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"Toy Soldiers" is a song by American singer Martika appearing on her 1988 eponymous debut album and released in the United States as the second single from it in May 1989. It was a number-one Billboard Hot 100 hit for two weeks in the summer of 1989.
Martika wrote the song about a friend who was battling a cocaine addiction. "I was a little hesitant because I had only written two songs before and they were light songs. I came up to Michael and said I wanted to write about drugs. It was the first time I got the nerve to write about something that was scary for me to talk about, so I did."
According to an episode of VH-1's Pop-Up Video, in which "Toy Soldiers" was featured, the friend-in-question eventually conquered the addiction.
The video for the song directed by Jim Shea, who would later become a regular in directing country music videos. Unlike the actual truth about Martika's friend who she wrote the song about, in the video, he dies in a motorcycle accident (his lifeless corpse is seen twice in the video, a last minute afterthought done by Shea). Martika is seen singing with a waterfall in front of her (this was done by filming her in an empty pool with a water current flowing between her and the camera).
The song spent two weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. and New Zealand while reaching number five in both the United Kingdom and Australia. On Billboard's year-end chart for 1989, "Toy Soldiers" placed number 29. It was Martika's only number-one single in the U.S., and her highest-ranking single in the United Kingdom. The single was certified Gold in the United States by the RIAA.
In March and April 2009, VH1 ran a countdown of the 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the 80s. "Toy Soldiers" placed at #67 on the countdown despite the fact that Martika had three other top 40 hits: "More Than You Know" (#18); "I Feel the Earth Move" (#25); and "Love... Thy Will Be Done" (#10).
Lyrics:
[Intro]
Step by step
Heart to heart
Left, right, left
We all fall down
Like toy soldiers
[Verse 1]
It wasn't my intention to mislead you
It never should have been this way
What can I say?
It's true
I did extend the invitation
I never knew how long you'd stay
When you hear temptation call
It's your heart that takes
Takes the fall
(Won't you come out and play with me?)
[Chorus]
Step by step
Heart to heart
Left, right, left
We all fall down
Like toy soldiers
Bit by bit
Torn apart
We never win
But the battle wages on
For toy soldiers
[Verse 2]
It's getting hard to wake up in the morning
My head is spinning constantly
How can it be?
How could I be so blind to this addiction?
If I don't stop
The next one's gonna be me
Only emptiness remains
It replaces all
All the pain
(Won't you come out and play with me?)
[Chorus]
Step by step
Heart to heart
Left, right, left
We all fall down
Like toy soldiers
Bit by bit
Torn apart
We never win
But the battle wages on
For toy soldiers
(We never win)
[Bridge]
Only emptiness remains
It replaces all
All the pain
(Won't you come out and play with me?)
[Chorus]
Step by step
Heart to heart
Left, right, left
We all fall down
Like toy soldiers
Bit by bit
Torn apart
We never win
But the battle wages on
For toy soldiers
[Outro]
Step by step
Heart to heart
Left, right, left
We all fall down (all fall down, all fall down)
Like toy soldiers
Bit by bit
Torn apart
We never win
But the battle wages on
For toy soldiers