Radio edits are a good and bad thing. Taking out or covering up the bad words, good. Cutting the song down to 3:05, bad. (Kudos to you if you get that Billy Joel reference!) Speaking of cutting down songs and Billy Joel: I hate, Hate, HATE the cut-down version of “Piano Man”. Just play the whole ding-dang song already! The other song that seems to get cut down is “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)” by Meat Loaf, the singer whose death we mourn today.
This song came out about the time I graduated from high school and went to college. I know I heard it on the radio during that time. I bought the sheet music for the song after all (not that I can really play it. . .). I saw the music video much later, and my Phantom of the Opera-loving heart rejoiced.
“I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)” is quite a long song. With the full introduction and all, the song is almost twelve minutes long! It’s no surprise the full introduction gets cut, but why, oh why do they have to cut out half the actual song?! Sorry—I tend to get emotional about it.
You know I’m going to describe the misunderheard lyrics, as I am wont to do. Like most people upon hearing this song, I asked, “What won’t he do!?” Then after listening it a few times, I realized that the “that” he won’t do comes at the end of the song when the girl says he’ll forget everything and move on and cheat on her, to which he replies, “I won’t do that.” Awww. . .
Well, even in my realization, I was incorrect—at least I was only partially correct. Throughout the song he tells what he would do, and then just before the chorus he sings a phrase that begins with “But I’ll never. . .” What is contained in that phrase is what he won’t do. The end is only part of that. (See what I did there?)
So now you know what to listen for to hear what he will do and won’t do, but you’ll have to listen to the song for yourself. Just don’t wait for it on the radio. The DJs may play the song, but not the whole thing. No, they won’t do that.
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