Bat Out of Hellis a love story.
“She said I was the one person he needed more than anyone else in his life.
I don’t want to die, but I may die this year because of Jim.
Jim Steinman and Meat Loaf in the 1970s.Michael Putland/Getty Images
I’m always with him and he’s right here with me now.
I’ve always been with Jim and Jim has always been with me.
We belonged heart and soul to each other.
Meat Loaf performing, circa 1977.Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Bat Out of Hellepitomized and solidified that chemistry.
Steinman was that musical theater nerd.
“He responded to the kind of music I was writing.
‘Bat Out of Hell’ songwriter Jim Steinman.Terry Lott/Sony Music Archive via Getty Images
He got it immediately…
I started thinking, ‘I’ll write for this guy.'”
It was an ideal marriage of performer and material.
“Every Jim Steinman song is alive,” Meat Loaf told England’sLancashire Telegraphin 2016.
“It’s not just pen on a piece of paper.
Accordingly, Steinman’s songs can’t just be sung; they have to beperformed.
“Meat’s like a Method actor as a singer,” Steinman explained inaClassic AlbumsdocumentaryaboutBat.
“He can’t just sing a song.
And he wouldn’t be able to shake it off too easily afterward, either.”
That level of performative excess matched the excess of Steinman’s compositions and elevated it, too.
“Of course it’s bombastic,” Steinmanonce told an interviewerof his work.
“I take that as a compliment.
“No ordinary rock singer could make that combination work.
And no songs suited the singer like Steinman’s.
“We were never apart even though we were apart.
We never lost each other,” Meat Loaf toldRolling Stonelast year.
“I never sued Jim.
Jim never sued me.
Our managers sued each other.
But my heart never sued Jim.
And I know Jim’s heart never sued me.”
He added, “Since I met Jim, he has been the centerpiece to my life.
And I was always the centerpiece of his.”
Only together could Meat Loaf and Steinman truly glow, like the metal on the edge of a knife.
