"I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" is a song
composed and written by Jim Steinman, and recorded by Meat
Loaf. The song was released in 1993 as the first single from
the album
Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell.
The final verse features a female vocalist who was credited
only as "Mrs. Loud" in the album notes. She was later
identified as Lorraine Crosby, a club performer from North East
England. She does not, however, appear in the video, in which
her vocals are lipsynched by Dana Patrick. Meat Loaf promoted
the single with American vocalist Patti Russo performing the
live female vocals. The title of the song confused some
listeners, who did not realize that each "that" is a reference
to the particular promise that he made earlier in the same
verse.
The song was a commercial success, reaching number one in
twenty-eight countries. The single was certified platinum in
the United States and became Meat Loaf's first number-one
single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and on the UK singles
chart. The song earned Meat Loaf a Grammy Award for Best Rock
Vocal Performance, Solo.
The song opens with a guitar played to sound like a revving
motorcycle, which scholar Anne Bader interprets as
foreshadowing "the male angst to come". This is a reference to
Todd Rundgren's contribution in the middle of "Bat Out of
Hell". Roy Bittan's piano begins to play, along with the
guitars. The vocals begin at the 1:50 point, which is where
many pop songs are beginning their second chorus. Steinman
"alternates ... [a bombastic] style with mellow moments where
the hard-hitting piano licks are fleshed out with ethereal
synthesizer and choral-styled backing vocals."
These opening vocals are accompanied by piano and backing
vocals. The song then becomes much louder as the band,
predominately piano, plays the main melody for twenty seconds.
An instrumental section follows the first verse and chorus,
lasting over 45 seconds, follows, with piano playing the title
melody, accompanied by guitar and wordless background vocals by
Todd Rundgren, Rory Dodd and Kasim Sulton. The lead vocals
recommence with another verse. The popular phrase "sex,
drugsand rock 'n' roll" was censored to become "Some
days I just pray to the god of sex and
drumsand rock and roll."
At the 9:28 point, the song transforms into a duet coda,
which scholar Ann Bader analyzes as presenting "the
relationship from the woman's point of view. Just like
Rapunzel, Snow White and the countless other passive victims
who populate our culture's stories, this woman awaits her
rescuer. In lyrics that float airily above the level of pop
songwriting, she asks her suitor to fix everything for her."
The structure of the verses remain, but the female now asks
what the male would do. He answers in the affirmative for the
first four sections.
The song's tone changes for the final two sections, the girl
guesses that he would eventually do things to upset her and
their relationship: firstly that he'd forget all of their
memories and feelings between them and want
"to move on", and, secondly, would be
"screwing around". Both times, he responds
"But I won't do that".
Each verse mentions two things that he would do for love,
followed by one thing that he will not do. The title phrase
repetition reasserts that he "won't do that" previously stated
one thing. Each mention of "that" is a reference to the
particular promise that he made earlier in the same verse. For
example, one such line is
"But I'll never forget the way you feel right now ..."In
addition, at the song's conclusion, the female vocalist
predicts two other things that he will do:
"You'll see that it's time to move on"and
"You'll be screwing around". To both of these, he
emphatically responds,
"I won't do that!"
Some people misunderstand the lyrics, claiming that the
singer never identifies what "that" thing is, which he will not
do. Steinman predicted this confusion during production. An
early episode of the VH1 program
Pop-up Videomade this claim at the end of the song's
video: "Exactly what Meat Loaf won't do for love remains a
mystery to this day." A reviewer writing for
Allmusiccommented that "The lyrics build suspense by
portraying a romance-consumed lover who pledges to do anything
in the name of love except 'that,' a mysterious thing that he
will not specify." The reviewer concludes that the mystery is
revealed during the closing stages of the song, incorrectly
implying that all references of "that" refer to the female
vocalist's predictions at the end. Others assume that "that" is
a reference to a sex act. Scholar Anne Bader interprets this as
providing "an enlightening example of how listeners project
their own thoughts, values, and concerns onto the meaning of
the song with misconstrued lyrics."
Although Meat Loaf believed that the lyrics were
unambiguous, the singer recalls that Steinman predicted that
they would cause confusion. Meat Loaf says that the question,
"What is 'that'?" is one of the most popular questions he is
asked. In his 1998
VH1 Storytellersspecial, he even explained it on stage
using a blackboard and a pointing stick. In a 1993 promotional
interview, Steinman states that the definition of "that" is
fully revealed in the song in each of the several verses in
which it is mentioned.
It sort of is a little puzzle and I guess it goes by - but
they're all great things. 'I won't stop doing beautiful things
and I won't do bad things.' It's very noble. I'm very proud of
that song because it's very much like out of the world of
Excalibur. To me, it's like Sir Lancelot or something - very
noble and chivalrous. That's my favorite song on the record -
it's very ambitious.
Steinman's songs are usually much longer than most other
songs, and "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" is
no exception. The song is a full twelve minutes, and Steinman
broke down when executives advised him that he had to cut it
down to get radio play. Manager Allen Kovac warned that any
song over five minutes would not be played on radio, saying
that if Steinman and the group did not make the cuts then the
stations would. Even after they made the cuts, Steinman sent
his own version to the stations.
The single version was edited down to almost six minutes,
where the entire motorcycle introduction is omitted. The video
version was whittled down to seven minutes and thirty-eight
seconds, where the motorcycle intro remains, but not in its
entirety. In the video version and single version, the lengthy
instrumental break is completely omitted. In the video and
single versions, the refrain, which reads "I'd do anything for
love, anything you've been dreaming of, but I just won't do
that", which is sung before the instrumental bridge, was to be
repeated three times, but was whittled down to having the one
line repeated twice. Lorraine Crosby sings six verses in the
complete song. In the video version, the second and third
verses are omitted. In the single versions, the second, third,
and fifth verses are omitted.
Lorraine Crosby, a club singer from North East England,
performed the female vocals. Crosby and her partner Stuart
Emerson had moved to Los Angeles to work with Jim Steinman, who
became their manager. He secured them a contract with Meat
Loaf's recording label MCA. While visiting the company's
recording studios on Sunset Boulevard, Crosby was asked to
provide guide vocals for Meat Loaf, who was recording "I'd Do
Anything for Love". Crosby recalls, "in I went and sang it
twice and I never thought anything more of it until six months
later when I got a phone call saying, `Would you mind if we
used your vocals?'" Cher, Melissa Etheridge and Bonnie Tyler
had been considered for the role. However, as Crosby had
recorded her part as guide vocals, she did not receive any
royalties from the song.
Michael Bay directed the music video. He also directed the
videos for "Objects in the Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer
than They Are" and "Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through", also
from
Bat Out of Hell II. Filming took place in Los Angeles
County, California in July 1993; the opening chase was filmed
at Chávez Ravine, with the interior mansion scenes filmed at
Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills. The cinematographer was
Daniel Pearl, particularly known for filming
The Texas Chain Saw Massacrein 1973. Pearl says that
this video "is one of my personal all-time favorite projects...
I think the cinematography is pure, and it tells a story about
the song." He would later film the remake, which was produced
by Bay.
The video is based on
Beauty and the Beastand
The Phantom of the Opera. Bob Keane did Meat Loaf's
make-up, which took up to two hours to apply. The make-up was
designed to be simple and scary, yet "with the ability to make
him sympathetic." It went over budget, and was filmed in
90 °F (32 °C) heat, across four days. According to
one executive, it "probably had the budget of
Four Weddings and a Funeral." It is the abridged seven
minute single version, rather than the twelve minute (11:58)
album version.
The actress in the video, Dana Patrick, is miming to
Crosby's vocals, however, as she would to Patti Russo's in the
1995 song "I'd Lie for You (And That's the Truth)". According
to the captions aired on
Pop-Up Video, Patrick received several offers for record
deals after the video aired, by executives who assumed she was
actually singing in the video.
The single cover is a cropped version of the painting
Leavetakingby fantasy illustrator Michael Whelan, who
also painted the
Bat Out of Hell IIcover.
All songs written and composed by Jim Steinman.
The song reached number one in the charts in 28 countries.
It was Meat Loaf's first and only number one solo single. It
was number one in the US five weeks. In the UK, it topped the
singles chart, and at seven minutes and 52 seconds, "I'd Do
Anything For Love" becoming the longest song on top there since
The Beatles' hit "Hey Jude". This was then broken when Oasis
released their 1997 hit "All Around The World", clocking in at
9 minutes and 20 seconds.
In the UK, this was the biggest hit of 1993, selling 761,200
copies and staying at number one for seven weeks. As a result
of its success, "Bat Out of Hell" was reissued in the UK, this
time reaching the top ten (which it didn't achieve on its first
release in 1979), meaning Meat Loaf achieved the rare feat of
having two singles in the UK Top Ten at the same time.
Critical reaction was mixed. Allmusic said that "Meat Loaf
sells the borderline-campy lyrics with a full-throated vocal
whose stirring sense of conviction brings out the heart hidden
behind the clever phrases." Meat Loaf won a Grammy Award for
Best Rock Vocal Performance, Solo for the song.