The name of this song is ‘Sour Suite’
It still is important to me, but how many songs with ‘sour’ can you find?
This ridiculously sour candy took over junior high like an infestation. I always imagined someone’s big brother conned a kid into trying one and in turn the kid (wanting to appear cool) bought a whole pack.
Anyway, at some point, it became all the rage to suck on little candies called ‘sweetarts’ that became major cool. These things were sour candies with a sweet lacquer on the outside.
You’d be sucking away in class, then the sour middle slammed and your lips creased. Man, I’m talking about tooth-convulsing, testicle-clenching seizures. But it was required that you took it in stride. Nothing to see here, I’m melting inside but I’m suave and casual.
Earlier, I alluded that the school was in a neighborhood, so escaping was useless. The little corner store/luncheonette on the corner was the only place of interest. Some brave soul figured out that the place sold candy to kids, anytime of the day.
So, it became de rigueur to slip out of the side door and make a store run to grab candy. Shop class was near the door, and since he could care less if we lived or died, it was easy to hit the door. We soon discovered study halls were also informal, but more on that later.
You also needed cough drops. Teachers knew we sucked them if we were healthy, but they didn’t dare to make an issue about it. With their luck, they’d call out a genuinely sick kid whose rich daddy was a neurosurgeon, and shit would fly. Ludens (hometown fave) was preferred and cherry was #1 on the hit parade. Menthol was good if you wanted to feel your head unscrew–damn, they were vicious. Your congestion didn’t stand a chance!
Of course was a reliable standby for being a passive/aggressive rebel, but more on that later.