Interpretations

[RichieBoy]

Not sure if this post should be in Tyre Tracks but anyway...

All ML songs have a story behind them, some people interpretate them differently, for example White Of High said that For Crying Out Loud could be either God or a Girl??

Now we can all think what we want and it may be that all interpretations are correct and sure if we find a meaning which is special to us we will keep it, but is there anywhere where we can find out what ML's (and Jim's) actually mean??

Rich

[Rob The Badger]

I think the only way to get the true meaning is to ask Jim. . .

[badger]

Yeah I guess the 'real' meaning can only come from the writer's.

By the way, as far as I know For Crying Out Loud is supposed to be about a girl who had died, which makes you listen to it in a slightly different way.

[cerysmeatloaf]

yeah but dont you think the stories are very good i think it was bat 2 video that one of the directers said meatloaf like to make little mini movies

[Rob The Badger]

Of course the best way to draw the emotion out of a song is when you relate. Very few songs bring tears to the eyes, even when the meaning is obviously so heartfelt, but when you relate, songs like Meat Loaf's "Heaven Can Wait" and The Smiths' "I Know It's Over" bring a flood of the ~~~~~~s.

[RichieBoy]

I know what you mean by Meat making the songs into his own mini movie, but that's the point I'm trying to make --
is there anywhere or way that we can find out what Meat or Jim have based the songs on??

For example we know that Bad Attitude is obviously about a rebelious adolescent, For Crying Out Loud is about a girl dying, Heaven Can Wait is about a person not wanting to pass on, I'm Gonna Love Her For Both of Us is about a man wanting to take someone elses girl etc etc.

But what about such songs like, Don't Leave Your Mark On Me, Amnesty is Granted (those are a couple I'm not sure about) can we find out what the 'official' stories are that were thought up by Meat or Jim???

Rich

[CarylB]

On balance I think I prefer to do what Meat says he hopes for .. ie that we see our own stories while he sings .. even he sees his stories differently at different times doesn't he? .. for eg many say he has described FCOL as being sung to or over a dead woman .. but he described it differently when I saw him sing it live .. and he says he sees BOOH differently each time which is why he never tires of singing it .. for me that licence to see my own story is what makes his singing so very special

[Bart]

if you want to know the themes of all the songs from jim and meat you have to go to Jim Steinmans site where are lots, really lots of written interviews and stuff like that.
And try to get the book from Sandy Robertson about Meat and Jim, the phenomenology of excess.

These guys are better than shakespearre...

[Shadows On The Wall]

All the osngs have a story, but to truely understand the meaning we shouldnt look to close, you need a holistic approach