An ode to the ever controversial Meatloaf
02 May '08 08:271 editNothing really rocks, nothing really rolls and nothing's ever worth the cause
- Bat out of hell -
It's taken me some pondering if I should write this short ode to one of the greatest rock stars ever to bless the earth.
Unlike other greats, such as ABBA and T-rex, Meatloaf has committed a mortal rock & roll sin. So, I had to contemplate if the man deserved forgiving...
I'm still not sure, R&R history will ultimately decide that. However, one is innocent until proven guilty (except Osama Bin Laden seemingly), so until the jury of history decides, it's best for us to get on our knees and worship one of the all time legends still roaming the earth like a Loch Ness monster of sweaty proportions!!!
Bat out of hell
Paradise by the dashboard light
Objects in the rearview mirror
The list of brilliant, lyrical and bombastic songs is endless (well, slightly longer than three songs anyways, but I'm typing with one hand and am trying to keep things short).
I was burning a best of Meatloaf CD for myself the other week and I realised I hadn't included Paradise. That got me thinking: why not?
After serious deliberation, I concluded, it wasn't because I didn't like the song, it was because I've just heard it too often; which basically is the greatest compliment you can give an artist. Like "Satisfaction" or "Bohemian Rhapsody", you've just heard them too often to actually want to hear it again. But objectively they are brilliant songs.
Sticking with paradise: What lyrics! What tunes (three different songs in one)! What dramatics! What energy! How could anyone hearing that song for the first time not be swept off their feet!?!
Songs of this magnitude are rarely written, and I can't think of one in the last ten years which encompasses teenage lust in this fashion.
I saw Meatloaf live in Milwaukee in the very early 90's. Live he gives Springsteen a good run for his money! Brilliant!
Meatloaf is in one of the greatest cult movies ever made: The Rocky horror picture show:
Get back in front, put some hair oil on
Buddy Holly was singing his very last song.
With your arms around your girl you'd try to sing along.
It felt pretty good, oh, you really had a good time.
- Hot Patootie (Bless my soul) -
(and any song referring to Buddy is well worth mentioning)
And so, with all this and more (the duets with women, the videos of him long-haired and sweating, etc.), until a jury should bring in a guilty as charged verdict, I move to have Meatloaf placed among the greats: ABBA, T-rex, the Beatles, Buddy Holly and The Velvet Undergound.
You hold me so close that my knees grow weak
But my soul is flying high above the ground
I'm trying to speak but no matter what I do
I just can't seem to make any sound
And then you took the words right out of my mouth
Oh-it must have been while you were kissing me
- You took the words right out of my mouth -
------------
Right, in case you come from Jupiter or just hatched: what is this grave sin I was talking about?
Concessions! That's what. And specifically:
Some days I pray for silence, and somedays I pray for soul
Some days I just pray to the God of Sex and Drums and Rock 'N Roll
- I'd do anything for love (but I won't do that) -
Not only are drums encompassed by Rock & roll, not only does everyone know that the God of rock and roll stands for something completely different, but this is blatant bending to Republican / conservative commercialism. Keith Richards turned in his grave (and he's not even buried yet) when this song was aired. May the God of sex, drugs and rock & bloody roll have mercy on his soul.
- Bat out of hell -
It's taken me some pondering if I should write this short ode to one of the greatest rock stars ever to bless the earth.
Unlike other greats, such as ABBA and T-rex, Meatloaf has committed a mortal rock & roll sin. So, I had to contemplate if the man deserved forgiving...
I'm still not sure, R&R history will ultimately decide that. However, one is innocent until proven guilty (except Osama Bin Laden seemingly), so until the jury of history decides, it's best for us to get on our knees and worship one of the all time legends still roaming the earth like a Loch Ness monster of sweaty proportions!!!
Bat out of hell
Paradise by the dashboard light
Objects in the rearview mirror
The list of brilliant, lyrical and bombastic songs is endless (well, slightly longer than three songs anyways, but I'm typing with one hand and am trying to keep things short).
I was burning a best of Meatloaf CD for myself the other week and I realised I hadn't included Paradise. That got me thinking: why not?
After serious deliberation, I concluded, it wasn't because I didn't like the song, it was because I've just heard it too often; which basically is the greatest compliment you can give an artist. Like "Satisfaction" or "Bohemian Rhapsody", you've just heard them too often to actually want to hear it again. But objectively they are brilliant songs.
Sticking with paradise: What lyrics! What tunes (three different songs in one)! What dramatics! What energy! How could anyone hearing that song for the first time not be swept off their feet!?!
Songs of this magnitude are rarely written, and I can't think of one in the last ten years which encompasses teenage lust in this fashion.
I saw Meatloaf live in Milwaukee in the very early 90's. Live he gives Springsteen a good run for his money! Brilliant!
Meatloaf is in one of the greatest cult movies ever made: The Rocky horror picture show:
Get back in front, put some hair oil on
Buddy Holly was singing his very last song.
With your arms around your girl you'd try to sing along.
It felt pretty good, oh, you really had a good time.
- Hot Patootie (Bless my soul) -
(and any song referring to Buddy is well worth mentioning)
And so, with all this and more (the duets with women, the videos of him long-haired and sweating, etc.), until a jury should bring in a guilty as charged verdict, I move to have Meatloaf placed among the greats: ABBA, T-rex, the Beatles, Buddy Holly and The Velvet Undergound.
You hold me so close that my knees grow weak
But my soul is flying high above the ground
I'm trying to speak but no matter what I do
I just can't seem to make any sound
And then you took the words right out of my mouth
Oh-it must have been while you were kissing me
- You took the words right out of my mouth -
------------
Right, in case you come from Jupiter or just hatched: what is this grave sin I was talking about?
Concessions! That's what. And specifically:
Some days I pray for silence, and somedays I pray for soul
Some days I just pray to the God of Sex and Drums and Rock 'N Roll
- I'd do anything for love (but I won't do that) -
Not only are drums encompassed by Rock & roll, not only does everyone know that the God of rock and roll stands for something completely different, but this is blatant bending to Republican / conservative commercialism. Keith Richards turned in his grave (and he's not even buried yet) when this song was aired. May the God of sex, drugs and rock & bloody roll have mercy on his soul.
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