Written by Marilù Ciabattoni
Discovered via Musosoup
Madison Deaver’s “Wicked” is a power-pop track that pretty much reads like a modern fairy tale. It starts with the artist singing over piano chords: “Say blood’s thicker than water / She won’t be just a martyr,” lines filled with fantastical elements typical of fairy tales.
The full electro-pop instrumentals then blow in your face together with Madison’s high-pitched vocals. The chorus kicks in and it is just as high-energy and it recalls the beginning of the song: Madison first sings the lines over piano chords and then repeats them with the full arrangement. This gives us a much-needed breather in-between the verses.
Besides the music and Madison’s singing, another interesting aspect of the song are its lyrics, written like a story or a fairy tale.
The artist is telling us the story of a girl with “the biggest heart” who endures all the suffering caused by mysterious others–the “wicked” ones. From beginning to end, we don’t know what this girl is truly afflicted by, whether it’s related to love or something else. In the chorus, she’s begging for the protagonist to be redeemed from all these insecurities.
Throughout the song, the singer is both defending and shaming the character: on the one hand, she wishes that “she had the brain to leave,” while on the other she believes that “she ain't to blame,” for her suffering.
There are a ton of references to popular fairy tales: from Snow White and The Sleeping Beauty to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz; from The Frog Prince to The Beauty and the Beast. The title itself might very well be a reference to the Broadway musical Wicked.
With all these references, it’s interesting when she sings, “She knows it’s not a fairytale,” in the bridge preceding the final chorus. If it’s not a fairy tale, then what is it?, the listener might ask. Madison tricks us into believing that this story is actually a fairy tale only to then state the opposite. I hope she keeps up this type of storytelling in her future releases.
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