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

“The truth can be rewritten if historians are kind”

“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.”