Toy Soldiers Lyrics
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
[Pre-Chorus]
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 (Heart to heart)
Left, right, left, we all fall down (All fall down)
Like toy soldiers
Bit by bit (Bit by bit), torn apart (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 is 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 (Heart to heart)
Left, right, left, we all fall down (All fall down)
Like toy soldiers
Bit by bit (Bit by bit), torn apart (Torn apart)
We never win but the battle wages on
For toy soldiers
[Bridge]
We never win
[Pre-Chorus]
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 (Heart to heart)
Left, right, left, we all fall down (All fall down)
Like toy soldiers
Bit by bit (Bit by bit), torn apart (Torn apart)
We never win but the battle wages on (Wages on, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh)
For toy soldiers
About
“Toy Soldiers” was the second single from Martika’s debut album. It became her first and only number one hit, topping the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks in July of 1989.
Martika wrote the song about a friend of hers who had a cocaine addiction:
He can’t listen to it. It gives him the chills. He says it affects him too much. He knows it’s about him. He loves it. he thinks it’s a beautiful song, but when he listens to my record, he skips over that.
The chorus features vocals from some of the cast members of the ‘80s TV show Kids Incorporated ( which she was a cast member of) including Fergie, Rahsaan Patterson and actress Jennifer Love Hewitt.
This song is also famously sampled by Eminem in his 2004 song “Like Toy Soldiers”. Silversun Pickups released a cover of this song on June 8th, 2020 at midnight on Spotify followed by a music video later that morning.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
Martika told AP:
I was a little hesitant [writing “Toy Soldiers”] because I had only written two songs before and they were light songs. I came up to [producer Michael Jay] 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.
- 1.Toy Soldiers
- 4.Water
- 9.Temptation
