“Paradise by the Dashboard Light” is a song written by Jim Steinman. It was first released in 1977 on the album Bat Out of Hell, with vocals by the American musician Meat Loaf alongside Ellen Foley. The song is most notable for its unique structure and length, and has become a staple of classic rock radio.
First of all, I want to introduce the background and recording of this song. From official information I have searched on website, it says that “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” is one of the longest songs to be released uncut on one side of a 45 RPM record. The only difference is the song 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. According to Meat Loaf on VH1 Storytellers, the original length of the track was to be 27 minutes.
After I introduced the background, I also want to discuss about its strong structure. There are there parts of this song, let me talk about it by each part:
Part I Paradise: The song opens with the characters 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”, and the boy insists they’re “gonna go all the way tonight.”
Part 2 Let Me Sleep On It: Just as the boy is about to “steal home base”, the girl bursts out, telling him to “Stop right there!” She refuses to go any further unless the boy first promises to love her forever and marry her. Reluctant to make such a long-term commitment, the boy repeatedly asks her to continue on for the time being and promises to give his answer in the morning. However, as she is not giving in that easily, so that he finally cracks and gives 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 3 Praying for the End of Time: Back in the present, the characters can no longer stand each other’s presence. However, the male character cannot possibly break his vow and hence is now praying for the end of time to relieve him from his obligation. The song fades out on the situation, juxtaposing his gloomy “It was long ago, it was far away, it was so much better than it is today!” with her joyous “It never felt so good, it never felt so right, we’re glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife.”
Furthermore, I want to add some my personal understanding and feeling into this reflection. The song outlines the sad and disgustingly true nature of the desperate hookup, stripping sex of all the glamor and possibility that makes physical intimacy feel like a good idea; instead it’s sex as an act of desperate, ill-fated connectionIt’s just a stylized version of a live performance. Meat Loaf passionately makes love to the microphone, wearing a white blouse open at the collar, his long hair sweaty and stringy. He is wearing suspenders. He is singing about having sex at 17, and it is hard to look at him—older now, flabbier and wrinklier, throwing himself into the song with wild facial expressions and formless near-dancing.
In conclusion, this is my first time to write a reflection about rock music and I feel it is so good for me to try on it. I always pay much attention on classical and slow music because I think sad melody can make listeners relaxed and comfortable. Now I have total new understanding of rock music and I think it is very exciting. During the writing, I go to the youtube to watch the video and I am totally attracted by the hot atmosphere and that was amazing. I searched for many information of the song on the website because I am not familiar with rock music at all before, but now I think I have already laid a foundation for learning rock music in the future.
work cited
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise_by_the_Dashboard_Light
http://www.avclub.com/article/paradise-dashboard-light-intentionally-unsexy-207098
http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1711