I love meatloaf - but not of the beef variety.

A while back Shannon asked people to comment on her blog with secrets from their past. I could only come up with a really lame secret that isn't much to be embarrassed about. In reading Neal's latest blog regarding inappropriate song lyrics, I thought of a much more personal, secret guilty pleasure that I have. I have dubbed it "Secret Shame Music". It's the music one listens to but would tell nobody else about. It's the music you enjoy but you feel too embarrassed to share it with anyone else lest they call you a freak. For some it may be Backstreet Boys, for some it may be Black Sabbath, for some it may be Barney's Greatest Hits, but for me, you ask? It is Meat Loaf.

At this point you are probably asking yourself, "Why?" Well, when I was a child, we used to take long, roadtrip vacations during the summer and this was the music my parents listened to. My brothers and I would ride along in the back seat while my parents sang the tunes from "Bat out of Hell". When you are seven, you have no idea what any of the lyrics mean, you just remember thinking how cool you were to be listening to "grown-up" music. What is so wrong with the lyrics? Here is a small sampling and you can judge for yourself:


Paradise by the Dashboard Light (a song for young lovers ;)

ain't no doubt about it
we were doubly blessed
'cause we were barely seventeen
and we were barely dressed

Radio Broadcast (Bjorn and I thought it was actually talking about baseball)
ok, here we go, we got a real pressure cooker going here,
two down, nobody on, no score, bottom of the ninth,
there's the windup, and there it is, a line shot up the middle,
look at him go. This boy can really fly! he's rounding first and really turning it on now, he's not letting up at all, he's gonna try for second;
the ball is bobbled out in center, and here comes the throw,
and what a throw! he's gonna slide in head first, here he comes, he's out!
No, wait, safe-safe at second base, this kid really makes things happen out there. batter steps up to the plate, here's the pitch-he's going, and what a jump he's got,he's trying for third, here's the throw, it's in the dirt-safe at third!
holy cow, stolen base! he's taking a pretty big lead out there, almost daring him to try and pick him off. the pitcher glances over, winds up, and it's bunted, bunted down the third base line, the suicide squeeze is on! here he comes, squeezeplay, it's gonna be close, holy cow, i think he's gonna make it!

Then later on in the song - it was probably seven minutes long:
I couldn't take it any longer
Lord I was crazed
And when the feeling came upon me
Like a tidal wave
I started swearing to my god and on my mother's grave
That I would love you to the end of time
I swore that I would love you to the end of time!
So now I'm praying for the end of time
To hurry up and arrive
'Cause if I gotta spend another minute with you
I don't think that I can really survive
I'll never break my promise or forget my vow
But God only knows what I can do right now
I'm praying for the end of time It's all that I can do
Praying for the end of time,
So I can end my time with you!!


Bat out of Hell (a song about commitment - I think my parents used to fast forward this one)

like a bat out of hell
I'll be gone when the morning comes
when the night is over
like a bat out of hell I'll be gone gone gone
like a bat out of hell I'll be gone when the morning comes
but when the day is done
and the sun goes down
and moonlight's shining through
then like a sinner before the gates of heaven
I'll come crawling on back to you


Two Out of Three Ain't Bad (for the true romantics in the crowd)

And all I can do is keep on telling you
I want you
I need you
But there ain't no way
I'm ever gonna love you
Now don't be sad
'Cause two out of three ain't bad
Now don't be sad
'Cause two out of three ain't bad


So there you have it. If for no other reason than sentimentality, I love Meat Loaf. It is oozing with cheesy goodness, it is smarmy in a good way (if that is possible), and the dude looks like he could sweat an ocean into existence, but I love Meat Loaf. The second Bat out of Hell didn't really do it for me, and apparently there is a third one coming out this fall, but for me it's all about the first one.

So on that note, let me end with a challenge - what is YOUR Secret Shame Music? What do you listen to that you want no one else to know?