God is Dead

“Never apologise, never explain - didn't we always say that? Well, I haven't and I don't.”

And she never did!

The saddest-of-sad news has reached our ears - one of the greatest of our Patron Saints, Miss Marianne Faithfull has departed to claim her rightful place at the top of the podium in the Fabulon Hall of Decadence. Black armbands all round, methinks...

There was never anyone else quite like Marianne - she simply oozed style and class, and indeed was for many years one of the most desired women on the planet!

Her glamorous background, her bohemian lifestyle, her relationships and her battle with drink and drugs and ill-health were all tabloid fodder for decades, yet she bounced back from it all to become a revered singer-songwriter with her own cult following - among whose number were Madam Arcati and I.

Indeed, I was thrilled to have an "Audience With God" [as Eddie Monsoon portrayed her in AbFab] way back in 2013! She was superb. Of course.

A very sad loss.

"Rebellion is the only thing that keeps you alive!"

"Maybe the most that you can expect from a relationship that goes bad is to come out of it with a few good songs."

And here's one...

Marianne Faithfull - The Ballad of Lucy Jordan

“The morning sun touched lightly on the eyes of Lucy Jordan
In a white suburban bedroom in a white suburban town
As she lay there 'neath the covers dreaming of a thousand lovers
Till the world turned to orange and the room went spinning round.

At the age of thirty-seven she realised she'd never
Ride through Paris in a sports car with the warm wind in her hair.
So she let the phone keep ringing and she sat there softly singing
Little nursery rhymes she'd memorised in her daddy's easy chair.

Her husband, he's off to work and the kids are off to school,
And there are, oh, so many ways for her to spend the day.
She could clean the house for hours or rearrange the flowers
Or run naked through the shady street screaming all the way.

At the age of thirty-seven she realised she'd never
Ride through Paris in a sports car with the warm wind in her hair
So she let the phone keep ringing as she sat there softly singing
Pretty nursery rhymes she'd memorised in her daddy's easy chair.

The evening sun touched gently on the eyes of Lucy Jordan
On the roof top where she climbed when all the laughter grew too loud
And she bowed and curtsied to the man who reached and offered her his hand,
And he led her down to the long white car that waited past the crowd.

At the age of thirty-seven she knew she'd found forever
As she rode along through Paris with the warm wind in her hair”

"Bad behaviour makes men more glamorous. Women get destroyed, thrown out of society and locked up in institutions."

"I haven't got purity, and I don't think I ever did. I have always been, even as a child, a very decadent little person."

This song might well be her epitaph...

Marianne Faithfull - Sliding Through Life On Charm

The family tree was chainsawed Wednesday week
So now I have to mingle with the meek
Hey mister, you have finally met your match
Now everybody wants to kiss my snatch

To go where God knows who has gone before
I am a muse, not a mistress, not a whore
Oh, suburban shits who want some class
All queue up to kiss my ass

And I was only trying to please
I never got any royalties oh no, not me
I'm still sliding through life on charm
Sliding through life on charm

If Marianne was born a man she'd show you all
A way to piss your life against the wall
Go ahead why don't you leave me to these thugs
And creeps who want to fuck a nun on drugs?

Is it such a sin I never ever tried too hard?
I had to know how far was going too far
In proper homes throughout the land, Fathers try to understand
Why Eunice who is seventeen aspires to live her life like me

Oh no, can't ya see, Daddy?
She's just captivated by my charm
Sliding through life on charm

Sliding
Sliding
Never

I wonder why the schools don't teach anything useful nowadays
Like how to fall from grace and slide with elegance from a pedestal
I never asked to be on in the first place

Sliding on charm, sliding on charm
Sliding on charm, sliding on charm
Sliding on charm, sliding on charm
Sliding on charm

RIP, Marianne Faithfull (29th December 1946 - 30th January 2025)