Genre Pop Writer(s) Jim Steinman | Label Virgin Records Producer(s) Jim Steinman | |
Length 6:24 (Main version)
3:38 (7" edit) | ||
"Good Girls Go to Heaven (Bad Girls Go Everywhere)" is a song written by Jim Steinman. It was first performed by Pandora's Box on their album Original Sin (1989). Group member Holly Sherwood performed lead vocals.
Contents
Like many Jim Steinman song titles, this song's title appears to be derived from a popular expression or figure of speech. "Good girls go to heaven, but bad girls go everywhere" made its way into popular culture through entertainer Mae West and also Helen Gurley Brown, author of the popular book Sex and the Single Girl.
Cover versions of this song have been recorded by Japanese singer Megumi Shiina, and by Meat Loaf for Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell.
Pandora's Box version
The song was released as a 7" single, which also included the instrumental tracks "Requiem Metal" and "Pray Lewd". The 12" single replaced "Pray Lewd" with "Pandora's House - Room By Room".[1]
Video
A video for the Pandora's Box version was directed by Brian Grant. Set in a prison. It shows the arrival of a new inmate called Jenny (the name featured in the first chorus) and her induction. As the song begins, the other inmates dance around her. Holly Sherwood doesn't appear in this video. Instead, a female dancer lip-syncs to her vocals.
Pandora's Box line-up
Meat Loaf version
The song was recorded by Meat Loaf for Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell, which was also produced by Steinman. The album contained two tracks from the album Original Sin, the other being "It Just Won't Quit".
The main guitar melody of this version was reused in the instrumental track on Bat II, Back into Hell. It was also the main melody of Carpe Noctem from the Steinman musical Tanz Der Vampire (which Meat also recorded as Seize the Night on Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose, leaving the melody intact).