Just when I had almost lost all hope of ever hearing a new Dylan song which, as a combination of an engaging vocal performance and fascinating lyrics, just fill you with a strange sense of happiness - he comes up with this one. While not being like a typical Dylan classic, this one has a very, very warm feel to it + vocals which I thought he couldn't produce in 2001 anymore. After the rather cold and almost posturingly melancholy "Time Out of Mind" album, "Love & Theft" was pleasantly wise and human.
A departure from the rest of the soundtrack to this cult-classic film. While the other songs are very much influenced by the glam-rock era with a nod to the songs of Meat Loaf (and why not, considering the film has quite a Rocky Horror-ish feel to it), this is a beautiful little ballad. 'Wicked Little Town' bespeaks the desperation of the character Hedwig who is stifled by circumstances and situations that she feels powerless to change. She knows that there is a big world out there and she wants to experience it and make a name for herself if only she can get out of the 'wicked little town' that she is now confined to. Doomed to remain an outcast who lives on the fringes of society in her present surroundings, she can only cling to her dream of escape and the eventual realization of her full potential.
from Hedwig and the Angry Inch - Motion Picture Soundtrack (Hybrid Recordings HY-20024), available on CD
12 Nov 02 ·yonderboy: Trivia: 'Wicked Little Town' is Trask's reflections on Grinnell, Iowa.
A brilliant pop song which reminds me in equal parts of the 60s pop of The Zombies or The Lovin' Spoonful, and also of 80s indie like New Zealand's Sneaky Feelings and Scotland's Orange Juice.
from The Saturday People (Slumberland slr 67), available on CD
"Baby, just don't, 'cause we can't go back
My baby, hold your tongue 'cause it's worse like that
My baby, it was different 'cause we all did junk
Oh baby, lock those photos back inside of your trunk
My bittersweet memories
Remind me how we used to feel
All damn summer with our head full of pills"