Paradise by the Dashboard Light
| "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Side-A label of U.S. 7-inch vinyl single | ||||
| Single by Meat Loaf and Ellen Foley | ||||
| from the album Bat Out of Hell | ||||
| B-side | "Bat Overture" | |||
| Released |
| |||
| Recorded | 1976 | |||
| Studio | Bearsville (Woodstock, New York) | |||
| Genre | Rockabilly, hard rock, glam rock | |||
| Length | 8:28 (album version) 5:32 (single edit) | |||
| Label | Epic | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Jim Steinman | |||
| Producer(s) | Todd Rundgren | |||
| Meat Loaf and Ellen Foley singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Paradise by the Dashboard Light" is a song written by Jim Steinman. It was released in 1977 on the album Bat Out of Hell, with vocals by the American musician Meat Loaf alongside Ellen Foley. An uncommonly long song for a single, it has become a staple of classic rock radio.[2][3] Brotherhood of Man also recorded the song under the title "Let Me Sleep on It".[4]
Background
"Paradise by the Dashboard Light" was one of seven songs developed for Bat Out of Hell, with the first three songs having originated from Steinman's Peter Pan-based rock musical, Neverland.[5][6][7] Steinman, Meat Loaf, and Ellen Foley (who had been cast as Wendy in Neverland) had all worked together on the National Lampoon Road Tour,[8] where the singers had a history of performing over-the-top musical comedy sketches together.[9]
After numerous failed attempts by Steinman and Meat Loaf to secure record label support for the album, Mark "Moogy" Klingman brought the project to the attention of Utopia bandmate Todd Rundgren for potential production work. Rundgren, under the impression that the album had the support of RCA subsidiary Utopia Records, agreed to produce at Bearsville Studios near Woodstock, New York, where he was working as an engineer and producer. But Rundgren discovered that the Utopia Records deal did not exist, and was essentially paying for the album's production himself. Rundgren offered Albert Grossman, founder of Bearsville Studios and the Bearsville Records label, the right of first refusal.[10]
Both Steinman and Rundgren were influenced by Phil Spector and his "Wall of Sound",[10] and Rundgren crafted arrangements translated from Steinman's vision of what the song should be. Jim Steinman had stated that he wanted to write "the ultimate car/sex song in which everything goes horribly wrong in the end."
Composition
The song is divided into three parts:
- Part I. Paradise
The song opens with a male and female character reminiscing about days as a young high school couple on a date. They are parking by a lake and having fun, experiencing "paradise by the dashboard light", until the young male character insists they're "gonna go all the way tonight" (the audio track suddenly cuts out, quickly pans through the left and right channels once before slowly returning to both channels).
- Baseball broadcast
The male character's advances are mirrored by New York Yankees announcer Phil Rizzuto broadcasting a portion of a baseball game that serves as a metaphor for the male character's attempts to achieve his goal, accompanied by funk instrumentation and back-and-forth dialog between the male and female characters occurring in the left and right channels.
Just as the male character is about to score (via the suicide squeeze), the female character interjects, telling him to "Stop right there!" She refuses to go any further unless the male character first promises to love her forever and marry her. Reluctant to make such a long-term commitment, the male character repeatedly asks her to consent and promises to give his answer in the morning. The female character remains steadfast, and the male character finally offers his promise: "I started swearing to my God and on my mother's grave/That I would love you to the end of time".
- Part III. Praying for the End of Time
Back in the present, the male character can no longer stand the woman's presence. Remaining true to the vow he made on that night in the past, he is now "praying for the end of time" to relieve him from his obligation. The song gradually fades out, juxtaposing his gloomy "it was long ago, it was far away, it was so much better than it is today!" in the left channel with her nostalgic "it never felt so good, it never felt so right, we were glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife" in the right channel.
In early live performances of the song, this part (and thus the conclusion of the song itself) was followed by a spoken-word epilogue by Meat Loaf and Karla DeVito, where they, still in character as the two protagonists, argued about what to keep after the couple's divorce (having been presumably married for a number of years). The argument was cut short by DeVito shouting "...And I'll keep the baby!", which left Meat Loaf's character speechless as he apparently ignored the existence of a baby; immediately after, he ended the argument by screaming incoherently at her.[11] The exchange was repeated with different female vocalists, in different versions and with different endings, in most of Meat Loaf's subsequent live tours and remains in the set to the present day, when it is still occasionally performed by Meat Loaf and his current featured vocalist Patti Russo.
Production
After 10 days of rehearsals, the song was recorded in at Bearsville Studios, with Meat Loaf and Ellen Foley providing vocals, producer Todd Rundgren playing guitar, Rundgren's Utopia bandmates Kasim Sulton on bass and Roger Powell on synthesizer, and Roy Bittan and Max Weinberg of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band on piano and drums, respectively.
The baseball play-by-play section, written specifically for New York Yankees announcer Phil Rizzuto using phrases he would actually say while announcing, was recorded by Rizzuto with Steinman and Rundgren at The Hit Factory in New York in 1976.[12] Rizzuto publicly maintained he was unaware that his contribution would be equated with sex in the finished song. However, Meat Loaf asserts that Rizzuto was fully aware of the context of what he was recording, and feigned ignorance only to stifle criticism.[13] An edited version of the baseball broadcast was spliced into the Boston radio version of the song, where the baseball call was re-recorded by Red Sox broadcasters.
Meat Loaf felt that that Rundgren's initial mix of "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" rendered the song unsuitable for inclusion on the album. After several attempts by several people, John Jansen mixed the version of "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" included on the album.
Distribution and release
Upon hearing the finished album, Albert Grossman at Bearsville Records turned it down, but E Street band member Steven Van Zandt contacted Steve Popovich, who accepted Bat Out Of Hell for his own Epic Records subsidiary, Cleveland International Records.[14]
"Paradise by the Dashboard Light" was the third single released from Bat Out of Hell, 10 months after the album's release, following "You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth" and "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad". In October 1978, after the success of "Paradise by the Dashboard Light," "You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth" was re-released with "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" as the B-side, with this release peaking at No. 39 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[15]
Length
Even though the version of "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" released as a single was shortened from the 8:28 album version to 7:55, it is one of the longest songs to be released uncut on one side of a 7-inch 45 rpm record. The only difference between the version on the album and the full version released as a single is that the single version fades out almost immediately after the final line is sung. In some countries, a shorter 5:32 edit was released. The largest change is the complete removal of the "baseball play-by-play" section.[16]
According to Meat Loaf on VH1 Storytellers, the original length of the track was to be 27 minutes.[citation needed]
Music video
Meat Loaf convinced the label to give him $30,000 to produce films of live-on-soundstage performances of three of the songs from Bat Out of Hell, including "Paradise by the Dashboard Light". Ellen Foley, who sang on the album, declined to be on the Bat Out Of Hell tour, and Karla DeVito assumed live performance responsibilities, so the music video was created by syncing the video of DeVito's performance to the audio of Foley's vocals.[17] 35mm prints of these films were distributed to movie theaters holding midnight screenings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, as a short subject to play before the feature (in which Meat Loaf appeared).[18] Very few of these prints are still extant and/or in playable condition.
The Old Grey Whistle Test broadcast the Bat Out of Hell promotional film, and audience response was such that they showed the film again the following week. Meat Loaf was invited to perform live on the show with the Neverland Express, and he and Karla DeVito's February, 1978 performance of "Paradise By the Dashboard Light" would become one of the show's benchmark performances.[19]
The video became a staple on MTV in the network's early years. Rundgren speculated in a 2017 Billboard interview that the length of the song's video (the longest music video available at the time) made it ideal for VJs to play when they needed extra time between songs.[20]
In the original video as released to television and in 35mm prints, the male/female "Hot Summer Night" prologue from "You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth" was spoken live by Jim Steinman and Karla DeVito before the song performance. On the Hits Out of Hell music video compilation, the prologue was removed and spliced in front of the video for "You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth", ostensibly to properly replicate the album Bat Out of Hell, and the video for "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" goes right into the performance.
Reception
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (August 2017) |
The single had modest success in the United States, peaking at number 39 on the Billboard Hot 100 on September 22, 1978.[21] In the Netherlands, the single became Meat Loaf's biggest all-time hit, reaching number one at the end of 1978, going on to be a hit there again in 1988. In Belgium, the single stalled at number 2 where it stayed for 5 weeks,[22] being blocked from the Number 1 position the whole time by the Village People's "Y.M.C.A.". In various Dutch all-time charts, such as the Radio 2 Top 2000 or Radio Veronica's All Time Top 1000, the song consistently charts inside the top 30. In the United Kingdom the song did not chart at all, but is well known and is a classic rock staple.
Personnel
- Meat Loaf - male lead vocals, backing vocals (as Marvin Lee)
- Ellen Foley - female lead vocals, backing vocals
- Todd Rundgren - guitar, backing vocals
- Kasim Sulton - bass guitar
- Roy Bittan - piano, keyboards
- Jim Steinman - keyboards, "lascivious effects"
- Roger Powell - synthesizer
- Edgar Winter - saxophone
- Max Weinberg - drums
- Phil Rizzuto - baseball play-by-play
- Rory Dodd - additional backing vocals
Chart performance
| Chart (1977–78) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canada RPM Top Singles[23] | 11 |
| Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 39 |
| U.S. Cashbox Top 100 | 37 |
| Belgium (Ultratop) | 2 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[24] | Platinum | 70,000‡ |
| Canada (Music Canada)[25] | Platinum | 80,000‡ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[26] | Silver | 200,000‡ |
| United States (RIAA)[27] | Platinum | 1,000,000‡ |
|
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
Legacy
Two tracks on Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell, Meat Loaf's second installment of what would eventually be a 3-album Bat Out of Hell trilogy, contain lyrics that reference "Paradise by the Dashboard Light". "Objects in the Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer Than They Are" quotes "It was long ago and it was far away" and the next track on the album, Steinman's monologue "Wasted Youth", begins with the same "I remember every little thing as if it happened only yesterday" opening line from "Paradise by the Dashboard Light".[28]
Steinman included "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" in Act One of his 2017 rock musical Bat Out of Hell: The Musical. The song is performed by the characters Falco and Sloane.
In popular culture
In April 2008, AT&T featured Meat Loaf and Tiffany in a parody of "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" for their GoPhone national commercial campaign, releasing the commercial in both an extended music video version and a short commercial edit.[29]
In 2009, Rob Evan and Patti Russo performed the song in The Rock Tenor.
The song was released as a playable DLC track for the rhythm game Rock Band 3 in 2011.
A cappella group The Dartmouth Aires sang the song in the 2011 season finale of the American television competition The Sing-Off and won second place.[30]
On glee's season 3 finale episode, "Nationals", Cory Monteith and Lea Michele performed the song as characters Finn Hudson and Rachel Berry. This episode was first broadcast on May 15, 2012.[31][32]
In 2015, Tom Cruise performed a lip sync battle of the song on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.[33]
Live performance recordings of the song have been included on several Meat Loaf albums, including Live at Wembley (1987), Live Around the World (1996), and Bat Out of Hell: Live with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (2004)
The song has been included on compilations, including Frosh 3 (2000) and Now That's What I Call Classic Rock Hits (2012).
References
- ^ "Meat Loaf singles".
- ^ Rolling Stone - Meat Loaf Biography
- ^ New York Times
- ^ Let Me Sleep on It—Original..
- ^ "Neverland". jimsteinman.com. Archived from the original on August 15, 2007. Retrieved August 22, 2007.
- ^ "The Power Of Rock 'n Roll". Gallery magazine. May 1978. Archived from the original on November 3, 2006. Retrieved November 17, 2006.
- ^ Hotten, Jon. "Bat Out Of Hell – The Story Behind The Album". Classic Rock. Archived from the original on August 16, 2007. Retrieved August 15, 2007.
- ^ "Ellen Foley – Bio". ellenfoley.com. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
- ^ "Terminally Teenage". jimsteinman.com. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
- ^ a b Loaf, Meat; David Dalton (2000). To Hell and Back: An Autobiography. London: Virgin Publishing. pp. 118–9. ISBN 0-7535-0443-X.
- ^ The full argument is featured in the 2009 Eagle Vision Meat Loaf: Bat Out of Hell - The Original Tour DVD release of a 1978 concert in Offenbach am Main, Germany.
- ^ The Historian (April 5, 2009), Jim Steinman talks about Phil Rizzuto, retrieved April 7, 2018
- ^ Pearlman, Jeff (August 29, 2007). "Phil and Meat Loaf will always have "Paradise"". ESPN. Retrieved August 28, 2009.
- ^ Hotten, Jon. "Bat Out Of Hell – The Story Behind The Album (page 3)". Classic Rock. Archived from the original on August 16, 2007. Retrieved August 15, 2007.
- ^ Petkovik, John. "'Bat Out of Hell' hits the stage: An album born in Cleveland is now a musical". cleveland.com. Advance Local Media LLC. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
- ^ "Meat Loaf – Paradise by the Dashboard Light". discogs.com. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
- ^ "Karla DeVito's biography". Karl Devito. Retrieved September 24, 2006.
- ^ Tannenbaum, Rob; Marks, Craig (2012). I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution. New York, USA: Penguin Group. p. 8. ISBN 978-0-525-95230-5.
- ^ "Marking His First Solo Tour, Meat Loaf's Illustrious 'Bat Out Of Hell' Tour Kicked Off 41 Years Ago Today". iloveclassicrock.com. ILoveClassicRock.com. Retrieved October 18, 2021.
- ^ Stiernberg, Bonnie. "Todd Rundgren Talks Spoofing Bruce Springsteen and Seeing Meat Loaf Propose With a Salmon While Producing 'Bat Out of Hell'". billboard.com. Billboard. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
- ^ "Meat Loaf: Paradise By The Dashboard Light". Billboard.com. Billboard. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
- ^ "Meat Loaf - Paradise by the Dashboard Light". Ultratop.be.
- ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. October 14, 1978. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
- ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2017 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved October 13, 2021.
- ^ "Canadian single certifications – Meat Loaf – Paradise by the Dashboard Light". Music Canada. Retrieved September 19, 2019.
- ^ "British single certifications – Meat Loaf – Paradise by the Dashboard Light". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved November 30, 2018. Select singles in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Type Paradise by the Dashboard Light in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
- ^ "American single certifications – Meat Loaf – Paradise by the Dashboard Light". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved September 19, 2019.
- ^ "BBC Rock Hour Special: Jim Steinman; Transcription of BBC Radio Broadcast, 1981". Retrieved August 28, 2007.
- ^ Stosuy, Brandon. "Meat Loaf And Tiffany Duet (For An Uncomfortably Long Time) For AT&T's GoPhone". stereogum. Stereogum Media. Retrieved October 18, 2021.
- ^ Routhier, Ray (November 29, 2011). "Portland singer's group misses winning 'Sing-Off' by one beat". pressherald.com. Portland Press Herald. Retrieved October 18, 2021.
- ^ Futterman, Erica (May 16, 2012). "'Glee' Recap: What a Feeling". rollingstone.com. Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 18, 2021.
- ^ Ausiello, Michael (April 26, 2012). "Exclusive: Glee Goes Gaga at Nationals, Rachel Channels Celine Dion". TVLine. Archived from the original on April 29, 2012. Retrieved April 26, 2012.
- ^ Driscoll, Molly (July 28, 2015). "Tom Cruise on 'Tonight Show': How the lip-sync battle segment got so big". csmonitor.com. The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved October 18, 2021.
Further reading
- James F. Harris (1993). Philosophy at 33 1/3 Rpm: Themes of Classic Rock Music. Open Court Publishing. pp. 116–118. ISBN 0-8126-9241-1.
