still want to be by your side / I want to be with you till the end of the world / holding hands, listening together / to the harmony all things are performing.” Maybe by now you’ve already found someone whose hand you can hold, maybe not yet, but you’ll eventually find the person who’ll be with you till the end of the world. When that time comes, take that brave first step, and together listen to the harmony all things are performing.
Cotton Candy – The Second Album
After that, Cotton Candy kept roaming the streets, singing their own stories, and went on to create a second album. This one is all about change and growth. Unlike the earlier Cotton Candy, the album Goodbye Prince uses more instruments and experiments with a lot more shifts in style, yet it still holds onto that signature Cotton Candy feeling. On top of the familiar old Cotton Candy vibe, there’s now even more lived experience layered in. The recording was grueling, but seeing the final result made them feel it was all worth it.
Of course I have to recommend the song “Goodbye Prince” too. When introducing it, Sheng-che mentioned that the prince is like all the things we grow up having to say goodbye to. Saying goodbye is a hard thing to do, yet it keeps happening throughout life. With this song, Cotton Candy wanted to say goodbye to their former selves, bidding farewell to the past and turning toward a brand-new self. “Goodbye, my prince / the way you guarded our love / let memory keep the truth of that first feeling that moved us.”
From the same album, there’s another song called “Good Days” I want to recommend too. I really love these slightly cute, adorable songs. You can feel that sugary sweetness even through your phone screen. May every good day with you in it last a lifetime, just like we promised!
In 2012, Cotton Candy went even further and left A Good Music, setting up their own studio called 2375 Studio, named after their very first song. That same year they released their third album, “The Misunderstood Weirdo,” which was still met with passionate love from fans. On this album, my favorite is “100 Suns and Moons.” This song keeps carrying the Cotton Candy spirit, so that everyone who hears it comes away full of strength. As they always sing: “Sing a brave song / dream a wild, blazing dream / let tears have their own grace / let love stand all the prouder.”
But all that energy was something Cotton Candy generated through their relentless creative work. And while we were all happily listening to their songs, a crack was slowly widening behind the scenes, until eventually the dam broke.
Cotton Candy – Hiatus and Comeback
On May 31, 2013, Cotton Candy announced they were going on a temporary hiatus. But back then, none of us knew that this “break” would last several thousand suns and moons. I think the reason they broke up may have been that they could no longer truly enjoy the fun of making music. Cotton Candy had always been just two people, yet they put out three albums. They had to handle so much on their own, and without a record label behind them, every single thing fell on the two of them to bear.
Looking back over those years, Hsiao Chiu described that period as utterly exhausting, but she still kept going with the Boss. Both of them were creators carrying their ideals, pouring their hearts out for the thing they loved. Still, conflicts were unavoidable: not enough manpower, where to take things in the future, and all kinds of other small things were ultimately the reasons they decided to let Cotton Candy become history.
As much as the fans hated to let go, there was no changing it, until eight years later in 2021, when Cotton Candy reappeared before everyone’s eyes as Cotton Candy 2. “It’s been eight years now, and the things that should be forgotten are pretty much forgotten,” Hsiao Chiu said in one interview.
That same year they released a new album called “To Meet You.” After all that time apart, the two of them had changed, yet they still loved making music just as much as they did at the start. I hope they can forever interpret all of life’s moments in their own Cotton Candy way.
There’s a lovely song on this album I’d like to share with you too, called “I Often Think of You.” Once you’ve heard it, you’ll feel it really belongs on this album in a symbolic way. It’s precisely because, even after going their separate ways, they were still thinking of the old Cotton Candy that they chose to work together again, no!?
Whenever I hear this song in the quiet of the night, I always find myself inexplicably thinking back to the old days, thinking about the band I once knew and all the beautiful things of the past. When exactly did all of it start drifting further and further away from us!? All I know is, “I often think of you / yet somehow I can’t hold onto you / I often think of you / but ah, you’re also so easy to forget.”
Thanks everyone for hanging out with me this week. If you’ve been enjoying my content and want to see more, feel free to hit follow, and I’ll see you next Monday. Oh, by the way, content like this takes more than 10 hours to put together, so to keep the quality of these posts up, from now on I’ll be updating on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays! Thanks so much for all your support!
This week’s friend-recommended song comes from my little sister, and her pick is “This City” by “Sam Fischer.” In his voice and in the music video, you can faintly make out his past: in this city it’ll tear the two of you apart, this city will break your heart. Jolting awake in the night, you realize she’s already gone, leaving only the faint trace of her perfume. “This city’s gonna break my heart. This city’s gonna love me then leave me alone. This city’s got me chasing stars.”
If you’ve got a great song you’d like to recommend too, feel free to drop a comment below. Maybe next time it’ll be your favorite track that makes the list!
References:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/11Fe3FZKDZ0C61A46l2zvvRvspc0DucaPW4WtiI5luwk/edit?usp=sharing