Fallen Angel

Fallen Angel
Written by Dennis DeYoung
Lead Vocals by Dennis DeYoung

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Hell nobody's perfect
One hundred percent
No saint, no Pope, no King no Queen
No President

But our hunger for heroes
Has made us blind
We seek salvation
From the cup of human kind

But every time we hear the voice
Of some new Abraham
We wake too late to realize
It was just another scam

Fallen angel, fallen angel
Well I guess you were no angel after all
Fallen angel, fallen angel
You always take us with you when you fall

I said nobody's perfect
From head to toe
Not Einstein or Elvis or Lenin or Marx
Or Marilyn Monroe

Cause it's mostly illusion
In flesh and bone
An image, a look, a song or a book
That we all claim for our own

But even in the best of us
There lies beneath the skin
The tragic flaw in nature's law
That's bound to do us in

Fallen angel, fallen angel
Well I guess you were no angel after all
Fallen angel, fallen angel
You always take us with you when you fall

Pretty faces up on the silver screen
Flawless bodies on covers of magazines
They all look perfect to us
So rich and cool and bored
But hold the presses boys
They've checked into Betty Ford

Turns out nobody's perfect
From "A" to "Z"
It's best to follow your heart
Then to follow me
Cause I'm only a singer
Playin' a song
And I've just been making it up
As I went along

See I met a man who told me once
"Sincerity's the key
And once you learn to fake it
Son you're gonna be home free"

Fallen angel, fallen angel
Well I guess you were no angel after all
Fallen angel, fallen angel
You always take us with you when you fall

Interpretation

This song was written in the midst of the impeachment proceedings for U.S. President Bill Clinton in 1998 in the wake of the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal. As a result of the nature of allegations against the president, similar allegations of sexual misconduct came to light regarding several other politicians, most notably Republicans who voted to impeach Clinton.  That included Newt Gingrich, speaker of the House of Representatives for the Clinton impeachment, who resigned from office after it was revealed he had had an affair in the past. 

The lyrics make clear that "nobody's perfect" and that "even in the best of us, there lies beneath the skin, the tragic flaw in nature's law that's bound to do us in."  We all need heroes, but when we put our our heroes on a pedestal, we are bound to see them fall off. That could be politicians, scientists, movie stars, athletes, or musicians. 

For people in public life, much of what we think we know is illusion, part of the brand that is associated with their public persona. Underneath the perfect image we see on TV and in magazines are flawed human beings who are subjected to great temptations and pressures. For too many, they end up divorced or in rehab (such as the Betty Ford Drug and Alcohol Treatment Centers). So, be careful not to follow anyone as a model, including members of the band. They are only human like the rest of us.