Oh, Martika, when someone says “Martika”, this is the song that everyone thinks of. Clearly you’re about more than just “Toy Soldiers”, Martika, since we’ve already gotten to listen to one of your amazing songs. And “Toy Soldiers” isn’t even my favorite of your songs. That one’s still coming up. BUT, I will say, Martika, that if you’re going to be remembered for a song, you could do a whole helluva lot worse than this one. Seriously, Martika, this song is all kinds of awesome. I don’t think I can overstate how loved this song was when I was a kid, and not just by me. Hell, Martika, as I was listening to it just now, my wife walked past the office/cat room and started singing along and told me that her and her friends would sit in a circle on the playground at recess and sing this song together. Which is adorable. If you forget about the part where this song is about (I’m assuming) a crippling drug addiction. Which is actually not something I caught at the time. I think I kind of got a whiff of after-school special from it, but as with most of the songs I taped off the radio as a kid, if it wasn’t about true love or broken hearts or rockin’ out, it was totally out of my wheelhouse. All I knew was that every time I heard it, I got chills because I loved it so, and the one thing that I can’t believe is that I think I only taped this song one other time. Considering how obsessed I got with certain songs, I can’t believe that this wasn’t one of them.
And speaking of taping, one thing that neither of us could know at the time, Martika, was that this song marked the halfway point in my teenage radio-taping career. I wouldn’t have believed you at the time. I would have told you that I’d be taping songs off the radio for the rest of my life (and frankly, I wish I had continued. It would have kept me out of a lot of trouble). But I didn’t, Martika. I only made it to 70 tapes.
But let’s be honest, Martika, 70 cassette tapes recorded off the radio is still a lot of great music. And the nice thing about cassette tapes is that you can be a cassette half-full guy OR a cassette half-empty guy. Either way, you win. You either have half a tape of great songs or half a tape ready to be filled up with more great songs. So there’s nothing to feel sad about, Martika, unless it’s because of how melancholy this song is. We’ve got several years’ worth of music and posts to go.
So thanks for helping me get halfway through, Martika, and I hope to hear you again soon.
“Toy Soldiers”
Step by step
Heart to heart
Left, right, left
We aaall faaall doooown
Like toy soldieeeeers
It wasn’t my intention to mislead you
It never should have beeeeen thiiiis waaaay
What can I say?
It’s true
I did extend the invitation
I never knew how looong yooou’d staaaay
Wheeen yooou heeeear temptaaaation caaaall
It’s your heeeeart that taaaakes
Taaakes theee faaall
(Woncha come out and play with me?)
Step by step
Heart to heart (heart to heeart)
Left, right, left
We aaall faaaall dooown (all fall doooown)
Like toy soldieeers
Bit by bit (bit by bit)
Torn apart (torn apart)
Never win
The baaaattlllle wages ooon
For toy soldieeeeers
It’s getting hard to wake up in the mornin’ mornin’
My head is spinning cooonstaaaantlyyyyy
How can it be?
How could I be so blind to this addiction?
If I don’t stop
The next one’s gonna be meeeeee
Ooonlyyyy eeeeeemptineeeeess remaaaaains
It replaaaaaces aaaall
Aaaall theeee paaaaain
(Woncha come out and play with me?)
Step by step
Heart to heart (heart to heeart)
Left, right, left
We aaall faaaall dooown (all fall doooown)
Like toy soldieeers
Bit by bit (bit by bit)
Torn apart (torn apart)
Never win, but the baaaattlllle wages ooon
For toy soldieeeeers
<awesome Martika jam>
We never wiiiin
Oooooooooooooo
Â
Only eeeeemptineeeeess remaaaaains (ooooo)
It replaaaaaces aaaall
Aaaall theeee paaaaain
(Woncha come out and play with me?)
Step by step
Heart to heart (heart to heeart)
Left, right, left
We aaall faaaall dooown (all fall doooown)
Like toy soldieeers
Bit by bit (bit by bit)
Torn apart (torn apart)
Never win, but the baaaattlllle wages ooon (wages on!)
For toy soldieeeeers
Oh ah ah, oh ah ah, oh ah ah, oh ah ah
Step by step
Heart to heart (heart to heeart)
Left, right, left
We aaall faaaall dooown (all fall doooown)
Like toy soldieeers
Bit by bit
Torn apart (torn apart)
Never win, but the baaaattlllle wages ooon
For toy soldieeeeers
Mixed Tape Masterpiece 