The singer known as Meat Loaf brings us today’s classic song of the day, “You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night).” I know this song is pure trash but it’s great trash and I love it.
“You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth” was the first single from Meat Loaf’s iconic Bat Out of Hell album, and purportedly the first tune that Jim Steinman wrote for Mr. Loaf back in 1975. The album and the single were released in 1977, although the track didn’t do anything on that first release. After the subsequent success of “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” and “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad,” Mr. Loaf’s record label, Epic rereleased “You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth” in October of 1978. That rerelease went to #39 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #42 on the Cash Box Top 100.
One of things I like about Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman and the Bat Out of Hell songs is how much they sound like what Bruce Springsteen was doing at the time, kind of sort of, ramped up way past 11 on the dial. There’s a reason for that. The backing musicians on “You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth” (in the studio, not on the video) included E Street Band members Roy Bittan on his distinctive classical-sounding piano and Mighty Max Weinberg pounding it out on the skins. Other musicians of note included producer Todd Rundgren doing double duty on guitar and backing vocals, Edgar Winter on sax, and Rundgren’s pal Kasim Sultan on bass. Ellen Foley and Rory Dodd handled the background vocals, while Marcia McLain and Steinman himself did the dramatic spoken word introduction. (“I bet you say that to all the boys.”)
Let’s face it, what that kind of all-star group working on this one, it’s no wonder the song was a hit. And, for a Steinman tune, it’s relatively short—just 4 minutes and 15 seconds for the song itself (5:04 if you count the spoken word intro). It’s a banger.
And here’s Meat Loaf’s music video for “You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth.” That’s Karla DeVito lip-synching Ellen Foley’s vocal parts—and doing the spoken-word intro with Jim Steinman. It’s so over the top that you can’t even see where the top used to be.
