By John Fraim

(Author of Spirit Catcher, The Art & Life of John Coltrane)

Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday, better known as Meat Loaf) was an American singer and actor. He was noted for his powerful, wide-ranging voice and theatrical live shows. His Bat Out of Hell trilogy has sold more than 65 million albums worldwide. The first album stayed on the charts for over nine years and more than four decades after its release still sells an estimated 200,000 copies annually, making it one of the best selling albums in history.

Aday was born in Dallas, Texas on September 27, 1947, the only child of Wilma Artie (née Hukel), a school teacher and member of a girl’s gospel quartet. His father was Orvis Wesley Aday, a former police officer who went into business selling a homemade cough remedy with his wife and a friend under the name of the Griffin Grocery Company. Regarding his birth, Meat Loaf stated in an interview that he was “bright red and stayed that way for days,” that his father said he looked like “nine pounds of ground chuck,” and that he convinced hospital staff to put the name “Meat” on his crib. His father was an alcoholic who would go on drinking binges for days at a time, which started when he was medically discharged from the U.S. Army during WWII  after being wounded by fragments from a mortar shell. Aday accompanied his mother in driving around all the bars in Dallas to look for his father, and often stayed with his grandmother.

In 1965, Aday graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School having appeared in school stage productions such as Where’ Charley? and The Music Man. Aday played football at the position of defensive tackle as a member of the Rebels in college and earned the nickname of “M.L.” When his weight increased, this was changed to “Meatloaf.” After attending college at Lubbock Christian College, he transferred to North Texas State University. After he received a small inheritance from his mother’s death, he rented an apartment in Dallas and isolated himself for three and a half months until a friend found him. A short time later, he went to the airport and caught the next flight to Los Angeles.

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In Los Angeles, Aday formed his first band, Meat Loaf Soul, after a nickname coined by his football coach because of his weight. He was immediately offered three recording contracts, all of which he turned down. Meat Loaf Soul’s first gig was in Huntington Beach in 1968 at the Cave, opening for Van Morrison’s band, Them and Question Mark and the Mysterians. Later, the band was the opening act for acts like Taj Mahal and Janis Joplin. The band then underwent several changes of lead guitarists, changing the name of the band each time. The new names included Popcorn Blizzard and Floating Circus. As Floating Circus, they opened for bands like The Who, The Fugs, MC5 and the Grateful Dead. Their regional success led them to release a single, “Once Upon a Time,” backed with “Hello.” Then Meat Loaf joined the Los Angeles production of the musical Hair. Meat Loaf later stated that the biggest life struggle he had to overcome was not being taken seriously in the music industry. He compared his treatment to that of a “circus clown.”

During his life, Aday appeared in over 50 films and television shows, sometimes as himself or as characters resembling his stage persona. A few of his better-known film roles include Eddie in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) and Bob Paulson in Fight Club (1999). His early stage work included dual roles in the original Broadway cast of The Rocky Horror Show. Besides appearing in the LA production of Hair, he also appeared in the on and off Broadway production of Hair. Meat Loaf died on the evening of January 20, 2022, at the age of 74. (Yesterday as I write this tonight) No official cause of death has yet been released, but many news outlets reported that he had been seriously ill. He died in the presence of his wife, Deborah, daughters Pearl and Amanda. As well as close friends.

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The powerful voice and persona of Meat Loaf is heard on the above video. His was one of the most powerful and almost operatic voices rock music has ever produced. The YouTube video (above) has accumulated over 60 million views. There are all of these fans out there today of his powerful voice and eccentric life and commitment to his art. The song “Paradise by the Dashboard Lights” is probably one of Meat Loaf’s best known and most famous. Appearing on his breakout album Bat Out of Hell (one of the best selling rock albums of all time), Meat Loaf was at one of his creative peaks in life in the above video. And, there were a umber of these creative peaks in his incredible life.

His performance of this song, done with wild passion, is apparent in the above performance, captured on video. One of the greatest live rock performances ever captured on video, in my opinion. The song is really about making out with a girl in a car. Most likely, an experience that mainly Baby Boomers know about with, it meaning hardly anything to today’s millennial generation. Indeed, the words “paradise by dashboard light” take on a particular image of memory for many members of the Baby Boom generation out threre.

The lyrics to the song are reproduced below. Never have they been so passionately delivered than by Mr. Michael Lee Aday or Meat Loaf. There was that biggest life struggle – he once stated – that the biggest life struggle he had to overcome was not being taken seriously in the music industry. He compared his treatment to that of a “circus clown.” It was the type of treatment where he could never excape from the nick name Meat Loaf. The name first suggested by his alcoholic father. The name echoed during his college years. The name he reinforced in Los Angeles.

Yet, there was so much power and passion in his voice. So rare in the music of our time. Whatever it has become. For me, stranger than an invasion by aliens. Whose world is this anyway? Its the world of the generation in control of the media and technology today. The millennial generation of course.

But the above performace and the below lyrics need to simply be inhaled so that one might experience the power of the late 70s in rock and roll music. It is a song about the memory of many Baby Boomers who were boys in the 60s who took girls our on dates in their cars and made out to the dashboard lights of a car. It truly was paradise for many in this generation. The greatest “paradise” of the times for many teenage boys of the 1960s. Perhaps for teenage girls of the 1960s also. A car with a girl, parked somewhere private, late at night, and the only lights are from the dim firefly lights from a 1960s car dashboard.

The dashboard lights. And, a particular type of “paradise” these lights might have symbolized to those with similar memories from this period of time. You either have them or you don’t have them and I have decided it makes little difference in life whether you set yourself in battle against those who don’t have similar memories as you. Another way of saying it might be as saying one who has a somewhat similar political ideology as I embrace. A product of my Baby Boom generation and seeing the world in a different manner and way from many of today. The perspective in the above video and performance by Meat Loaf from his top selling album of all time.

Such a different image of this “dashboard light” era for members of different generations it seems to me. The millennials probably knowing little of the experience of “dashboard lights” above and being out in a car with the member of the opposite sex. The ability to even have a car was such a means of freedom that could (for the first time really) take two people to a relatively private place, away from all the (hounding) others of culture. Anyway, I’ve downloaded a particular image of a dim dashboard of a car at night as the top photo of this blog. But this image is only meant to stir your memory of these dashboard lights in your own life, growing up as a kid in the past fifty years or half century. This is the group this song reaches out to. It is not the soft romanticism of Johnny Mathis and Bobby Vinton and the “slow dance” genre of 60’s records. The song “Paradise by Dashboard Light” nailed a specfic symbol of a generation of young people of the 60s it seems to me. Baby Boomers of the 60s.

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I loved the approach of Meat Loaf to romantic moments. It was through the power and passion of a piece like “Paradise by a Dashboard Light.” Brilliant lyrics combined with a brilliant, operatic performance by Meat Loaf in one of the worlds longest rock pieces. Perhaps a performance that garners millions of Baby Boomers as well as other generations, within the interested universe. And, what am I really thinking in all of this?

This piece sung by Meat Loaf transformed the song into something more than a song. Something close to a mini-rock opera.

Such a different approach to this “dashboard light” period of experience for a number of people today. And, such a different approach in suggesting the wild passion of an evening in a car in the 1960s with the only lights, dashboard lights.

I approach this special moment as a type of symbol for an old generation. Yet, a type of symbol for a new generation. I approached this romantic moment with power and straight ahead passion rather than the soft, fuzziness of the many songs of those times. It offered an interpretation, a type of symbol, for other Baby Boomers of the times. Like me. Who knows how many are out there today. Like me?

(This article is a rememberance to Meat Loaf who passed away yesterday. RIP Mr. Loaf. Here’s hoping there might be a resurgence in the spirit of your voice and music in our immediate future)

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Paradise by the Dashboard Lights / Written by Jim Steinman / Sung & Performed by Meat Loaf

Lyrics

I remember every little thing
As if it happened only yesterday
Parking by the lake
And there was not another car in sight
And I never had a girl
Looking any better than you did
And all the kids at school
They were wishing they were me that night
And now our bodies are oh so close and tight
It never felt so good, it never felt so right
And we’re glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife
Glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife
C’mon! Hold on tight!
C’mon! Hold on tight!Thought it’s cold and lonely in the deep dark night
I can see paradise by the dashboard lightAin’t no doubt about it
We were doubly blessed
‘Cause we were barely seventeen
And we were barely dressed
Ain’t no doubt about it
Baby got to go and shout it
Ain’t no doubt about it
We were doubly blessed
‘Cause we were barely seventeen
And we were barely dressedBaby doncha hear my heart
You got it drowning out the radio
I’ve been waiting so long
For you to come along and have some fun
And I gotta let you know
No you’re never gonna regret it
So open up your eyes I got a big surprise
It’ll feel all right
Well I wanna make your motor runAnd now our bodies are oh so close and tight
It never felt so good, it never felt so right
And we’re glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife
Glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife
C’mon! Hold on tight!
C’mon! Hold on tight!Though it’s cold and lonely in the deep dark night
I can see paradise by the dashboard light
Paradise by the dashboard light
You got to do what you can
And let Mother Nature do the rest
Ain’t no doubt about it
We were doubly blessed
‘Cause we were barely seventeen
And we were barelyWe’re gonna go all the way tonight
We’re gonna go all the way
And tonight’s the night…
We’re gonna go all the way tonight
We’re gonna go all the way
And tonight’s the night…OK, here we go, we got a real pressure cooker going here,
Two down, nobody on, no score, bottom of the ninth,
There’s the windup, and there it is, a line shot up the middle,
Look at him go. This boy can really fly! He’s rounding first and really
Turning it on now, he’s not letting up at all, he’s gonna try for
Second; the ball is bobbled out in center, and here comes the
Throw, and what a throw! He’s gonna slide in head first, here he
Comes, he’s out! No, wait, safe-safe at second base, this kid
Really makes things happen out there. Batter steps up to the
Plate, here’s the pitch-he’s going, and what a jump he’s got,
He’s trying for third, here’s the throw, it’s in the dirt-safe at
Third! Holy cow, stolen base! He’s taking a pretty big lead out
There, almost daring him to try and pick him off. The pitcher
Glances over, winds up, and it’s bunted, bunted down the third
Base line, the suicide squeeze is on! Here he comes, squeeze
Play, it’s gonna be close, holy cow, I think he’s gonna make it!Stop right there!
I gotta know right now!
Before we go any further!
Do you love me?
Will you love me forever?
Do you need me?
Will you never leave me?
Will you make me so happy for the rest of my life?
Will you take me away and will you make me your wife?
Do you love me!?
Will you love me forever!?
Do you need me!?
Will you never leave me!?
Will you make me happy for the rest of my life!?
Will you take me away and will you make me your wife!?
I gotta know right now
Before we go any further
Do you love me!?
Will you love me forever!?Let me sleep on it
Baby, baby let me sleep on it
Let me sleep on it
And I’ll give you an answer in the morning
Let me sleep on it
Baby, baby let me sleep on it
Let me sleep on it
And I’ll give you an answer in the morning
Let me sleep on it
Baby, baby let me sleep on it
Let me sleep on it
And I’ll give you an answer in the morningI gotta know right now
Do you love me?
Will you love me forever?
Do you need me?
Will you never leave me?
Will you make me so happy for the rest of my life?
Will you take me away and will you make me your wife?
I gotta know right now!
Before we go any further
Do you love me?
And will you love me forever?Let me sleep on it
Baby, baby let me sleep on it
Let me sleep on it
And I’ll give you an answer in the morning
Let me sleep on it

Will you love me forever? Let me sleep on itWill you love me forever!I couldn’t take it any longer
Lord I was crazed
And when the feeling came upon me
Like a tidal wave
I started swearing to my god and on my mother’s grave
That I would love you to the end of time
I swore that I would love you to the end of time!
So now I’m praying for the end of time
To hurry up and arrive
‘Cause if I gotta spend another minute with you
I don’t think that I can really survive
I’ll never break my promise or forget my vow
But God only knows what I can do right now
I’m praying for the end of time
It’s all that I can do
Praying for the end of time,
So I can end my time with you!It was long ago and it was far away
And it was so much better that it is todayIt never felt so good
It never felt so right
And we were glowing like
A metal on the edge of a knife