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Like Toy Soldiers
Eminem
Encore
Features Martika
Released November 6, 2004
Recorded 2003
Format Digital Download, CD Single
Genre Hip hop
Length 4:56
Label Shady, Aftermath, Interscope
Writer M. Mathers, L. Resto, M. Dawson, M. J. Margules
Producer Eminem, Luis Resto

"Toy Soldiers" is a single by Eminem. It was released on November 6, 2004 The song features vocals by American singer Martika, It was written by M. Mathers, L. Resto, M. Dawson, M. J. Margules, and it was produced by Eminem, and Luis Resto and samples the chorus of the Martika song "Toy Soldiers".

Music video[]

the music video filmed in September 2004. the song's video starts with two young boys in a living room. Out of boredom the boy who lives there grabs a book called "Toy Soldiers" and says "I got this book, my dad gave it to me." As they open it up, the song's lyrics are on the page and the camera zooms into the book which quickly brings us into the action of the video. It begins at the hospital where Eminem and his circle are watching, in despair, as doctors are trying to save D12 member Bugz (played by fellow D12 member Proof). Eminem is then seen in a series of scenes rapping the song in a deserted alleyway, before the video goes through a series of scenes showing the various feuds mentioned in the song. They include seeing the news, rappers battling in studios, and street encounters. Near the end, Eminem stands shocked seeing the shooting of Bugz. It switches back to the hospital, where Bugz dies, and finishes at his funeral where a multi-ethnic choir of children start to sing.

Cameo appearances in the video include 50 Cent, Luis Resto, Dr. Dre, Obie Trice, and D12. Deceased rappers including Tupac Shakur, The Notorious B.I.G., Big L, and Bugz are also shown in animation form at the end of the music video to show the fatal consequences of rap wars.

In a case of life imitating art, Proof himself was shot and killed on April 11, 2006, after an altercation broke out at a nightclub in Detroit, Michigan. "In the year after [Proof] died," Eminem said in his memoir The Way I Am, "I would stare at the ceiling and think about that video. Did karma cause that to happen in real life? Did I? You always want to point the finger at somebody else when something like that happens, you know?"[1]


Lyrics[]

[Chorus]
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

[Verse 1]
I'm supposed to be the soldier, who never blows his composure
Even though I hold the weight of the whole world on my shoulders
I ain't never supposed to show it, my crew ain't supposed to know it
Even if it means going toe to toe with a Benzino
It don't matter I'd never drag them in battles that I can handle
'less I absolutely have to, I'm supposed to set an example
I need to be the leader, my crew looks for me to guide 'em
If some shit ever does pop off, I'm supposed to be beside 'em
That Ja shit, I tried to squash it, it was too late to stop it
There's a certain line you just don't cross and he crossed it
I heard him say Hailie's name on a song and I just lost it
It was crazy, the shit went way beyond some Jay-Z and Nas shit
And even though the battle is won I feel like we lost it
I spent so much energy on it, honestly I'm exhausted
And I'm so caught in it, I almost feel I'm the one who caused it
This ain't what I'm in hip hop for, it's not why I got in it
That was never my object, for someone to get killed
Why would I want to destroy something I helped build?
It wasn't my intentions, my intentions were good
I went through my whole career without ever mentioning *Suge*
And that was just outta respect, for not running my mouth
And talking about something that I knew nothing about
Plus Dre told me stay out, this just wasn't my beef
So I did, I just fell back, watched and gritted my teeth
While he's all over TV, down talking the man
Who literally saved my life, like fuck it I understand
This is business, and this shit just isn't none of my business
I'm still knowing this shit could pop off at any minute, because

[Chorus]
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

[Verse 2]
There used to be a time when, you could just say a rhyme and
Wouldn't have to worry about one of your people dying
But now it's elevated, cause once you put someone's kids in it
The shit gets escalated, it ain't just words no more is it?
It's a different ball game, you call names and you ain't just rappin
We actually tried to stop the 50 and Ja beef from happening
Me and Dre had sat with him, kicked it and had a chat with him
And asked him not to start it, he wasn't going to go after him
Until Ja started yapping in magazines how he stabbed him
Fuck it, 50 smash him, mash him and let him have it
Meanwhile my attention's pulled in another direction
Some receptionist at the Source who answers phones at his desk
Has an erection for me and thinks that I'll be his resurrection
Tries to blow the dust off his mic and make a new record
But now he's fucked the game up, cause one of the ways I came up
Was through that publication, the same one that made me famous
Now the owner of it has got a grudge against me for nothing?
Well fuck it, that mothafucka could get it too, fuck him then
But I'm so busy being pissed off, I don't stop to think
That we just inherited 50's beef with Murder Inc
And he's inherited mine, which is fine, ain't like either of us mind
We still have soldiers that's on the front line
That's willing to die for us as soon as we give the orders
Never to extort us, strictly to show they support us
And maybe shout 'em out in a rap or up in the chorus
To show 'em we love 'em back and let them know how important it is
To have Runyon Avenue soldiers up in our corners
Their loyalty to us is worth more than any award is
But I ain't tryna have none of people hurt or murdered
It ain't worth it, I can't think of a perfecter way to word it
Than to just say that I love y'all too much to see the verdict
I'll walk away from it all 'fore I let it go any further
But don't get it twisted, it's not a plea that I'm copping
I'm just willing to be the bigger man if y'all can quit popping
Off at your jaws well then I can, cause frankly I'm sick of talking
I'm not going to let someone else's coffin rest on my conscience cause

[Chorus]
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

Music Video[]

 	Eminem_-_Like_Toy_Soldiers 	 			  

Trivia[]

  • Untrue to popular belief, the person portrayed dying in the video is actually supposed to symbolize Bugz another rapper that Eminem was friends with, not Proof who died after this song and video was released. Also, the person getting shot in the video is Proof.
  • The chorus was featured in the 18th season and 5th episode of The Simpsons.
  1. Template:Cite book
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