The 10 Best Meatloaf Songs of All-Time
Despite persistent health issues that have plagued Marvin Lee Aday in recent years, the infamous Meatloaf’s music is still as strong as ever. In 2018 he told Rolling Stone that singing takes everything you’ve got, and he simply cannot perform like that anymore, which is understandable for a man in his seventies. Although it clearly upsets the iconic rock star, his music is as epic as ever, and that will never change. Here are the top ten best Meatloaf songs of all time.
10. Hot Patootie
You don’t have to be a fan of the Rocky Horror Picture Show to appreciate the classic nature of this well-loved song, but it helps. The cult classic featured Meatloaf as “Eddie,” the motorcycle riding boyfriend of “Columbia,” played by Little Nell. While the rocker baddie archetype was hardly a stretch for real-life rock legend Meatloaf, it’s still a riotous good time as he rides a motorcycle through a mansion and sings about sex, drugs, and rock and roll.
9. Bat Out of Hell
There’s a whole genre of rock and roll dedicated to the idea that a bad event or a bad man can be somewhat redeemed by pure love from a good woman. It’s a good story that’s been told many times. Bat out of Hell is easily one of the best versions of that tale. He sings about running back to the one thing that matters in his life before his damnation catches up with him.
8. You Took The Words Right Out of My Mouth
Before there was ‘goth rock,’ Meatloaf was singing You Took The Words Right Out of My Mouth. Though the lyrics of this song are far from his most complex, the storytelling is fantastic. Nay werewolf movie that doesn’t include this song somewhere in the background missed an amazing opportunity. This summer-night love story is equally suited to a night on the beach and a remixed or sampled dance song at my gothic nightclub on earth.
7. Total Eclipse of the Heart (Bonnie Tyler)
Total Eclipse of the Heart is a Bonnie Tyler song, but as the second voice on this billboard topper from 1983, we include it on the top ten best Meatloaf songs of all-time list for several reasons. Notably, Jim Steinman actually wrote the song for Meatloaf originally. Steinman, who wrote Bat Out of Hell and many other outstanding songs for artists like Celine Dion, sadly passed away last month. In another interview with Rolling Stone recently, the singer burst into tears as he reminisced about his longtime friend and songwriter. Meatloaf songs will always be remembered for the man who voiced them, but singers like Meatloaf and Bonnie Tyler know them as Jim Steinman’s ingenious work.
6. Bad Attitude
Bad Attitude is a song for every bad boy rocker who ever lived and every boy who dreams of that life. He sings about how heroes (or more likely anti-hero types) and villains were all once just boys with bad attitudes. This is a rebellious song about sticking to your guns and being yourself even when other people don’t understand you and disagree with your take on life.
5. Everything Louder Than Everything Else
Becoming a musician, especially a rocker, is the sort of profession that parents and even peers often refuse to accept. Society has a certain established expectation for how you should mature. What you wear, how you think and talk, and everything else that is expected runs counter to the hard-rocking party lifestyle Meatloaf cultivated for himself. Everything Louder Than Everything Else could be the name of Aday’s autobiography, though he chose to call it To Hell and Back, which also suits him extremely well. Nevertheless, this song embodies the attitude, and lifestyle Meatloaf is so well known for.
4. I’d Lie For You (And That’s The Truth)
If you haven’t read Meatloaf’s autobiography or seen the film, you should take the time to appreciate it as a music lover. The struggles he has been through make every word he ever sang more relatable and personal. I’d Lie For You is the lyrical expression of how he felt about love. Like his performances, Aday has given everything for love, more than once, in fact.
3. Life Is A Lemon (And I Want My Money Back)
If this list were called Angry Youth Top Ten, this would still be in the top three. We all get angry at life sometimes. It’s frustrating, and it can seem like nothing is ever going to work out the way it should. When you’re on a losing streak or just mad at the whole world, this is your go-to song.
2. Paradise By The Dashboard Light
This song is probably about exactly what you think. If you have even the smallest sliver of a dirty mind, then it’s pretty obvious that this is all about having sex in a car. Teenagers getting hot and heavy might not be what you expected for the number two spot on our list. Nevertheless, this song is incredibly relatable, and it slaps. Since it was released in 1977, this song is forty-four years old, yet it’s as relevant today as the first time he ever played it. That’s the sort of lasting impact a top ten song needs to stand the test of time.
1. I Would Do Anything For Love
If you’ve heard any Meatloaf song before, this is the one. Likewise, if you know his music, it should come as no surprise that this is number one with a bullet. I Would Do Anything For Love is the Meatloaf power ballad above and beyond anything else he ever sang. About the only thing he wouldn’t do for love is treat it wrong.
Final Thoughts
Despite being not included and passed over by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, this infamous rock icon is an institution unto himself. If there is a standard image for what makes a bad boy rocker, with loud songs, long hair, a leather jacket, and a motorcycle, it is Meatloaf. There have been others, but none with quite the same genuine heart of gold. These days he lives a modest life taking care of his health mostly out of the spotlight, but Marvin Lee Aday certainly took the long and raucous road to get there.