| Sugar Town | |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Nancy Sinatra |
| Album: | Sugar |
| B-Side: | Summer Wine |
| Released: | October 1966 |
| Genre: | Pop |
| Label: | Reprise |
| Producer: | Lee Hazlewood |
| Prev Title: | In Our Time |
| Prev Year: | 1966 |
| Next Title: | Somethin' Stupid |
| Next Year: | 1967 |
"Sugar Town" is a song written by songwriter-producer Lee Hazlewood and first recorded by American singer Nancy Sinatra in 1966. As a single released under the Reprise label, it peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in December 1966, while reaching number one on the Easy Listening chart in January 1967.[1] It became a gold record. The song was included on Nancy Sinatra's LP, Sugar, also released in 1966, and was featured in her 1967 TV special Movin' with Nancy, released on home video in 2000.[2]
The song is an allusion to sugar cubes laced with Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) although, like other songs Hazlewood wrote, "Sugar Town" was equivocal, speaking to a young audience able to recognize its allusion, yet outwardly tame enough to receive radio play. Hazlewood denied that he had ever used LSD, or regularly partaken in drugs in general. He explained:
The B-side to "Sugar Town" was "Summer Wine", a popular duet also written by, and featuring, Hazlewood.[3]
According to the AFM contract sheet, the following musicians played on the track.[4]
Hong Kong artist Nancy Sit covered the song, released as a single by Crane Brand Records in 1967.
Swedish band Shitkid covered the song on the 2017 album Fish.
In 2022, Mariano Garcia released an adaptation of this song as a single with the name "Tucumán". The lyrics allude to the province of Tucumán, Argentina, where the music video was shot.[5]
In 2005, the song plays in the background of Six Feet Under (TV series) in season 5, episode 5, titled "Eat a Peach." The song plays during a scene in which Billy and Claire meet in an attempt to bring their relationship to a close. The song is a possible allusion to the amount of drugs Claire has been routinely engaged in and/or to Billy's psychosis.
In the 2009 romantic comedy film 500 Days of Summer, Zooey Deschanel performs the song.
In 2017, for the season 3 opener "Mabel", of the television series Better Call Saul, the original song plays in its entirety during the opening scene.
In the 2020 film, The Kid Detective, the original song is heard during the opening scenes, and again during the closing credits.
. Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–2001. Joel Whitburn . 2002 . Record Research . 224.