Top Five Songs: Hedwig and the Angry Inch

I just got my first chance to see a live performance of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, at a small theatre in Minneapolis, and this much is indisputable:  I love this score.  It’s probably the most genuinely-rock score in musical theatre, and I love how deftly the songs relate to the story, which is impressive for a show that’s set up like a concert.  Gun to my head, these are my absolute favorites.

“Tear Me Down” – I love the idea of Hedwig herself as a metaphor for the Berlin Wall, and that concept is a great introduction to her for the show.  This rowdy opening number gives us Hedwig’s origins and shows us hints of that in-between place where she exists.

Best lyric:  “There ain’t much of a difference / Between a bridge and a wall. / Without me right in the middle, babe, / You would be nothin’ at all.”

“The Origin of Love” – Just masterful.  A gorgeous fable, a rock-ballad retelling of Plato’s Symposium, replete with gods, fire, and humans severed from the other halves of themselves.  It’s a definite rock number, but the narrative is beautiful, and the way it rises and falls is just so theatrical.

Best lyric:  “Last time I saw you, / We had just split in two. / You were looking at me. / I was looking at you.  You had a way so familiar, / I could not recognize, / ‘Cause you had blood on your face; / I had blood in my eyes. / But I could swear by your expression / That the pain down in your soul / Was the same as the one down in mine.”

“Wig in a Box” – Oh, I love this song, an emotional journey of self-discovery expressed in wigs.  The plaintive opening verse is exquisitely gentle, and I love how it gives over to the driving beat that follows the chorus.  The music-video treatment this song gets in the movie is perfect.

Best lyric:  “I look back on where I’m from, / Look at the woman I’ve become, / And the strangest things seem suddenly routine.”

“Wicked Little Town (Reprise)” – Don’t get me wrong; I love the first version of this song, too.  But I just adore the lyrics of the reprise, and the chance to hear the Hedwig actor playing Tommy is too good to pass up.  This song is just what Hedwig needs, right when she needs it most.

Best lyric:  “Forgive me, for I did not know, / ‘Cause I was just a boy, / And you were so much more / Than any god could ever plan, / More than a woman or a man, / And now I understand how much I took from you.”

“Midnight Radio” – And here, after all the posturing and wallowing, all the spite and pain, the closing number brings with it some peace as Hedwig finally finds a way to reconcile herself.  The self-love in this number is so pure and triumphant, it’s just stunning.

Best lyric:  “Know in your soul, / Like your blood knows the way / From your heart to your brain, / Knows that you’re whole.”