I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That) (6:23)

From the album Bat Out of Hell 2, the album that brought Meat Loaf back to fame in the ’90s, this song was a massive hit and topped the chart around the globe.Unconventionally 12 minutes long.

Perceived ambiguity of “that”

Each verse mentions two things that he would do for love, followed by one thing that he will not do. The title phrase repetition reasserts that he “won’t do that” previously stated one thing. Each mention of “that” is an anaphoric reference to the particular promise that he made earlier in the same verse.

* “But I’ll never forget the way you feel right now …”
* “But I’ll never forgive myself if we don’t go all the way tonight …”
* “But I’ll never do it better than I do it with you …”
* “But I’ll never stop dreaming of you every night of my life …”

In addition, the female vocalist predicts two other things that he will do: “You’ll see that it’s time to move on” and “You’ll be screwing around”. To both of these, he emphatically responds, “I won’t do that!”

Some people misunderstand the lyrics, claiming that the singer never identifies what “that” thing is, which he will not do. Jim Steinman predicted this confusion during production and the confusion is encouraged by the fact that what the lyrics identify as things the singer wouldn’t do for love, aren’t things it would make any sense for someone to do for love in the first place.