The week of October 30, 1993, saw Mariah Carey hanging on to the top spot of Billboard’s Hot 100 with ‘Dreamlover.’ It was the last of eight weeks that song would spend atop the chart.
Right behind it was a song that would ascend to #1 the following week and spend five weeks there: Meat Loaf’s ‘I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That).’ This was Meat Loaf’s first-ever #1 hit, and his last. He died last year at age 74.
This song was the lead single from Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell, a sequel to the 1977 hit album Bat Out of Hell. Both albums were written by Jim Steinman, whom I mentioned a few weeks ago in a post on Air Supply’s ‘Making Love Out of Nothing At All.’
The album version of ‘I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)’ (included below) ran a full 12 minutes. That was trimmed to 7:48 for the Michael Bay-directed video, and to 5:13 for radio. If you want the full Meat Loaf rock opera experience, you gotta go with the longest cut.
The song’s extended coda features a call-and-answer with British singer Lorraine Crosby. Crosby’s vocals were recorded as a guide track but later used in the finished song. She received no credit and no royalties for her contribution.
And I would do anything for love
I’d run right into hell and back
I would do anything for love
I’ll never lie to you and that’s a fact
But I’ll never forget the way you feel right now
Oh no, no way
And 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
[Verse 1]
And some days it don’t come easy
And some days it don’t come hard
Some days it don’t come at all
And these are the days that never end
And some nights you’re breathing fire
And some nights you’re carved in ice
Some nights you’re like nothing I’ve ever
Seen before, or will again
[Pre-Chorus]
And maybe I’m crazy
Oh, it’s crazy and it’s true
I know you can save me
No one else can save me now but you
As long as the planets are turning
As long as the stars are burning
As long as your dreams are coming true
You better believe it
[Chorus]
That I would do anything for love
And I’ll be there till the final act
And I would do anything for love
And I’ll take the vow and seal a pact
But I’ll never forgive myself if we don’t go all the way
Tonight
And I would do anything for love
Oh, I would do anything for love
Oh, I would do anything for love
But I won’t do that
No, I won’t do that
[Post-Chorus]
I would do anything for love
Anything you’ve been dreaming of
But I just won’t do that
I would do anything for love
Anything you’ve been dreaming of
But I just won’t do that
I would do anything for love
Anything you’ve been dreaming of
But I just won’t do that
[Verse 2]
And some days I pray for silence
And some days I pray for soul
Some days I just pray to the God
Of Sex and Drums and Rock ‘N’ Roll
And some nights I lose the feeling
And some nights I lose control
Some nights I just lose it all
When I watch you dance and the thunder rolls
[Pre-Chorus]
And maybe I’m lonely
That’s all I’m qualified to be
There’s just one and only
One and only promise I can keep
As long as the wheels are turning
As long as the fires are burning
As long as your prayers are coming true
You better believe it
[Chorus]
That I would do anything for love
And you know it’s true and that’s a fact
I would do anything for love
And there’ll never be no turning back
But I’ll never do it better than I do it with you
So long, so long
And 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, no, no, I won’t do that
[Post-Chorus]
I would do anything for love
Anything you’ve been dreaming of
But I just won’t do that
I would do anything for love
Anything you’ve been dreaming of
But I just won’t do that
I would do anything for love
Anything you’ve been dreaming of
But I just won’t do that
I would do anything for love
Anything you’ve been dreaming of
But I just won’t do that
I would do anything for love
Anything you’ve been dreaming of
But I just won’t do that
I would do anything for love
Anything you’ve been dreaming of
But I just won’t do that
I would do anything for love
Anything you’ve been dreaming of
But I just won’t do
[Chorus]
But I’ll never stop dreaming of you every night of my life
No way
And I would do anything for love
Oh, I would do anything for love
Oh, I would do anything for love
But I won’t do that
No, I won’t do that
[Lorraine Crosby & Meat Loaf]
Will you raise me up?
Will you help me down?
Will you help get me right out of this Godforsaken town?
Will you make it all a little less cold?
I can do that
Oh, I can do that
Will you hold me sacred
Will you hold me tight
Will you colorize my life
I’m so sick of black and white
Can you make it all a little less old?
I can do that
Oh no now, I can do that
Will you make me some magic with your own two hands?
Can you build an emerald city with these grains of sand?
Can you give me something I can take home?
Now, I can do that
Ooh now, 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?
Now, I can do that
Oh now, I can do that
After a while you’ll forget everything
As a brief interlude and a midsummer night’s fling
Then you’ll see that it’s time to move on
I won’t do that
I won’t do that
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
I won’t do that
No, I won’t do that
[Outro]
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
Meet Me In Montauk 
My first exposure to Meatloaf came as I assume it did with many others of my generation, which was from watching the video of “Paradise by the Dashboard Lights” that ran before midnight showings of Rocky Horror Picture Show. That song had a similar call and response to this one, and it would have been cool if the same singer, Ellen Foley, had been used again.
I’ve never heard the call and response of today’s song until now, but I’m glad I did as it finally answers the question as to what the “that” is that Meatloaf won’t do.
I had no idea that Meat Loaf had such a powerful voice until I watched news coverage after his death. I was so impressed and still am especially with this song.