Marianne Faithfull singing one of the all time great torch songs (which is not to be confused with the Green Day song of the same name). She is certainly the perfect embodyment of the world-weary gigolette she sings about. She very deliberately created this broken down persona, and it seems she enjoys it very much. In her youth she purposefully abused her body with drugs, alcohol and cigarettes, the plan being to demolish the image of girlish innocence that was projected upon her for her beauty. Many, many people have taken the same journey to hell and back, but most of them either self-hating, suicidal or just dumb. For Faithfull it was always a creative journey. Inspired in part by William Burroughs, she chose her path, not in ignorance, but with a plan to become richer with experience, or die trying if necessary. To see her now, she luxuriates in her own ruined looks and cracked voice. She is a self made legend.
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