"Objects in the Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer Than They Are" | ||||
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Single by Meat Loaf | ||||
from the album Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell | ||||
B-side |
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Released | April 25, 1994 [1] | |||
Studio | Ocean Way Recording (Los Angeles) | |||
Length |
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Label | ||||
Songwriter(s) | Jim Steinman | |||
Producer(s) | Jim Steinman | |||
Meat Loaf singles chronology | ||||
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"Objects in the Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer Than They Are" is a song composed and written by Jim Steinman, and recorded by Meat Loaf. The song was released in 1994 as the third single from the album Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell and it reached number 38 on US's Billboard Hot 100, and number 26 in the UK Top 40. With its chart success, this song became the hit with the longest un-bracketed title at fifty-two characters as of 2007 [update] . [2] The title is derived from the safety warning on car side mirrors in the US, "Objects in mirror are closer than they appear".
Parts of the melody were adapted from Steinman's earlier tune "Surf's Up", which appears on Steinman's solo album Bad for Good . Steinman later reused the melody, with new lyrics by Michael Kunze, for "Die Unstillbare Gier", a song in the Tanz der Vampire productions, and for "Confession of a Vampire" in the ill-fated US version (Dance of the Vampires).
"Objects in the Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer Than They Are" is a three-part narrative, centred upon the seasons summer, winter and spring. Time describes the singer as "haunted by three pushy ghosts : a friend , a father , a long lost love." [3] According to Allmusic, the song draws "its inspiration from the singer's often-tragic childhood. The lyric portrays a man who has overcome tragedies in his life yet still feels haunted by their memory." [4] BBC.co.uk also says that the song about a "melancholy middle-aged man reminiscing about his youth... is in many ways uncomfortably close to home, dealing as it does with episodes uncannily similar to events in his own life." [5] Steinman says it was "the hardest song to write and get across".
It's a very passionate song. It's really, I think maybe, the most passionate one on the record. I mean, I'm really proud of it because that's really one that goes over the top in the sense that it's got images – it has religious imagery of resurrection, it's got images of fertility and rebirth, it has really very good sexual images, images of cars – which I always like. [6] [7]
During interviews in later years, Meat Loaf rejected the notion that the song was based on his own life. Writing for Investigate magazine, Ian Wishart "recalls seeing a video years ago where he [Meat Loaf] talked of the abuse he suffered at the hands of his drunken father, and he has written of the time his father even tried to kill him with a knife. To me, and others, it sounded spookily similar to aspects of... 'Objects'". Meat Loaf soundly refuted the proposition: "No, not a prayer, I wouldn't allow it. ... That's like if an artist painted a picture of a place he'd never seen before that he couldn't bring any truth to that because he has no point of reference--no, he does have a point of reference, his truth is the point of reference is and that's what the point of reference is. That's what any kind of artistic endeavour should have, is always finding the truth." [8]
Allmusic says "the music takes the concept of a power ballad to epic heights: the verses build from somber softness to piercing heights of drama before giving way to a chorus that releases the tension with a meditative melodic figure that underlines the hypnotically-repeated title in a soothing fashion." [4] Music journalist Mick Wall labels the track "perhaps the most sober and reflective song Steinman has ever written." Wall comments how the song begins about two best friends who lose each other tragically. [9]
The first verse is set in summer, when "the skies were pure and the fields were green." The vocalist describes his close friendship with his best friend, who dies prematurely in a crash. [10] Although Kenny has died, the vocalist reveals how his memory lives on:
There are times I think I see him peeling out of the dark
I think he's right behind me now and he's gaining ground
Each verse concludes by declaring that the preceding events "were long ago and ... far away", a line which Mick Wall says summons "up the lost spirit of 1977, echoing "Paradise by the Dashboard Light", the vocal melody a tip of the hat to "Surf's Up". [9] [11]
The second verse is darker in tone. The season is winter, when "dreams would freeze," and the sun has "descended." The lyrics document a physically abusive "dangerous and drunk" father, reflecting Meat Loaf's real life youth. [5] Like the first verse, the memories of the past still affect the present.
And though the nightmares should be over
Some of the terrors are still intact
I'll hear that ugly coarse and violent voice
And then he grabs me from behind and then he pulls me back
Again, the title is repeated several times, softly at first, building into a more dramatic intensity. Allmusic says it starts "with gentle piano and synthesizer licks that are built up with power chords to enhance their drama and weaving stirring, choir-styled backing vocals into the chorus that keep its repetition fresh by giving it new layers." [4] An instrumental piano and guitar section bridges the second and third verses. The "choir-styled" wordless background vocals were arranged by Todd Rundgren. Guitar is gradually given more emphasis in the mix as the band plays the melody of the verse, concluding with the instrumental of the opening line of the verse.
The third verse describes "a beauty living on the edge of town" and a seemingly intense sexual relationship. However, their relationship ends. Conforming to the structure of the song, and its title, her memory is still present.
She used her body just like a bandage;
She used my body just like a wound
I'll probably never know where she disappeared
But I can see her rising up out of the back seat now
Just like an angel rising up from a tomb
After the title line is repeated twelve times, with growing volume and intensity, the vocalist quietly repeats the first four lines of the above.
Michael Bay directed the music video for Propaganda Films. [12] He had previously directed the videos for the album's prior two singles, "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" and "Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through". Allen Daviau served as the cinematographer.
The music video has overlapping features so that it looks like that the actors are ghost-like, appearing and disappearing. The length of the music video is 7:42, compared to the 10:15 single version. Actors include Robert Patrick as Kenny's father, Greg Trock as Kenny, Will Estes as the grieving friend (young Meat Loaf), Joshua Diaz as the childhood iteration of Meat Loaf, and an unidentified model as "The Beauty on the Edge of Town".
Filming took place in and around Denton, Texas. Several parts were shot in Slidell, Texas on a large ranch. [12] The scene with the "beauty at the edge of town" washing her car was filmed in Valley View, Texas, near to the Oklahoma border. [13]
The video opens with Kenny playing with his friend (Josh Diaz), and his father (Robert Patrick) letting them sit in his airplane. A little older, Kenny takes the plane for a ride. His father runs outside just in time to see Kenny lose control of the aircraft, crash and killed ("They said he crashed and burned"). The firefighters extinguish the fire from the wreckage and an ambulance takes away the body.
In the second section of the song, the protagonist (Will Estes [14] ) sees the ghost of the plane fly over the graveyard at Kenny's funeral. Synchronic with the lyrics relating to "winter" ("freeze"; "no leaves on the trees") in this verse, some of the mise-en-scene is minimal. It shows his father as a family man during the day but an abusive alcoholic all the time. The line "He hit me again, and again, and again" is accompanied by a baseball scene, rather than visually depicting the violence of "hit" that the autobiographical elements suggest. [4]
He runs away trying to regain his freedom ("I had to run away alone... my life became my own"). He then meets an older woman who teaches him everything "about the mystery and the muscle of love." A risqué sequence of them engaging in sexual activity in the back of a car matches the lyrics ("She used her body just like a bandage/She used my body just like a wound").
At the end of the video, whenever Meat Loaf sings the line "Objects in the Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer Than They Are", he sees either the ghost of the plane, the woman or himself when he was younger. As with the lyrics, the sequence depicts how, as Allmusic says, "he still feels haunted by their memory." [4]
The song was the sixth track from Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell released as a single. It reached number 38 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and number 26 on the UK Singles Chart and Canada's RPM Top Singles chart. On the latter chart, it stayed at that position for four weeks. [15] In Australia, the single peaked at number 52 in June 1994. [16] [17] The UK Virgin release also featured two tracks performed live in New York City in July 1993: "All Revved Up with No Place to Go" and "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad." [18] Other versions included live renditions of "Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through", "Masculine" and his cover of "Roll Over Beethoven". Like the album and other singles from Bat II, the artwork for the cover was by Michael Whelan. The graphic also appears alongside the song's lyrics in the album's booklet. [19]
The length and narrative led Q magazine to call the song a "near-Springsteen parody ballad." [20] It remains a major favorite with Meat Loaf's fans thanks to its autobiographical quality. [4] When Meat Loaf performed the song at the Royal Albert Hall in London in October 2006, one reviewer called the "little known but well loved song" a "showstopper." [21]
The song was specified in some of the album's negative reviews, mainly its length and the repetition of the title line. Writing for Rolling Stone , Matt Birkbeck referred to the songs, naming "Objects", as "harmless, low-octane operatic drivel" with "insufferably long Steinman compositions with equally long names." [22] The Fort Worth Star-Telegram also referred to the length of the songs on the album, in which Steinman "vomits up 75 minutes of endlessly repeated choruses." [23] The New Statesman's Kate Mossman labels Steinman's lyrics "unwieldy". [24]
Meat Loaf performed the song on the April 14, 1994, edition of the BBC television show Top of the Pops . [25] Live versions of the song were included on the 1996 Live Around the World album and the 2007 3 Bats Live DVD. The Dream Engine performed the song at the Over the Top concerts at Mohegan Sun: this arrangement had the second verse being performed by a female vocalist. Steinman reused the melody, with new lyrics by Michael Kunze, for "Die Unstillbare Gier", a song performed by the character Graf von Krolock in the rock-opera Tanz der Vampire . Steve Barton performed the song on the 1998 Original Vienna Cast Recording. [26] Steinman rewrote the Tanz version into English as "Confession of a Vampire" for the ill-fated US version (Dance of the Vampires) of the musical starring Michael Crawford.
Chart (1994) | Peak position |
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Australia (ARIA) [16] | 52 |
Canada Top Singles ( RPM ) [27] | 26 |
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100) [28] | 50 |
Germany (Official German Charts) [29] | 90 |
Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40) [30] | 20 |
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) [31] | 32 |
Scotland (OCC) [32] | 69 |
UK Singles (OCC) [33] | 26 |
US Billboard Hot 100 [34] | 38 |
US Mainstream Top 40 ( Billboard ) [35] | 29 |
Michael Lee Aday, known professionally as Meat Loaf, was an American rock singer and actor with a powerful, wide-ranging voice, famous for his theatrical live shows. He is on the list of best-selling music artists. His Bat Out of Hell trilogy — Bat Out of Hell (1977), Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell (1993), and Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose (2006) — has sold more than 100 million records worldwide. The first album stayed on the charts for over nine years, as of 2016 still sold an estimated 200,000 copies annually, and is on the list of best-selling albums.
James Richard Steinman was an American composer, lyricist and record producer. He also worked as an arranger, pianist, and singer. His work included songs in the adult contemporary, rock, dance, pop, musical theater, and film score genres. He produced albums for Bonnie Tyler and for Meat Loaf, including Bat Out of Hell and Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell.
Bat Out of Hell is the 1977 debut album by American rock singer Meat Loaf and composer Jim Steinman. It is one of the best-selling albums in history. The album was developed from a musical, Neverland, a futuristic rock version of Peter Pan, which Steinman wrote for a workshop in 1974. It was recorded during 1975–1976 at various studios, including Bearsville Studios in Woodstock, New York, produced by Todd Rundgren, and released in October 1977 by Cleveland International/Epic Records. Bat Out of Hell spawned two Meat Loaf sequel albums: Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell (1993) and Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose (2006).
"Paradise by the Dashboard Light" is a song written by Jim Steinman. It was released in 1977 on the album Bat Out of Hell, with vocals by the American musician Meat Loaf alongside Ellen Foley. An uncommonly long song for a single, it has become a staple of classic rock radio and has been described as the "greatest rock duet".
Bad for Good is the only studio album by American songwriter Jim Steinman. Steinman wrote all of the songs and performed on most, although Rory Dodd contributed lead vocals on some tracks.
Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell is the sixth studio album by American rock singer Meat Loaf and was written and produced by Jim Steinman. It was released in September 1993, sixteen years after Meat Loaf's first solo album Bat Out of Hell. The album reached number 1 in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada. Five tracks were released as singles, including "I'd Do Anything for Love ", which reached number 1 in 28 countries.
"I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" is a song written by Jim Steinman, and recorded by American rock singer Meat Loaf featuring Lorraine Crosby. The song was released in August 1993 as the first single from his sixth album, Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell (1993). The last six verses feature Crosby, who was credited only as "Mrs. Loud" in the album notes. She does not appear in the video, in which her vocals are lip-synched by Dana Patrick. Meat Loaf promoted the single with American singer Patti Russo.
Lorraine Crosby is an English singer and songwriter. She was the female vocalist on Meat Loaf's 1993 hit single "I'd Do Anything for Love ". Her debut album, Mrs Loud, was released in 2008.
The Very Best of Meat Loaf is a 1998 album spanning the first 21 years of Meat Loaf's recording career. Although not reaching the top ten in the United Kingdom, it was certified double platinum there in 2013. The album features many of Meat Loaf's best-known songs as well as a few from his lesser known albums of the 1980s.
Live Around the World is a live album by Meat Loaf, released in 1996 to capitalize on his two recent successes, Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell and Welcome to the Neighbourhood. The album was recorded at various times between 1987 and 1996. The album is limited to a release of 250,000 copies worldwide.
Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose is the ninth studio album by Meat Loaf, and the third and final album in the Bat Out of Hell trilogy. It was released in Ireland on October 20, 2006, 29 years after Bat Out of Hell (1977), and 13 years after Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell (1993). It was released in the UK on October 23, 2006, and in the US on October 31, 2006.
"It's All Coming Back to Me Now" is a power ballad written by Jim Steinman. According to Steinman, the song was inspired by Wuthering Heights, and was an attempt to write "the most passionate, romantic song" he could ever create. The Sunday Times posits that "Steinman protects his songs as if they were his children". Meat Loaf had wanted to record the song for years, but Steinman saw it as a "woman's song". Steinman won a court movement preventing Meat Loaf from recording it. Girl group Pandora's Box went on to record it, and it was subsequently made famous through a cover by Celine Dion, which upset Meat Loaf because he was going to use it for a planned album with the working title Bat Out of Hell III. Alternately, Meat Loaf has said the song was intended for Bat Out of Hell II and given to the singer in 1986, but that they both decided to use "I'd Do Anything for Love " for Bat II, and save this song for Bat III.
"Making Love Out of Nothing at All" is a power ballad written and composed by Jim Steinman and first released by the British/Australian soft rock duo Air Supply for their 1983 compilation album Greatest Hits. It reached number 2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks. The song has been covered by other artists.
"Bat Out of Hell" is a song written by Jim Steinman, for the 1977 album Bat Out of Hell and performed by Meat Loaf. It was released as a single in 1979, and again in 1993.
American singer and actor Meat Loaf (1947–2022) released twelve studio albums, five live albums, seven compilation albums, one extended play and thirty-nine singles. In a career that spanned six decades, he sold over 100 million records worldwide. According to Recording Industry Association of America, he sold 25 million certified records in the US alone.
3 Bats Live is a music DVD by rock singer Meat Loaf. Recorded on March 18, 2007 at London, Ontario during his "Seize the Night" tour, it mainly features songs from the Bat Out of Hell trilogy. The DVD was released in the UK on October 15, 2007, and in the UK on November 20, 2007.
"Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through" is a song written by American composer Jim Steinman. It was first featured on Steinman's 1981 solo album Bad for Good, with lead vocals by an uncredited Rory Dodd. It was later recorded by American singer Meat Loaf and released in 1994 as the third single from the album Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell.
Bat Out of Hell II: Picture Show is a 1994 music video by Meat Loaf. Besides the three music videos directed by Michael Bay for the singles from Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell, the video contains three live performances and interviews with Meat Loaf and songwriter/producer Jim Steinman. Until the release of the 2006 Collectors Edition of Bat Out of Hell II, this was the only official release of the video clips.
"Dead Ringer for Love" is a song performed by American rock singer Meat Loaf and American singer-actress Cher from Meat Loaf's second studio album, Dead Ringer. The song was written by Jim Steinman and one of only two tracks on the album produced by Steinman and Jimmy Iovine.
"Good Girls Go to Heaven (Bad Girls Go Everywhere)" is a song written by Jim Steinman. The song was first performed by Megumi Shiina as "Kanashimi Wa Tsudzukanai" (悲しみは続かない, lit. "Sadness Doesn't Last") and used as the opening to the 1986 Japanese TV Drama "Kono Ko Dare no Ko?". It was first performed in English by Pandora's Box on their album Original Sin (1989). Group member Holly Sherwood performed lead vocals.
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