The song is much better if you don’t try to explain it. It doesn’t matter what he’s referring to – use your imagination.
MadHatter, you utter bastard.
Many years ago, I worked in a Pizza Hut. There was a jukebox there, and EVERYONE who came in decided it would be funny to play Meatloaf in general, and that song in specific. I heard it maybe thirty times a day.
Just this morning, I got up, and FINALLY, that song wasn’t running through my head anymore, after SEVEN YEARS.
And you put it back.
–
There was that DAMN Meriah Carry song, too . . .
The answer is so obvious. He explained it in Spice World (my ex-girlfriend made me watch it, so SHUT UP!!).
The toilet in the Spice Girls’ tour bus broke and clogged up, so they had to go in the woods. The manager told the driver (played by Meat Loaf) to fix the toilet. He answered “I love those girls, and I would do anything for them. But I won’t do that!”
So the answer, obviously, is that he would do anything for love, but he won’t unclog a portable toilet. Q.E.D.
RealityChuck writes:
> The song is much better if you don’t try to explain it.
> It doesn’t matter what he’s referring to – use your
> imagination.
But doesn’t this contradict all the discussion in the thread “The Most Misunderstood Book/Movie/Song Ever” at the following URL?
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=28662
This should lead to a whole new GD thread, “Should We Care about the Author’s Intent?”.
Wendall, I’m with Reality Chuck on this one. It’s better to use your own imagery, rather than second-guess the artist.
I met ML three years ago, while he was on set in Montana. He’s a pretty nice guy actually. He sang that song at the crew party, along with others and then did a duet with Dennis Quade.
aenea,
But you haven’t answered the question I was really asking. If you believe that we shouldn’t try to understand what an author (of a book, song, or movie) means, doesn’t that mean that the entire thread The Most Misunderstood Book/Movie/Song Ever" is misguided. Is that what you’re asserting? If so, why don’t you go over to that thread and tell those people how mistaken they are?
My memory seems to be clogged with really random stuff lately.
I remember this song came out about the same time as “Wayne’s World.” MTV had a Wayne’s World Special where Wayne and Garth dissected current music videos.
This topic came up and Wayne said, “He won’t do what? Dress up like little Bo Peep and be ridden like a little wet pony?” or something of that nature.
Hmmmm… that’s all I have to say.
Wendell,
I was actually thinking of music when I made that statement. When an author write a story/book/essay/whatever, they are usually a bit more clear as to their intent than musical lyrics can be.
As far as heading over to that thread, it is not my habit to run around telling people how mistaken I think they are. In that particular thread, I also don’t think many of them are wrong.
Are you trying to start something, or is that (telling people how mistaken they are) just something you would do?
aenea wrote:
> Are you trying to start something, or is that (telling
> people how mistaken they are) just something you would
> do?
Yes, in some sense, that is what I want to do. I don’t like the idea that people with radically different ideas should never talk with each other. I especially don’t like it on the SDMB, where we sometimes get two threads right next to each with points that seem to completely contradict each other. What’s the point of spending all your time with people who never disagree with you?
Furthermore, the whole spirit of the Straight Dope is telling people that they are mistaken (yes, as politely as possible, but you do have to tell them). It’s also about discovering that you have been mistaken yourself. You can’t learn new things unless you sometimes discover that your old ideas are incorrect.
You’re probably going to say now, “Do you like to start fights?”. Hey, a discussion is not a fight. It’s an attempt to find some deeper truth by looking at some ideas that seem to contradict each other. I think that anybody who never even tries to understand other ideas than the ones he already has is essentially a relativist. He is saying that it doesn’t matter that someone else has ideas that are radically different than his, since it’s all just a matter of opinion and there’s no way of resolving it.
These two ideas, that a) It’s possible to completely misunderstand an author’s intent and b) The only really important thing is that you choose your own interpretation of a work, seem to contradict each other. Perhaps there’s a deeper sense in which it’s possible to reconcile the two ideas. You’ll never find that out until people with these two opinions talk to each other and try to resolve their differences.
True statement. Also a far cry from “run over to such and such thread and tell them that they are all wrong.”
This can only be answered by somebody in the same position.
Ahh, my secret crush.
I always think about her and it kills me that I can never explain my feelings for her. Recently, I got to spend alot of time with her. We spoke about a lot of things, but I could not get myself to tell her how I feel about her (I wish I could get over this), because, she is happy where she is. She has been seeing this guy for some time now and the wheels are turning and the fire is burning and I would do anything for her, but I would not take that away from either of them because I would hate somebody to do it to me.
I miss her terribly and one day, I will tell her.
Man, that’s heartbreaking, Gund. Mostly heartbreaking, 'cause I’ve found myself in the same position, hence I can relate.
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately and I think what it comes down to is this: Is it better to do what’s honest or what’s appropriate when it comes to your feelings?
There should be a rule against relitivist arguments if you ask me. No fair says I!
Uh… Is this still the Meatloaf thread?