Do you know the Meat Loaf song 'I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)'?

Question

Well, what exactly is it that he won't do? I've listened to the song a lot, but I can't figure it out...

Answer 1

ok, this is what i found:

Trivia
A lot of people are confused about this song. It is fairly common for people to say "What does he mean when he says 'I won't do that?' What is THAT that he won't do?!"
There is no trick to this one, folks. Every time Meat sings "I won't do THAT," the word THAT clearly referes to something else he just said in the previous sentence:

I'd never forgive myself if we don't go all the way
I would do anything for love, but I won't do that (he won't ever forgive himself)

But I’ll never forget the way you feel right now
I would do anything for love, but I won't do that (he'll never forget the way she feels)

But I’ll never do it better than I do it with you
I would do anything for love, but I won't do that (he'll never do it better than he does it with her)

But I’ll never stop dreaming of you every night of my life
I would do anything for love, but I won't do that (he'll never stop dreaming of her)

And, of course, in the end of the song, THAT is very obvious in two verses:

GIRL: You'll see that it's time to move on
BOY: I won't do that (he'll never move on)

Answer 2

This is from the writer himself.....

Jim Steinman On.. The writer of the song says..


Writing - Everything I do is dictated by the dramatic - by the fact that it's a character singing in a dramatic situation. I try to be incredibly true to that and I think that gives [the songs] a real urgency and a precision that ultimately is very powerful. Every song I write, I write with a theatrical or cinematic context in mind. I've never written a song where I don't visualize a character singing it. That's just the way I work - I couldn't write any other way. So in my mind, it's always on a stage or in a film.

Meat Loaf - It's amazing on a intuitive level, the fact just that he understands these songs. We have such different backgrounds, he and I. Such different lifestyles. We are totally different people - completely. But somehow, within the music, we connect on a level that's pretty strange - because we're so different...Meat is a performer serving a song - and he'd be the first to say that. That's one of the reasons he's such a great performer. He does put the song, at his best, above his own personality or ego or anything.

I'd Do Anything For Love - I started off this whole album with an image of Meat Loaf on stage. For some reason, I started off with a live show image. I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That) was the first song I wrote for [Bat II] and it was definitely a 'Beauty And The Beast' kind of story...What he 'won't do' is said about six times in the song very specifically. It's sort of is a little puzzle and I guess it goes by - but they're all great things. 'I won't stop doing beautiful things and I won't do bad things.' It's very noble. I'm very proud of that song because it's very much like out of the world of Excalibur. To me, it's like Sir Lancelot or something - very noble and chivalrous. That's my favorite song on the record - it's very ambitious.

Some have found the lyrics of the song cryptic and claim that the singer never identifies what the "that" is that he is unwilling to do. Although some people assume that "that" is an exophoric reference to a sex act, it is actually an anaphoric reference to the varying activities specified as antecedents in the lyric that the singer says that he will not do. [5]

I'll never forget the way you feel right now...
I'll never forgive myself if we don't go all the way tonight...
I'll never do it better than I do it with you...
I'll never stop dreaming of you every night of my life...
In addition, the female vocalist identifies two other things that the lead singer denies that he will do: "You'll see that it's time to move on" and "You'll be screwing around." To both of these, the lead singer responds, "I won't do that! No, I won't do that!"
. The phrase does appear as an exophoric reference in a song on the Steinman-produced album Faster Than the Speed of Night, where it is a piece of overheard conversation in a bar. The video, based on Beauty and the Beast and Phantom of the Opera, is directed by Michael Bay, who also directed "Objects in the Rearview Mirror May Appear Closer Than They Are" and "Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through" from the same album. It is the abridged seven minute single version, rather than the twelve minute (11:58) album version. The actress in the video is Dana Patrick, who is also featured in the video for "I'd Lie for You (And That's the Truth)" from the Welcome to the Neighborhood album. The cinematographer is Daniel Pearl, who filmed The Texas Chain Saw Massacre in 1973. The video took four days to shoot, and it took up to two hours to apply Meat Loaf's make-up.

Answer 3

suthyrngirl is 100% correct. Meat Loaf is my favorite singer of all time, and ive memorized and interpreted all of his works.

In the song Anything for Love, it changes from verse to verse.

I'll never stop dreaming of you every night of my life, I would do anything for love but i wont do that.

Ill never forget the way you feel right now

Ill never forgive myself if we dont go all the way tonight

ill never do it better than i do it with you so long

Its a fantastic song, and despite the fact that he tells you several times what he wont do, the fact that its multiple things presented as one makes it confusing.

By the way, this is the official meaning, and was discussed by Meat in his album/ video VH1 Storytellers session.

Answer 4

Okay, my interpretation.

The chick sings, "I know the territory, I've been around. It'll all turn to dust, it'll all fall down. Sooner or later, you'll be screwin' around."

And Meatloaf cuts in singing, "But I won't do that."

So I'm assuming it would be philandering/leaving her.

Answer 5

yeah i have that CD but I'm not for share what it is called and he is a bad @$$ lol

And I would do anything for love, I'd run right into hell and back
I would do anything for love, I'll never lie to you and that's a fact
But I'll never forget the way you feel right now, oh no, no way
And I would do anything for love, but I won't do that, I won't do that
Anything for love, oh I would do anything for love
I would do anything for love, but I won't do that, oh I won't do that

Some days it don't come easy, and some days it don't come hard
Some days it don't come at all, and these are the days that never end
Some nights you're breathing fire, and some nights you're carved in ice
Some nights you're like nothing I've ever seen before or will again

Maybe I'm crazy, but it's crazy and it's true
I know you can save me, no one else can save me now but you

As long as the planets are turning, as long as the stars are burning
As long as your dreams are coming true, you better believe it

That I would do anything for love, and I'll be there til the final act
I would do anything for love, and I'll take a vow and seal a pact

But I'll never forgive myself if we don't go all the way tonight
And I would do anything for love, oh I would do anything for love
Oh I would do anything for love, but I won't do that, no I won't do that

I would do anything for love, anything you've been dreaming of
But I just won't do that
(repeats 3x)

(Solo)

Some days I pray for silence, and somedays I pray for soul
Some days I just pray to the God of Sex and Drums and Rock 'N Roll
Some nights I lose the feeling, and some nights I lose control
Some nights I just lose it all when I watch you dance and the thunder rolls

Maybe I'm lonely and that's all I'm qualified to be
There's just one and only, the one and only promise I can keep

As long as the wheels are turning, as long as the fires are burning
As long as your prayers are coming true, you better believe it

That I would do anything for love, and you know it's true and that's a fact
I would do anything for love, and there'll never be no turning back

But I'll never do it better than I do it with you, so long, so long
And I would do anything for love, oh I would do anything for love
I would do anything for love, but I won't do that, no no no I won't do that

I would do anything for love, anything you've been dreaming of
But I just won't do that
(repeats 7x)

But I'll never stop dreaming of you every night of my life, no way

And I would do anything for love, oh I would do anything for love
I would do anything for love, but I won't do that, no I won't do that

[Girl:] Will you raise me up, will you help me down?
Will you get me right out of this Godforsaken town?
Will you make it all a little less cold?

[Boy:] I can do that! I can do that!

[Girl:] Will you hold me sacred? Will you hold me tight?
Can you colorize my life, I'm so sick of black and white?
Can you make it all a little less old?

[Boy:] I can do that! Oh oh, now I can do that!

[Girl:] Will you make me some magic, with your own two hands?
Can you build an emerald city with these grains of sand?
Can you give me something I can take home?

[Boy:] I can do that! Oh oh now, I can do that!

[Girl:] Will you cater to every fantasy I got?
Will ya hose me down with holy water, if I get too hot?
Will you take me places I've never known?

[Boy:] I can do that! Oh oh now, I can do that!

[Girl:] After a while you'll forget everything
It was a brief interlude and a midsummer night's fling
And you'll see that it's time to move on

[Boy:] I won't do that! No I won't do that!

[Girl:] I know the territory, I've been around
It'll all turn to dust and we'll all fall down
And sooner or later, you'll be screwing around

[Boy:] I won't do that! No I won't do that!

Anything for love, oh I would do anything for love
I would do anything for love, but I won't do that, no I won't do that

He-he-he

Answer 6

I saw an interview with Meatloaf and he said that he would not give up his freedom or give up being who he is for the sake of love.

Answer 7

I think that he wont cheat on his girlfriend cant remember the lyrics now never heard if for a while

Answer 8

I would also like to know the answer to that one.

Answer 9

lol thats the point i dont think were supposed to know! it sounds stupid that he says he'll do anything except this one thing...in my mind its threesomes lol..but who knows, use your imagination and have fun!

Answer 10

he wont ever order a pizza with anchovies