Anything for love, but I won't do that? Here's what Meat Loaf really meant

Legendary singer and actor Meat Loaf died Friday at age 74, leaving behind a legacy of some of the best-known albums and songs in rock discography.

In particular, his 1993 hit song “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)” which was released as a single from his Bat Out of Hell II album, contains one of his most misunderstood lyrics.

Fans have long been confused by what exactly “that” is, that Meat Loaf won’t do for love. Despite the enduring confusion, Meat Loaf himself explained the lyrics including in a 2014 Yahoo! talk show interview with Ali Wentworth.

"It's the line before every chorus — I'll never stop dreaming of you for the rest of my life," Meat Loaf explained. “There’s nine of them, I think. The problem lies because Jimmy [Steinman] likes to write, so you forget what the line was before you get to ‘won’t do that.’”

According to the song lyrics, some of the other things Meat Loaf won’t do for love include:

• “forget the way you feel right now,”
• “forgive himself if you don't go all the way tonight”
• “do it better than he does it with you,”
• and “stop dreaming of you every night of his life.”

Meat Loaf’s 2014 remarks referred to Jim Steinman, the writer of the song which won a Grammy Award and hit the number one spot on charts in several countries.

Meat Loaf sold more than 100 million albums worldwide over the course of his career.