# Jim Steinman

James Richard Steinman (November 1, 1947 – April 19, 2021) was an American composer, lyricist, record producer, and playwright.

## Quotes

* Let me show you how to drive me crazy, Let me show you how to make me feel so good, Let me show you how to take me to the edge of the stars and back again. You've gotta show me how to drive you crazy, You've gotta show me all the things you wanna happen to you, We've gotta tell each other everything, we always wanted someone to do.
** "Faster Than The Speed Of Night" from the Bonnie Tyler album Faster Than The Speed of Night (1983)
* It's all we ever wanted And all we'll ever need And now it's slipping through our fingers Faster than the speed of night.
** "Faster Than The Speed Of Night" (1983)
* I have travelled across the universe through the years to find her. Sometimes going all the way is just a start...
** Opening caption to the video for "I'd Do Anything for Love (but I Won't Do That)" (1993)
* I've been called over the top. How silly. If you don't go over the top, you can't see what's on the other side.
** As quoted in "The Bat out of Hell" by Jonathan Karp in The Washington Post (26 January 26 1997)

### Bat out of Hell (1977)
#### Bat out of Hell (song)

* The sirens are screaming and the fires are howling Way down in the valley tonight. There's a man in the shadows with a gun in his eye And a blade shining oh so bright. There's evil in the air And there's thunder in the sky And a killer's on the bloodshot streets.
* Oh baby you're the only thing in this whole world That's pure and good and right And wherever you are and wherever you go There's always gonna be some light.
* 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 the moonlight's shining through Then like a sinner before the gates of heaven I'll come crawling on back to you.
* Nothing ever grows in this rotten old hole And everything is stunted and lost And nothing really rocks and nothing really rolls And nothing's ever worth the cost. And I know that I'm damned if I never get out And maybe I'm damned if I do But with every other beat I got left in my heart You know I'd rather be damned with you.
* Then I'm dying at the bottom of a pit in the blazing sun All torn and twisted at the foot of a burning bike And I think somebody somewhere must be tolling a bell And the last thing I see is my heart, Still beating, Breaking out of my body And flying away Like a bat out of Hell.

#### Paradise by the Dashboard Light

* I never had a girl Looking any better than you did And all the kids at school They were wishing they were me that night.
* It never felt so good, it never felt so right And we're glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife.
* Though it's cold and lonely in the deep dark night I can see paradise by the dashboard light.
* Ain't no doubt about it We were doubly blessed Cause we were barely seventeen And we were barely dressed.
* Stop right there! I gotta know right now! Before we go any further — Do you love me? Will you love me forever?
* Baby, baby let me sleep on it Let me sleep on it And I'll give you my answer in the morning...
* 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!

### Total Eclipse of the Heart (1983)

* Every now and then I get a little bit nervous that the best of all the years have gone by. Turn around Every now and then I get a little bit terrified and then I see the look in your eyes. Turn around bright eyes. Every now and then I fall apart.
* I don't know what to do and I'm always in the dark We're living in a powder keg and giving off sparks. I really need you tonight Forever's gonna start tonight Forever's gonna start tonight.
* Once upon a time I was falling in love But now I'm only falling apart There's nothing I can do A total eclipse of the heart Once upon a time there was light in my life But now there's only love in the dark Nothing I can say A total eclipse of the heart.

### Making Love out of Nothing at All (1983)

* I know just how to fake it And I know just how to scheme I know just when to face the truth And then I know just when to dream. And I know just where to touch you And I know just what to prove I know when to pull you closer And I know when to let you loose. And I know the night is fading And I know the time's gonna fly And I'm never gonna tell you everything I gotta tell you But I know I've got to give it a try. And I know the roads to riches And I know the ways to fame I know all the rules and then I know how to break'em And then I always know the name of the game But I don't know how to leave you And I'll never let you fall And I don't know how you do it Making love out of nothing at all.
* Every time I see you, all the rays of the sun Are streaming through the waves in your hair And every star in the sky is taking aim at your eyes Like a spotlight.
* You can take the darkness from the deep of the night And turn it to a beacon burning endlessly bright I gotta follow it 'cause everything I know Well, it's nothing 'till I give it to you.
* I'm never gonna make it without you Do you really wanna see me crawl ? And I'm never gonna make it like you do Making love out of nothing at all.

### Bad for Good (1981)

    Many of the songs on this album were later performed by Meat Loaf on either Bat out of Hell II or Bat out of Hell III and by other artists.
* The sea is whipping the sky The sky is whipping the sea You can hide away forever from the storm But you'll never hide away from me.
** "Bad for Good"
* The icy cold will cut us like a knife in the dark And we may lose everything in the wind But the Northern Lights are burning And they're giving off sparks.
** "Bad for Good"
* I know that I'm gonna be like this forever I'm never gonna be what I should And you think that I'll be bad for just a little while But I know that I'll be bad for good.
** "Bad for Good"
* For the good of believing in a life after birth For the good of your body so bright For the good of the search for some heaven on earth For the good of one hell of a night, for the good of one hell of a night.
** "Bad for Good"

### Bat out of Hell II: Back into Hell (1993)

* I'll never forget the way you feel right now — Oh no — no way — I would do anything for love But I won't do that.
** "I'd Do Anything for Love (but I Won't Do That)"
* But it was long ago and it was far away, Oh god, it seems so very far. And if life is just a highway Then the soul is just a car.And objects in the rear view mirror may appear closer than they are.
** "Objects in the Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer Than They Are"
* And we’ll never be as young as we are right now
** “Lost Boys And Golden Girls”.

## External links

* Brief biography at JimSteinman.com