Candle 🕯️| 3 to 5 BOPS

Candle 🕯️: 3 to 5 BOPS No. 68 (2023), features musical BOPS courtesy of Elton John, Helen Reddy, Kesha, Ruben Studdard, and ZAYN. 

Ah, you know what time it is! It’s 3 to 5 BOPS time – WOO! On 3 to 5 BOPS, it’s all about brevity and sweetness… for the most part! There’s a theme/topic, 3, 4, or 5 songs, and a blurb – two paragraphs or less.  3 to 5 BOPS, hence, is a mini playlist that shouldn’t take much time to consume.  In the 68^th edition of 3 to 5 BOPS (2023), we select songs that are associated with CANDLE 🕯️ in some form or fashion. The BOPS arrive courtesy of 🎙 Elton John, 🎙 Helen Reddy, 🎙 Kesha, 🎙 Ruben Studdard, and 🎙 ZAYN. Okay, let’s get into it!

1. Kesha, “Old Flames (Can’t Hold a Candle to You)” (Ft. Dolly Parton)

💿 Rainbow • 🏷 Kemosabe • 📅 2017

“But old flames can’t hold a candle to you / No one can light up the night like you do.” One of the very best songs from 💿 Rainbow, the 2017 album by 🏆 Grammy-nominated pop star 🎙 Kesha, doesn’t arrive until near the end. 🎵 “Old Flames (Can’t Hold a Candle to You)” is certainly worth the wait. It also happens to be a cover, co-written by Kesha’s mom, 🎼 ✍ Pebe Sebert. “Old Flames” marks the second country song from Rainbow. Helping the cause is the fact she enlists country royalty, 🎙 Dolly Parton, who also once covered this gem herself.  Ultimately, the duet is magical, memorable, ranking among the crème de la crème of the pop star’s career.

“Flickering embers of love

I’ve known one or two

But old flames can’t hold a candle to you.”

Appears in 🔻:

• Old: 5ive Songs No. 38 (2020)
• 13 OLD Songs Filled with Freshness (2020)
• 13 O Songs Selected with No Rhyme or Reason (2021)
• Flame 🔥: 5ive Songs No. 90 (2021)

2. ZAYN, “No Candle No Light”

💿 Icarus Falls • 🏷 RCA • 📅 2018

“Quit burning all of my time / I, I woke up on the wrong side of ya.” Uh-oh! 💿 Icarus Falls wasn’t a success initially for the handsome (😍) and talented pop musician, 🎙 ZAYN. Famously, the album peaked at no. 61 on the Billboard 200, where it charted just four weeks 🤯. Despite its sus performance, Icarus Falls was certified gold by the RIAA in 2020.  None of the singles took off the 2018 LP, including the urban/electro-pop flavored 🎵 “No Candle No Light” featuring 🎙 Nicki Minaj. The slick beat and synths (produced by 🎛 Tushar Apte, Sawyr, and Brian Lee), constructing a moody vibe wasn’t enough to spark “No Candle No Light,” which literally had no light on the charts 😏. Nicki Minaj sings the first verse respectably, but it was by no means game changing (“Hand on your hand / Chest on your chest / Tangled in bed / But I’m feeling you less”). ZAYN arrives at the end of the verse, with the two superstars duetting in the pre-chorus and the centerpiece, the chorus: “No candle, no light for you…” ZAYN takes the reins in the second verse, showcasing his radiant vocal tone.  Nicki appears at the end of the second verse, as ZAYN did earlier in the first. Ultimately, 🎵 “No Candle No Light” proved to be an okay record, but not particularly memorable.  Revisiting it five years later the result is similar.

3. Ruben Studdard, “After The Candles Burn”

💿 Soulful • 🏷 19 Recordings Limited • 📅 2003

“The thunders rollin’ hit the lights ‘cause they keep going in and out / I’d rather see your silhouette, once the candles 🕯️ lit.” That’s on some sexy sheee-it! 🏆 Grammy-nominated R&B artist 🎙 Ruben Studdard won 📺 American Idol at a time the series also translated to pop success. His debut album, 💿 Soulful, debuted at no. 1 on the Billboard 200, eventually earning platinum certification from the RIAA. Besides his winning single,  🎵 “Flying Without Wings”,  Soulful yielded one pop hit, 🎵 “Sorry 2004”.  Even so, non-single 🎵 “After The Candles Burn”, marked an underrated bop from the LP.  This one is giving sex playlist… in an inoffensive, pop idol way, of course 😉.

“After The Candles Burn” features smooth, contemporary R&B production courtesy of  🎛 Dre & Vidal (Andre Harris and Vidal Davis), with the pair co-writing alongside 🎼 ✍ Poo Bear and Ryan Toby. The sweet melodies and sexy lyrics were a match for Studdard’s soulful pipes, highly influenced by the likes of 🎙 Luther Vandross.  At one point, on this minor-key slow jam, Studdard sings, “Don’t be surprised if I start to cry / From the emotions taking over our bodies – your body and mine.” Woo! The centerpiece, of course, is the chorus:

“Hold me baby keep it (keep it comin’ baby)

All night long (‘Til after the candles burn)

And we’ll still be going on and on and blowing ya kisses ‘til morning the

Sun will be shining but we’ll be going on… ‘til after the candles burn.”

🎵 “After The Candles Burn” is a perfect example of a sex song that keeps it classy.

Appears in 🔻:

• Ruben Studdard, After The Candles Burn: Midnight Heat 🕛 🔥 67 (2023)

4. Elton John, “Candle in the Wind – 1997”

🎵 “Candle in the Wind – 1997” • 🏷 Mercury • 📅 1997

Tragedy affects and changes everything.  The world was shocked and saddened in August 1997 when 👑 Diana, Princess of Wales died following a car accident at the age of 36.  I can remember being 11 years old, waking up to the news that she hadn’t survived the accident. Even being from the United States and not England, the impact of the loss of Diana was heavy.  🎵 “Candle in the Wind – 1997” was released in her memory by Elton John, who performed the song at her memorial service. Of course, longtime lyricist, 🎼 ✍ Bernie Taupin, rewrote the lyrics for the incredibly sad occasion.

“Goodbye England’s rose

May you ever grow in our hearts

You were the grace that placed itself

Where lives were torn apart.”

Ah, such moving, memorable lyrics Bernie! Of course, John sang it marvelously. Unsurprisingly, when released as a single alongside another Elton favorite, 🎵 “Something About The Way You Look Tonight”, the song topped the Billboard Hot 100… for 14 weeks!  I can remember being excited as an 11-year-old to purchase it (this was before iTunes, streaming, etc.). Apparently, the perception of this single is more polarizing for some…

Appears in 🔻:

• 12 Powerful Songs About the Wind 💨 (2023)

5. Helen Reddy, “Candle on the Water”

💿 Pete’s Dragon • 🏷 Disney • 📅 1977

“I’ll be your candle on the water / My love for you will always burn.” Disney is known for many, many classic songs.  Among the most beautiful and most memorable is 🎵 “Candle on the Water” from the 1977 film, 🎦 Pete’s Dragon.  The late, great 🎙 Helen Reddy (1941 – 2020), who portrays Nora in the film, sings this dedicated ballad, stunningly.  The situation is, in the context of the film, isn’t great for Nora (her fiancé, Paul, is lost at sea), but she expresses love and support, encouraging, “But the clouds are lifting / Don’t give up, you have somewhere to turn.”

Reddy – well – Nora, is undoubtedly a candle, telling Paul, “My soul is there beside you / Let this candle guide you / Soon you’ll see a golden stream of light.” What truly stands out about the songwriting  is the messaging – the faith that Nora shows.  The pen of 🎼 ✍ Joel Hirschhorn and Al Kasha is magnificent, particularly in the bridge section.  “A cold and friendless tide has found you / Don’t let the stormy darkness pull you down,” she sings in encouraging, hopeful, and resolute fashion.  She continues, “I’ll paint a ray of hope around you / Circling in the air / Lighted by a prayer 🙏.” Good stuff! 🎵 “Candle on the Water” makes you think about who your candle on the water is.  Is it that special somebody in your life, or, is it a higher power, like God? Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song, the Hirschhorn/Kasha gem lost to another dedicated, inspired gem, 🎵 “You Light Up My Life”.

Appears in 🔻:

• Helen Reddy, Candle on the Water: Music Lifts 🎶 🏋 48 (2023)

Candle 🕯️: 3 to 5 BOPS No. 68 (2023) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; 19 Recordings Limited, Disney, Kemosabe, Mercury, RCA; Tucă Bianca from Pexels]