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It's All Coming Back to Me Now

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For the album by David Crosby see It's All Coming Back To Me Now...

It's All Coming Back to Me Now is a power ballad written by Jim Steinman in 1983.[1] Inspired by Wuthering Heights, Steinman attempted to write "the most passionate, romantic song" he could ever write.[2]

Although it was intended for Bat out of Hell II and given to Meat Loaf in 1986, Steinman and Meat Loaf decided to use "I'd Do Anything for Love (but I Won't Do That)" for Bat 2 and save this song for Bat III.[3]

It has had three major releases, all roughly belonging to the soft rock genre. The first version appeared on the Pandora's Box concept album Original Sin. It was then recorded by Celine Dion for her Falling Into You album. Dion's version was a commercial hit, reaching #2 in the US Billboard Hot 100 and #3 in the UK singles chart. Meat Loaf's version, a duet with Norwegian singer Marion Raven, will be released in October 2006.

A music video was produced for each of the three versions. Death is a recurring theme in all of these videos, fitting in with the suggestion in Virgin's press release for Origianl Sin that "in Steinman's songs the dead come to life and the living are doomed to die."[4] This is particularly evident when the dead characters seem to be resurrected in the memories of the main vocalist. Template:Sound sample box align right Template:Multi-listen start Template:Multi-listen item Template:Multi-listen item Template:Multi-listen item Template:Multi-listen end Template:Sample box end

Inspiration

Steinman says that he attempted to write the most passionate, romantic song that he could ever write. Influenced by Wuthering Heights, he compares it to "Heathcliffe digging up Cathy's corpse and dancing with it in the cold moonlight." The song, though, is about the "dark side of love".[2]

"It's about obsession, and that can be scary because you're not in control and you don't know where it's going to stop. It says that, at any point in somebody's life, when they loved somebody strongly enough and that person returns, a certain touch, a certain physical gesture can turn them from being defiant and disgusted with this person to being subservient again. And it's not just a pleasurable feeling that comes back, it's the complete terror and loss of control that comes back. And I think that's ultimately a great weapon."[2]

All Music Guide calls the song "a tormented ballad about romantic loss and regret built on a spooky yet heart-wrenching piano melody."[5] This torment is present in the song's opening ("There were nights when the wind was so cold"), from which the singer recovers ("I finished crying in the instant that you left... And I banished every memory you and I had ever made"). However, the defiance in the verses are replaced by the return of the "subservient" feelings in the chorus ("when you touch me like this, and you hold me like that..."). This juxtaposition continues throughout the song.

There were those empty threats and hollow lies
And whenever you tried to hurt me
I just hurt you even worse and so much deeper

Eroticism is implied in the lines "There were nights of endless pleasure" and "The flesh and the fantasies: all coming back to me". The song ends with a passionate, quiet reprise of the chorus.

Pandora's Box

"It's All Coming Back to Me Now"
Song

In the interim, Steinman produced a concept album, Original Sin, with an all-female group called Pandora's Box, which featured many Steinman tracks that would later be recorded by other artists. Elaine Caswell was the lead vocalist for "It's All Coming Back to Me Now", and she apparently collapsed five times during its recording.[4] Caswell has since performed the song as part of the The Dream Engine at Joe's Pub in New York City.[6]

Roy Bittan performed on the grand piano, with Steinman and Jeff Bova on keyboards. Guitars were by Eddie Martinez, with Steve Buslowe on bass guitar. Todd Rundgren arranged the background vocals, which were performed by Ellen Foley, Gina Taylor and Deliria Wilde.[7]

The song was released as a single in the UK, but only reached number 51 in the singles charts, in October 1989.[8] In its emphatic review of the album, Kerrang! magazine called this song "excruciatingly operatic."[9]

Ken Russell directed the video, which was filmed at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire. Steinman wrote the script, based on Russell's segment in the compilation opera movie Aria.[10] Elements include leather, snakes, tombstones and cockrings with shrunken heads. It featured Caswell as a girl near death from a motorcycle crash being ministered to by paramedics, fantasising and being "sexually aroused by a large python and writhing on a bed that lit up in time with the music, while surrounded by a group of bemused, semi-naked dancers."[11] When Steinman's manager saw it, he said "It's a porno movie!"[10] The two day shoot ran over schedule and budget, costing £35,000 an hour. Russell and Steinman even designed a sequence where a motorcyclist would cycle up the steps of a local church-tower, jump out of the turrets at the top, and then explode. The wardens of the church refused permission.[11]

The 7", 12" and CD singles featured Steven Margoshes's piano solo "Pray Lewd" (containing elements of "It's All Coming Back..."), Steinman's monologue "I've Been Dreaming Up A Storm Lately", and "Requiem Metal", a sample from Verdi's Requiem Mass, all from the Original Sin album.[12]

Céline Dion

"It's All Coming Back to Me Now"
Song

Steinman then gave the song to Céline Dion for her Falling Into You album, which upset Meat Loaf because he was going to use it for Bat III.[3] Steinman produced the track, with Steven Rinkoff and Roy Bittan as co-producers. Bat Out of Hell and Meat Loaf collaborators Todd Rundgren, Eric Troyer, Rory Dodd, Glen Burtnick and Kasim Sulton provided backing vocals.

Nigel Dick directed the music video for Céline's version, with Simon Archer as cinematographer and Jaromir Svarc as art director. It was shot between 29 June and 3 July 1996 in the summer palace of the Czech Emperor, Ploskovice and Barandov Studios, Prague, Czech Republic. This video was released in July 1996.[13] Castle Ploskovice in Ploskovice supplied the exterior of the gothic mansion.[14] There are 2 versions of this music video; the full version (about 7:44 in length) and the single version (about 5:00 in length). Both of them are included on Dion's 2001 DVD video collection All the Way... A Decade Of Song and Video.

The video opens with a man dying in an explosive motorcycle crash after lightning strikes a tree down in his path. Dion's character is haunted by her lover's image, which she sees through a mirror, and images of them together through picture frames. There are stylistic similarities to Russell Mulcahy's video for Steinman's "Total Eclipse of the Heart", to the extent that Slant Magazine calls Dick's video an update.[15] Dion is seen running alone through a dark, gothic mansion, with wind blowing through the open windows.

Several versions of the CD single were released. One CD, released in September 1996, also featured the songs "Power Of The Dream", "Le Fils De Superman" and "Fly". A cassette and 7" vinyl version were also released.[16] Another CD contained several dance remixes, although these attracted negative reviews. While praising its original form, All Music Guide says "as a dance song it misses the mark... the final "Moran" mix is a little better [than the other dance mixes] because the vocals don't pop up until three and a half minutes into the song."[17] A dance version was also released by Natalie Browne in the UK in February 1998.

It's All Coming Back to Me Now single version was included also on Dion's CD compilation All The Way...A Decade Of Song (1999).

The song was a smash hit around the world, reaching #1 in Belgium, #2 in United States, Canada & Ireland, #3 in United Kingdom, #5 in Netherlands etc. It sold over 1.1 million copies in U.S. and was certified platinum. It's All Coming Back To Me Now was also certified gold in Australia & New Zealand, and silver in UK. The track reached #1 in some other American charts, like: Hot 100 Airplay, Adult Contemporary, Top 40 Mainstream or ARC Weekly Top 40.

The song attracted mixed reviews. The Calgary Sun said the the song "is undoubtedly the highlight of her English-language recording career. Dion's over-the-top vocals soar and swoop around Steinman's epic, ostentatious arrangement. Not surprisingly, everything else that follows...pales in comparison." The Toronto Eye Weekly said that Steinman's "fatal absence from the last Meat Loaf record is finally justified here." The Miami Herald said that "Dion knocks a couple out of the ballpark... [the song] features seven minutes of Wagnerian bombast, thunderclap piano chords and emoting that would wither an opera diva. Sure, it's over-the-top but it's passionate and musical."

Some reviews were less enthusiastic. After labelling Dion "a Madonna-meets-Meat Loaf vocal freak," The Vancouver Sun calls the song "intensely self-indulgent, pompously self-important and mediocre beyond belief, the song just never ends." The Ottawa Sun calls it "turgid", while The Toronto Sun, ironically, said that it "sounds like a Meat Loaf reject."[18]

Meat Loaf and Marion Raven

"It's All Coming Back to Me Now"
Song

In an interview, Meat Loaf said that, in his mind, the song was always meant to be a duet.[19] Before the listings for the Bat III album were made public, Meat Loaf performed the song in the 2006 season finale of American Idol with Katharine McPhee. It was recorded as a duet by Meat Loaf and Marion Raven for the album Bat out of Hell III: The Monster is Loose, and produced by Desmond Child. Raven had been working on her solo album with Child, and was chosen because the timbre of her voice starkly contrasts to Meat Loaf's.[20]

 
Meat Loaf's character mourning Marion Raven's, in the 2006 video directed by P. R. Brown.

P. R. Brown directed this video,[21] which premiered on VH1 Classic on 8 August 2006.[22] There are similarities to the video for Dion's version, with Meat Loaf being haunted by the memory of his lover. It is structured differently, however, with the story being told through flashback. Shots when Raven's character is alive have a distinct yellow tint, with a darker, blue tint for those after her death. Whereas the motorcyclist dies before the first verse in the Dion version, Raven's crash and resulting death is not shown until the final chorus. She flees from a masquerade ball (some reviewers have compared this to the Stanley Kubrick film Eyes Wide Shut[23]) in a car, which she crashes when swerving to avoid a man standing in the road.

The track was available to download from iTunes in the UK in August 2006, two months before its UK release on 16 October. The CD single will include the song "Black Betty", with the limited edition 7" featuring "Whore." It will also be released as a DVD single, which includes a photo gallery of the making of the video.[1] The album version was made available on Meat Loaf and Marion Raven's MySpace sites in August,[24] with the single version being played during some of their promotional interviews, such as the one on BBC Radio 2.[3] The cover art is by Julie Bell.[25]

This version of the song replaces the word 'nights' with 'lights', in the line "There were nights of endless pleasure." The single version omits a couple of lines that do appear in the album version: "There were things we'd never do again, but then they'd always seemed right", and "the flesh and the fantasies." The ending is also different, concluding with an additional "We forgive and forget and it's all coming back to me now." The album version, following the Pandora's Box and Celine Dion versions, ends with the female voice whispering "And if we...", followed by four piano notes.[26]

References

  1. ^ a b "It's All Coming Back To Me Now (1xDVDS)". Townsend Records. Retrieved 2006-09-06. According to this Reuters report (31 July 2006, accessed 11 September 2006), it was written for the first Bat Out of Hell.
  2. ^ a b c "Jim Steinman on "It's All Coming Back To Me Now"". JimSteinman.com. Retrieved 2006-09-04.
  3. ^ a b c Loaf, Meat (2006-08-04). (Interview). Interviewed by Steve Wright. {{cite interview}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |callsign= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |city= ignored (|___location= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |program= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |subjectlink= ignored (|subject-link= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ a b "Pandora's Box Press Kit" (Reprint on website) (Press release). Virgin Records. 1989. Retrieved 2006-09-04.
  5. ^ Guarisco, Donald A. "Original Sin: Pandora's Box review". All Music Guide. Retrieved 2006-09-22.
  6. ^ Diamond, Robert. "The Dream Engine Rocks Joe's Pub". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2006-09-08.
  7. ^ Murray, Richard. "It's all coming back to me now". Rick's World. Retrieved 2006-09-20.
  8. ^ British Hit Singles, Guinness
  9. ^ Jeffries, Neil (1989). "Jim In A Box" (Reprint on website). Kerrang!. Retrieved 2006-09-04. {{cite news}}: More than one of |author= and |last= specified (help)
  10. ^ a b Simmons, Sylvie (1989). "Sex, Lies & Videotape" (Reprint on website). RAW magazine. Retrieved 2006-09-04.
  11. ^ a b Hotten, Jon (September, 2000). "Bat Out Of Hell - The Story Behind The Album" (Reprint on website). Classic Rock Magazine. Retrieved 2006-09-03. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ "Pandora's Box Discography & Collectibles". JimSteinman.com. Retrieved 2006-09-03.
  13. ^ "Celine Dion 'It's All Coming Back To Me Now'". Nigel Dick. Retrieved 2006-09-25.
  14. ^ "Castle Ploskovice * A visit of the Castle *". BOEHMISCHER KULTUR KLUB. Retrieved 2006-09-06. This site does not mention the video, but a comparison of the photographs on that site to the video are conclusive.
  15. ^ "100 Greatest Music Videos". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 2006-09-20.
  16. ^ [1] & [2], Amazon.co.uk Accessed 6 September 2006
  17. ^ Promis, Jose. "It's All Coming Back to Me Now". All Music Guide. Retrieved 2006-09-22.
  18. ^ All of these quotations from reviews are borrowed from "Hedonists & Heretics". JimSteinman.com. Retrieved 2006-09-20.
  19. ^ "Rock Legend". Channel 9. Retrieved 2006-09-02. -- interview posted on YouTube
  20. ^ "Bat out of Hell III". Liner Notes. 2006-09-11. XM Satellite Radio.
  21. ^ "Meat Loaf & Marion Raven "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" dir. P.R. Brown". videos.antville.org. Retrieved 2006-08-29.
  22. ^ "Latest headlines". Virginrecords.com. Retrieved 2006-08-29.
  23. ^ Phipps, Keith. "Newswire: Watch: First video from BAT OUT OF HELL III". A.V. Club. Retrieved 2006-09-20.
  24. ^ http://www.myspace.com/meatloaf ; http://www.myspace.com/marionraven
  25. ^ "BAT OUT OF HELL III - INFO UPDATE". MeatLoaf.net. Retrieved 2006-09-20.
  26. ^ The version of Bat out of Hell III leaked onto the internet in September 2006 contained the single version of the song, although the longer version was played on Meat Loaf's edition of Liner Notes on XM Satellite Radio.

See also

Videos

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