“Heaven Can Wait” by Meat Loaf

Meat Loaf’s “Heaven Can Wait” relies considerably on religious terminology, as inferred by its title. And to some degree it utilizes heavy-headed language that isn’t that easy to put all together. 

But reportedly, what it is centered on is a concept like the vocalist being thoroughly smitten. Therefore, the expression “heaven can wait” is meant to allude to the idea that he’s not interested in going to the titular location in the afterlife. The reason is because he already has “a taste of paradise” down here on the earthly plane as a result of being in love.

And to reiterate, it isn’t exactly like that idea comes screaming forth via the lyrics. In fact in a lot of ways, the words read as if it is actually religious-based. It is as if Meat Loaf may indeed be speaking to spiritual matters as opposed to, as put forth, romance. 

For instance, the term “let the altar shine” is very ambiguous within the context it is used in this song. And ultimately, what the singer is speaking to boils down to what exactly he means by having attained “a taste of paradise”. To note, elsewhere on the “Bat Out of Hell” album (i.e. on “Paradise by the Dashboard Light”), the term “paradise” is used as a metaphor for romance or more specifically sex.

And lastly, it should be pointed out that this song was originally conceived for a musical entitled Neverland. Readily-available information on said production is scant, considering that thus far it has only seen the light of day once, back in 1977. However, Neverland was a show whose songs, with titles such as “Kingdom Come”, “Gods” and “Bat Out of Hell”, as well as a character therein being named “Baal”, was definitely inspired in part by the Bible though most likely not in the Christian sense or anything like that. 

Or put differently, “Heaven Can Wait” can ultimately be considered one of those types of songs which utilizes established religious terminology to point to secular ideas.

Facts about “Heaven Can Wait”

This song was written by Jim Steinman (1947-2021), i.e. the author of the entirety of “Bat Out of Hell”, the album that this track comes from. 

It was originally intended for a musical he was put together entitled Neverland, and as such its penning dates back to the early 1970s. However, this piece more notably ended up being released as part of the aforementioned album, via Cleveland International Records, on 21 October 1977.

Bette Midler recorded this song, as a demo, prior to Meat Loaf getting around to doing so. In fact it was via Midler’s rendition that introduced Loaf to the song. 

Furthermore, two female singers who were involved, in varying capacities, with “Bat Out of Hell”, Karla DeVito and Ellen Foley, got around to coming out with their own version of “Heaven Can Wait” respectively in 1981 and, as far as Foley goes, in 2015 and again in 2021.

Todd Rundgren not only produced this song but also served as one of its backup vocalists, alongside Rory Dodd.