Meat Loaf : my interpretation of 'I would do anything for love'

my interpretation of 'I would do anything for love'

But I'll never forget the way you feel right now, oh no, no way
But I'll never forgive myself if we don't go all the way tonight
But I'll never do it better than I do it with you,
But I'll never stop dreaming of you every night of my life, no way

this song is being sung by two people who are the end-all, be-all, perfect loves of each other. the two of them will never know greater passion then they do with each other. but they're also both self-destructive, selfish people. their passion will eventually burn out, and they'll go their separate ways. the guy is basically saying, "In the future, I'm going to be with other women, but I'll never love any of them as much as I love you right now."


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"Cracka-lacka SHING!"

Re: my interpretation of 'I would do anything for love'

I love this song, it's a lyrical masterpiece. But...I don't agree with your interpretation. You have to listen to the ending if you want to understand the beginning. For three-quarters of the song, he's mad and out of his mind. He keeps chanting the same line throughout, leaving us the listeners with the burning question, 'What will Meatloaf not do? WHAT WILL HE NOT DO!?"

The ending answers it. I don't see them as selfish, nor him a cheater, but two halves of the same whole. It's just tragically, one half of that whole doesn't see it and she's too afraid to commit to him. She's been hurt in the past, too blind by previous pain to see the miracle standing in front of her.

She demands in her lyrics these intense ultimatums, maybe hoping to scare him away--but he never waivers. He agrees to them all without flinching. In the end she walks away, leaving him lost forever in his anguish--not fully realizing the magnitude of that decision and what they both lost because of it. She completely destroys him.

https://youtu.be/JvoYtcoA6No it starts at 9:00.

But I'll never stop dreaming of you ev'ry night of my life, no way
I would do anything for love
Oh, I would do anything for love
I would do anything for love, but I won't do that
No, I won't do that ---His wish
Will you raise me up? will you help me down?
Will you get me right out of this godforsaken town?
Will you make it all a little less cold? ---Her offer
I can do that
I can do that ---His acceptance
Will you hold me sacred? Will you hold me tight?
Can you colourise my life, I'm so sick of black and white?
Can you make it all a little less old? --Not quite believing him so easily, she goes even further.
I can do that
Oh no, I can do that ---He still doesn't waiver in his vow to her.
Will you make me some magic with your own two hands?
Will you build and emerald city with these grains of sand?
Can you give me something I can take home? ----She demands the ultimate sacrifice, trying to push him away.
I can do that -------He's not going anywhere
I can do that
Will you cater to every fantasy I got?
Will you hose me down with holy water, if I get too hot?
Will you take me places I've never known? ---She's starting to waiver, on the precipice of jumping into a once in a lifetime love (The music itself points to this rather than the lyrics themselves)
I can do that
Oh no, I can do that ----Hope is truly alive within him for the first time in this song.
After a while you'll forget everything
It was a brief interlude and a midsummer night's fling
And you'll see that it's time to move on --But she's too scared, having been hurt before.
I won't do that
I won't do that ---He's desperate for her, afraid of what life would be without her.
I know the territory, I've been around
It'll all turn to dust and we'll all fall down
Sooner or later you'll be screwing around --- In the end, she's been too hurt in the past to take that chance.
I won't do that
No, I won't do that ---He doesn't get her.
Anything for love
Oh, I would do anything for love
I would do anything for love, but I won't do that
No, I won't do that ---

To me, the ending is what the beginning is all about. His soul is bleeding out 'He won't do that' for most of the song, but we don't know what he won't do. It's only at the end do we know he's been rejected by her and left to his own form of hell. I almost imagine him all alone and broken in his final hours because he knows they're soulmates, but sadly she doesn't see it.


~Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable~

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Re: my interpretation of 'I would do anything for love'

"And I would eat anything for lunch
But I won't eat that!"

Re: my interpretation of 'I would do anything for love'

Coincidentally, Meat Loaf collapsed on stage during this song a couple hours ago at a show in Alberta.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/meatloaf-medical-emergency-edmonton-show-1.3639880

Re: my interpretation of 'I would do anything for love'

So tragic~

Good thoughts. Good thoughts. Good thoughts.

~Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable~

Re: my interpretation of 'I would do anything for love'

He'd do anything for love except cheat on someone.

Re: my interpretation of 'I would do anything for love'

You have the explanation correct.
In VH1 storytellers, he says that it the line before every chorus that is the thing he won't do.

https://youtu.be/RkFHuDxoa94?list=PLslHapSMmen2Y9D9wD5VYGP_g7JJCEpCz
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