Meat Loaf: I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That) Meaning

Song Released: 1993

I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That) Lyrics

And I would do anything for love, I’d run right into hell and back
I would do anything for love, I’ll never lie to you and that’s a fact
But I’ll never forget the way you feel right now, oh no, no way
And I would do anything for love, but I...

1. anonymous

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   Feb 16th 2009 !⃝

   I might be way out but here is my two cents:
   
   I think that the phrase “I won’t do that” is clearly a part of a morning conversation between the two lovers after a night of hot love. I believe that the phrase is a response by Meatloaf when asked to perform oral sex on her. He’s declining the request, obviously.
   
   SM.

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
2. anonymous

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   Dec 30th 2008 !⃝

   I heard it means he won't wait for her.

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
3. anonymous

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   Aug 28th 2008 !⃝

   In every verse he states what the "that" is
   
   -I'll never lie to you and that's a fact.
   
   -But I'll never forget the way you feel right now
   
   -But I'll never forgive myself if we don't go all the way - Tonight
   
   -But I'll never do it better than I do it with you
   
   etc etc
   
   Then during the woman's part he is responding to the things she has to say.
4. m320753

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   Jul 22nd 2008 !⃝

   Every man/boy has at one time or another been in this situation but has not have the courage to answer the way meat loaf does it's classic . He wants her he needs her but not enough to say I love her ; no strings no commitment just sex. you have to give him that point but I'll bet he went home that night and made love to Mr. Hand.
5. anonymous

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   Aug 25th 2007 !⃝

   I think "I won’t do that" has at least 3 different meanings depending on the line of the song.
   
   He will not cheat her.
   He will not kill (her man). (Maybe)
   He will never forget his promises.
   
   I think the song is basically about a man who is in love with a married woman.
   He's friend of her and he would do everything for her ("I would do anything for love").
   I think she has been cheated ("I’ll never forget the way you feel right now") (see later)
   and he claims he would never do this ("but I won’t do that").
   He did not know he could feel like that ("Maybe I’m crazy, but it’s crazy and it’s true")
   He says he would even "take the vow and seal a pact" (with the devil) to make her love him.
   
   I'm not sure maybe he wants to say she should come with him or he tries to have sex with her when he says
   "I’ll never forgive myself if we don’t go all the way tonight".
   
   "Some nights I just lose it all when I watch you dance and the thunder rolls" may refer to "The thunder rolls" by Garth Brooks.
   See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thunder_Rolls .
   So that would proof the cheating theory.
   In "The thunder rolls" the woman kills her huspend, so "I won’t do that" would mean he would not kill her man for love.
   
   "But I’ll never stop dreaming of you every night of my life, no way"
   He will always love her, but he can not get with her, because he is only dreaming.
   
   She asks what he would do, so one can see she is unhappy with her life.
   ("godforsaken town", "less cold", "colorize my life", "black and white")
   
   The "emerald city" could reference to wizard of oz but I rather think it's about the situation she wants to overcome.
   Look here what a emerald is said to be: http://www.sobrietystones.com/resources/GemBook/Stones/meanings_gemstones_emerald.htm
   
   So "grains of sand" is all that is left of her life.
   
   Then she claims he will "forget everything" and he will "move on" to another woman.
   "I won’t do that!". (He will never forget his promises.)
   
   She says she knows what she's talking about and his promises will "turn to dust"
   and he will (just like her man) "be screwing around"
   "I won’t do that!". (He will not cheat her.)
6. anonymous

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   May 24th 2007 !⃝

   This song is about a couple. Basically where he says "I'd run right into hell and back I would do anything for love, I'll never lie to you and that's a fact" Is what he will do for her. Then he goes on to say "But I'll never forget the way you feel right now, oh no, no way And I would do anything for love, but I won't do that, I won't do that" Here he is saying he won't ever forget how she feels and he wouldn't do that for love. The song is very self explanatory.
7. anonymous

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   Apr 17th 2007 !⃝

   I think he is saying he will never cheat on her. He talks about how he would do anything for "love" or in this case he means "sex" and that he would never cheat on this woman whom he is in a monogamous relationships.
8. anonymous

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   Apr 17th 2007 !⃝

   If you listen closely to what he says in the song, he talks about how much he loves her and how she is the only one who saves him, but then he starts complaining about her. She says she wants to settle down, he says he doesn't. Therefore, this song in clearly about marriage. He is trying to say he does not want to marry her, despite how much he loves her.
9. anonymous

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   Jun 2nd 2006 !⃝

   I think he is saying he would do anything for love but he won't have sex without protection......

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
10. anonymous

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    May 23rd 2006 !⃝

    I think Meatloaf is a vampire. He is saying that he won't KILL her for love. A guy at work told me so.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
11. chip068

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    Mar 15th 2006 !⃝

    This song is about two people involved in an affair, the one party is saying to the other that they would do anything but leave their partner. This is a selfish person who would rather accept the comfort zone of their life and turn true love away.
12. jim

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    Jan 26th 2006 !⃝

    I think he means he wouldn't lie, as per the first two lines of the song.
13. anonymous

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    Jan 1st 2006 !⃝

    I think when he says "I won't do that," if you listen to the very end of the song when the girl is singing she says "sooner or later youll be screwing around" then he says "I won't do that...no I won't do that..." So I think the big picture is he won't hurt her.

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