Death Of An It-Girl
Words & Music: Manns. © 2021 Fat Statues.
She didn't die before she got old, just faded away The few years in the limelight, then so many in the shade She talks about her past if her memory will allow An icon of an age is just a frail old lady now The face that launched a thousand ships is about to set sail The lungs that smoked a million cigarettes about to fail The caged bird no longer sings, the bars have turned to rust The voice of a nightingale, now withered to a husk And all the songs, they have been sung When you live fast, but don't die young And when there's nothing left to say Do you burn out, or fade away? The wide eyed young party girl, who sang a pretty song An icon, muse, a diva, or just a hanger on? Famed for being famous, known for having a good time The men who defined her left her innocence defiled From party to party, dust to angel dust Champagne and cocaine, well it dulled some of the disgust The flame that shone so brightly that the colour all bleached out The starlet is burning out, changing to stardust now And all the songs, they have been sung When you live fast, but don't die young And when there's nothing left to say Do you burn out, or fade away? When the glory days have passed you by You haven't even reached 25 When the glory days have passed you by You haven't even reached 25 The naked girl on celluloid, a mature woman now The looks have long since dwindled but the attitude still proud More than a one hit wonder, beyond 15 minutes of fame But you can't buy a mansion with just critical acclaim The boyfriends, there were many, but the marriages were brief The toyboys and affairs, way back when heroin was chic Growing old disgracefully with money to burn You'll never retire if you spend double what you earn And all the songs, they have been sung When you live fast, but don't die young And when there's nothing left to say Do you burn out, or fade away? The national treasure now in terminal decline The truth can be rewritten if historians are kind Her heart skips the final beat, the Queen has lost her throne The legend lives for ever, but the it-girl dies alone And all the songs, they have been sung When you live fast, but don't die young The stars should go out in a blaze of glory... Not fade away
“I listened to a podcast interview with Marianne Faithfull when I was on one of my lockdown walks. Covid and pneumonia nearly killed her a few months earlier and she sounded in a very bad way.
The interview was heart-breaking to listen to from a woman who was notoriously strong, feisty and unapologetic, yet was a person who had made some unwise decisions in her life and had been used by men who were in a position of power.
I wanted to write about all the it-girls who fame and/or notoriety used up and spat out, and what happened after the tabloid headlines stopped. This is a song about our fictional protagonist’s final hours looking back at her life.
I wrote this as a piano ballad, which has been horrible to rearrange on guitar!
This is not a song about Marianne Faithfull, but is dedicated to her.”