MEAT LOAF - I'd do anything for love (But I won't do that) (la balada de la albóndiga)

Meat Loaf es un cantante estadounidense surgido a finales de los setenta. Desconozco el motivo, pero durante unos años fue muy promocionado como ejemplo de roquero individual lleno de talento. Hasta que la realidad terminó por imponerse y su gloria cayó por su propio peso (ejem), pasando a una cómoda intrascendencia.

Su primer disco fue Bat Out Of Hell en 1977. Tras algunas obras menores y una fama decreciente, en 1993 decidió hacer una segunda parte publicando Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell, con una portada muy heavy que para nada se corresponde con el contenido. El primer single de ese disco secuela fue I'd do anything for love (But I won't do that), una balada llena de piano y vozarrón que no termina de ancajar con la idea que yo tengo de "balada heavy". Años más tarde, en 2006, llegaría Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose, la tercera parte de la saga.

El videoclip de hoy muestra una historia que recuerda a La Bella Y La Bestia y El Fantasma de la Ópera, con una criatura desfigurada, y en este caso infernal, logrando el amor de una hermosa ninfa. Todo esto durante más de siete minutos, porque el calificativo de "ópera rock" que se daba a este disco tiene cierta base, al menos en la duración de la canciones.

La mujer del vídeo, por cierto, es la actriz Dana Patrick, que sin embargo no es la cantante de los versos femeninos de la canción. En el disco, dicha voz se atribuye a Ellen Foley, colaboradora en varios discos de Meat Loaf. Pero tampoco ella es la cantante, y es que esos versos son la historia más curiosa de este videoclip, aparte del coste excesivo de la producción. Resulta que esa parte fue grabada por la cantante Lorraine Crosby, que literalmente pasaba por allí, como muestra para guiar a la cantante elegida para la grabación final. Las candidatas eran Cher, Bonnie Tyler y Melissa Etheridge; pero, por algún motivo, finalmente se usó esa grabación para el montaje final de la canción. La pobre Lorraine nunca recibió crédito ni dinero alguno por su trabajo, y no sacó un disco propio hasta Mrs Loud en 2008.

¿Y por qué destaco esta canción en un post de este blog? Pues como suele pasar en un blog personal, el motivo es mi propio recuerdo de este disco. Mi primer contacto con Meat Loaf fue a través de un familiar que me puso un disco, aduciendo que me iba a gustar porque era parecido a esos grupos jevis que empezaba a escuchar a mediados de los noventa. La primera escucha me dejó indiferente, pero unos meses más tarde me crucé con el disco a un precio bajo en una tienda de segunda mano, y decidí darle una oportunidad.

Craso error. El disco tiene más de pop que de rock. Yo lo definiría como opera-pop, más que nada porque es muy pretencioso. Eran años sin internet, cuando la única forma de escuchar música nueva era mediante cintas prestadas o arriesgando los dineros propios por culpa de una referencia errada. Internet disminuyó mucho estas compras equivocadas, y ese es otro motivo del declive de la industria. Ahora ya no venden discos malos a melómanos incautos.

MEAT LOAF - I'd do anything for love (But I won't do that)

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,
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.

And 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.

And 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.

And maybe I'm crazy.
Oh, 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 till the final act.
And I would do anything for love,
and I'll take the 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,
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...

I would do anything for love,
anything you've been dreaming of,
but I just won't do that...

I would do anything for love,
anything you've been dreaming of,
but I just won't do that...

And some days I pray for silence,
and some days I pray for soul.
Some days I just pray to the God
of Sex and Drums and Rock 'N' Roll.

And 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.

And maybe I'm lonely.
That's all I'm qualified to be.
There's just one and only.
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...

I would do anything for love,
anything you've been dreaming of,
but I just won't do that...

I would do anything for love,
anything you've been dreaming of,
but I just won't do that...

But I'll never stop dreaming of you every night of my life.
No way.

And I would do anything for love,
but I won't do that.
No, I won't do that.

Will you raise me up?
Will you help me down?
Will you help get me right out of this Godforsaken town?
Will you make it all a little less cold?

I can do that!
I can do that!

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?

I can do that!
Oh, oh, I can do that!

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?

I can do that!
I can do that!

Will you cater to every fantasy I've got?
Will ya hose me down with holy water, if I get too hot?
Will you take me to places I'll never know?

I can do that!
I can do that!

After a while you'll forget everything.
Just a brief interlude, and a mid-summer night's fling.
Then you'll see that it's time to move on.

I won't do that.
I won't do that.

I know the territory, I've been around.
It'll all turn to dust and we'll all fall down.
Sooner or later you'll be screwing around.

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...

Y oye, que cuando digo que las canciones del disco son largas como óperas no es mentira. Fíjate que lo que viste antes era la versión recortada para el single, porque la versión original dura doce minutazos. Tenemos suerte de que alguien hizo el montaje para que la puedas ver y escuchar completa.

Qué curioso, tras casi una hora con esta música en bucle mientras escribo este post, está empezando a gustarme la cancioncilla de marras.

► En este enlace puedes comprar el Bat Out Of Hell II.

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