Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday; September 27, 1947 – January 20, 20… Read Full Bio ↴Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday; September 27, 1947 – January 20, 2022), known professionally as Meat Loaf, was an American rock singer and actor with a powerful, wide-ranging voice, famous for his theatrical live shows. He is on the list of best-selling music artists. His Bat Out of Hell trilogy — Bat Out of Hell (1977), Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell (1993), and Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose (2006) — has sold more than 100 million records worldwide. The first album stayed on the charts for over nine years, as of 2016 still sold an estimated 200,000 copies annually, and is on the list of best-selling albums.

After the commercial success of Bat Out of Hell and Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell, and earning a Grammy Award for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance for the song "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)", Meat Loaf nevertheless experienced some difficulty establishing a steady career within the United States. The key to this success was his popularity in Europe, especially in the United Kingdom and Ireland. He received the 1994 Brit Award in the United Kingdom for best-selling album and single. He appeared in the 1997 film Spice World and he ranked 23rd for the number of weeks spent on the UK charts in 2006. He ranks 96th on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock". Meat Loaf appeared in over 50 films and television shows, sometimes as himself or as characters resembling his stage persona. His film roles include Eddie in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) and Robert Paulsen in Fight Club (1999). His early stage work included dual roles in the original Broadway cast of The Rocky Horror Show. He also appeared in the musical Hair, both on and Off-Broadway.

Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meat_Loaf

Studio albums
Bat Out of Hell (1977)
Dead Ringer (1981)
Midnight at the Lost and Found (1983)
Bad Attitude (1984)
Blind Before I Stop (1986)
Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell (1993)
Welcome to the Neighbourhood (1995)
Couldn't Have Said It Better (2003)
Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose (2006)
Hang Cool Teddy Bear (2010)
Hell in a Handbasket (2011)
Braver Than We Are (2016)

Everything Is Permitted
Meat Loaf Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Everything is permitted, everything is allowed
And all our gods we have outwitted
We are running with the crowd
And all the clocks are showing zero
And all our parents must have fled
And we just never had no heroes
And all our enemies will soon be stone cold dead
Everything is permitted, there is nothing out of bounds

There are no limits or no fences
There is always some way 'round
And all the compass points are zero
And all the navigators fled
And we just never had no heroes
And all our enemies will soon be stone cold dead

If everything is permitted, if nothing ever is taboo
Then there is always something shattered
When there is something breaking through

And all the clocks are showing zero
And all our parents must have fled
And we just never had no heroes
And all our enemies will soon be stone cold dead

If everything is permitted, if nothing ever is taboo
Then there is always something shattered
When there is something breaking through
Then there is always something shattered

When there is something breaking through
Everything is permitted

Overall Meaning

In Meat Loaf's song "Everything Is Permitted," the lyrics suggest a sense of lawlessness and rebellion, as the singer describes a world where everything is allowed, and all the clocks and compass points are at zero. The singer claims that they have outwitted all their gods and are running with the crowd. The absence of heroes and parents further emphasizes a world without rules or guidelines, with nobody to look up to or provide any structure. The line "all our enemies will soon be stone cold dead" further implies violence and destruction, reflecting the chaos of a society without boundaries.

The repetition of the line "Everything is permitted" throughout the song adds a sense of urgency and inevitability to the narrative. The use of the word "permitted" implies a certain level of authority, suggesting that someone has the power to allow or disallow things, but in this world, that power seems to have been removed entirely. The line "there is always something shattered when there is something breaking through" suggests that even in a world where everything is allowed, there are still consequences that result from pushing boundaries.

Line by Line Meaning

Everything is permitted, everything is allowed
Nothing is forbidden, no rules to follow

And all our gods we have outwitted
We've surpassed the idols and deities that used to rule us

We are running with the crowd
We are following the masses without any direction

And all the clocks are showing zero
Time has lost its value and meaning

And all our parents must have fled
Our authority figures have abandoned us

And we just never had no heroes
We have no role models to look up to and guide us

And all our enemies will soon be stone cold dead
We have vanquished all our foes and left them in ruins

There are no limits or no fences
There are no boundaries or restrictions

There is always some way 'round
There is always a path to take to reach our desired outcome

And all the compass points are zero
Direction and orientation are meaningless

And all the navigators fled
We have lost our sense of navigation and guidance