This was the
second song in the Vogues’ “blue-collar trilogy” that followed their initial
hit (the bouncy pop of “You’re The One”) and preceded the later years of their
career when they specialized in covering such standards as “My Special Angel”
and “Moments To Remember”. Perhaps it’s not surprising that “Magic Town” didn’t
reach the chart heights of its immediate predecessor, the better-known (and more
optimistic) “Five O’Clock World”. In the former, “there's a five o'clock me
inside my clothes thinkin' that the world looks fine”, because “everytime my
baby smiles at me I know that it's all worthwhile.” In the latter, the narrator
has left his love behind in search of success but is increasingly despairing of
finding it; he’s “down to my last dime”, and “nobody here gives a hang if I
live or die”. The 50-year-old chorus still resonates today, bringing to mind
hollowed-out post-industrial cities and small towns throughout the Rust Belt:
Hey, where's the magic in this Magic
Town?
Where's the good life they said could
be found?
where's the magic to make all my big
dreams come true?
I gotta find it girl before I send for
you.
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