“Toy Soldiers” is a song by American singer-songwriter Martika, appearing on her self-titled debut album (1988) and released in the United States as the second single from the album on April 26, 1989. It was her only song to top the chart in the United States, reaching the number-one on Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks in mid-1989. An edited version of the song is included in the imported version of the album Toy Soldiers: The Best of Martika. Its music video was directed by Jim Shea.
Chart Success
- Release Date: The second single from her self-titled debut album.
- Billboard Hot 100: Hit number one for two weeks in the summer of 1989.
- Legacy: It remains her most successful global hit and was famously sampled in Eminem’s 2004 track “Like Toy Soldiers
Step by step
Heart to heart
Left, right, left
We all fall down
Like toy soldiers
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?
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
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?
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
Only emptiness remains
It replaces all, all the pain
Won’t you come out and play with me?
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
(Step by step
Heart to heart
Left, right, left
We all fall down)
