“Bat out of Hell” is the first song of Meat Loaf’s Bat out of Hell album trilogy. It was written by Jim Steinman, who had a love for “car crash songs”. He saw an operatic narrative within many of them, and decided to write one about a motorcycle instead.
In the 1999 documentary Classic Albums: Meat...
[Instrumental Intro 00:00-01:55]
[Verse 1]
The sirens are screaming and the fires are howling
Way down in the valley tonight
There's a man in the shadows with a gun in his eye
And a blade shining oh so bright
There's evil in the air and there's thunder in sky
And a killer's on the bloodshot streets
Oh, and down in the tunnel where the deadly are rising
Oh, I swear I saw a young boy down in the gutter
He was starting to foam in the heat
[Pre-Chorus]
Oh, baby you're the only thing in this whole world
That's pure and good and right
And wherever you are and wherever you go
There's always gonna be some light
But I gotta get out, I gotta break it out now
Before the final crack of dawn
So we gotta make the most of our one night together
When it's over, you know we'll both be so alone
[Chorus]
Like a bat out of hell
I'll be gone when the morning comes
Oh, when the night is over
Like a bat out of hell
I'll be gone gone gone
Like a bat out of hell
I'll be gone when the morning comes
But when the day is done and the sun goes down
And the moonlight's shining through
Then like a sinner before the gates of Heaven
I'll come crawling on back to you
[Verse 2]
I'm gonna hit the highway like a battering ram
On a silver black phantom bike
When the metal is hot and the engine is hungry
And we're all about to see the light
Nothing ever grows in this rotting old hole
Everything is stunted and lost
And nothing really rocks and nothing really rolls
And nothing's ever worth the cost
And I know that I'm damned if I never get out
And maybe I'm damned if I do
But with every other beat I've got left in my heart
You know I'd rather be damned with you
If I gotta be damned, you know I wanna be damned
Dancing through the night with you
Well If I gotta be damned you know I wanna be damned (gotta be damned you know I wanna be damned)
Gotta be damned you know I wanna be damned (gotta be damned you know I wanna be damned)
Gotta be damned you know I wanna be damned (gotta be damned you know I wanna be damned)
Dancing through the night (dancing through the night)
Dancing through the night (dancing through the night)
Dancing through the night with you (dancing through the night)
[Pre-Chorus]
Oh, baby you're the only thing in this whole world
That's pure and good and right
And wherever you are and wherever you go
There's always gonna be some light
But I gotta get out, I gotta break it out now
Before the final crack of dawn
So we gotta make the most of our one night together
When it's over, you know we'll both be so alone
[Chorus]
Like a bat out of hell
I'll be gone when the morning comes
When the night is over
Like a bat out of hell
I'll be gone, gone, gone
Like a bat out of hell
I'll be gone when the morning comes
But when the day is done and the sun goes down
And the moonlight's shining through (Oo-oo-ooh)
Then like a sinner before the gates of Heaven
I'll come crawling on back to you
Then like a sinner before the gates of Heaven
I'll come crawling on back to you
[Guitar Solo]
[Bridge]
Oh, I can see myself tearing up the road
Faster than any other boy has ever gone
And my skin is raw, but my soul is ripe
And no one's gonna stop me now
I'm gonna make my escape
But I can't stop thinking of you
And I never see the sudden curve 'til it's way too late
And I never see the sudden curve 'til it's way too late
[Outro]
Then I'm dying at the bottom of a pit in the blazing sun (ooh)
Torn and twisted at the foot of a burning bike (ooh)
And I think somebody somewhere must be tolling a bell (aah)
And the last thing I see is my heart still beating
I'm breaking out of my body and flying away
Like a bat out of hell
Then I'm dying at the bottom of a pit in the blazing sun
Oh, torn and twisted at the foot of a burning bike
And I think somebody somewhere must be tolling a bell (ooh)
And the last thing I see is my heart still beating, still beating
I'm breaking out of my body and flying away
Like a bat out of hell
Oh, like a bat out of hell
Oh, like a bat out of hell
Oh, like a bat out of hell (I'll be gone when the morning comes)
Like a bat out of hell (I'll be gone when the morning comes)
Like a bat out of hell (ooh, ooh)
Bat Out of Hell was written by Jim Steinman.
Bat Out of Hell was produced by Todd Rundgren.
Meat Loaf released Bat Out of Hell on Fri Oct 21 1977.
Jim Steinman said,
There is something so thrilling to me about that operatic narrative that involves a cataclysmic event, especially one so perfectly in tune with a teenager’s world, and rock and roll, as a car or motorcycle crash.
In his autobiography To Hell and Back, Meat Loaf wrote,
In fiftee...