Released 1977 Recorded 1976 Writer(s) Jim Steinman | Format 7" Label Epic | |
Length 4:16 (single version)
5:04 (album version) | ||
"You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth" (also known as "You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night)") is the first single by the American musician Meat Loaf in his solo career. It is a track off his 1977 album Bat Out of Hell, written by Jim Steinman.
Contents
The album version includes a spoken word intro by Steinman and Marcia McClain. This was removed from the single version and most radio spins.
Background
Steve Popovich reportedly listened to the intro to the song and it became a key factor of his accepting Bat Out of Hell for Cleveland International Records. The ultimate irony was that Meat Loaf, Steinman, and the band tried for a year or so to get the record label with their music, and how they allegedly did so was a 45-second recording with no singing at all. The song has a reminiscently Motown feel to it, particularly in its echoed vocals, drums and drum breakdown.
According to his autobiography, Meat Loaf asked Jim to write a song that wasn't 15 or 20 minutes long, and, in Meat Loaf's words, a "pop song." His autobiography also dates the writing of the song to 1975, the song reportedly being a key factor in Meat and Jim deciding to do an album together.
When released, it wasn't too successful as a single, because critics condemned it for being too "theatrical." The track was never fully noticed until it became a B-side to "Paradise by the Dashboard Light."
The song was the first single released from the album (with an edit of "For Crying Out Loud" as the B-side); it failed to chart.
It was re-released after "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad" and "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" became Top 40 hits; this time the B-side was a severely truncated version of "Paradise by the Dashboard Light". This issue charted to #39 on the Billboard chart.
Music video
The video, as with "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad," "Paradise," and the others in the Bat set, was filmed on a soundstage as if it were a live performance, with Meat Loaf in his signature suspenders, ripped formal shirt, and bearing a red scarf.