“As a society, we love to tear down our heroes. When John Lennon was murdered I was barely 13 years old and it devastated me to my core. A few years later I tried to put into words how society and celebrity culture was responsible for his death and countless others since. “Passion will haunt you and love will not stay – people will milk you and throw you away” It’s ugly but true.”

Time after time it’s the same old grind
With a laugh and a drink and a hole in your mind
Waltzing wonders on the showbiz stage
Watch all the babies coming of age

You say that you haven’t been here for that long
But you know what you like and you know when your wrong
You’ve proven yourself on a balance of chance
Somehow your dream has been lost in the dance

And your one more saint on the chopping block
One more martyr for us to mock
One more victim with nowhere to run
On less bullet in the public gun

Keeping in rhythm relying on rhyme
To salvage the moments that have grown into time
You can be sure there’s a will and a way
You can fly but you’re gonna have to land someday

Success is the god for the masses of man
Fame is the dream that is part of the plan
Passion will haunt you and love will not stay
People will milk you and throw you away CHORUS

Watching the world from a pedestal high
Makes it hard to be human in the face of the sky
Tho we trampled your halo with malice and greed
After the shot we realized you could bleed

Ashes now keep all the trust and desire
But ashes are all that remains of a fire
By now our lesson has started to taint
We’re already searching for some other saint

©1986 Shael Risman