Objects in the Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer Than They Are
I've always loved this song. I've even seen the video many times before. But I guess until I read the Wiki entry I never really "saw" it for what it is. Maybe @Tyr-Ziu Saxnot will like the lyrics as much as I do, and then the connection to an excellent video! And not surprising, how many musicians have their videos directed by Michael Bay!
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Michael Bay directed the music video for Propaganda Films.[7] He also directed the videos for "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" and "Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through", also from Bat out of Hell II. Allen Daviau was the cinematographer.
The music video has overlapping features so that it looks like that the actors are ghost-like, appearing and disappearing. The length of the music video is 7:42, compared to the 10:15 single version. Actors include Robert Patrick as Kenny's father, Greg Trock as Kenny, Will Estes as the grieving friend (young Meat Loaf), Joshua Diaz as the childhood iteration of Meat Loaf, and an unidentified model as "The Beauty on the Edge of Town".
Filming took place in and around Denton, Texas. Several parts were shot in Slidell, Texas on a large ranch.[7] The scene with the "beauty at the edge of town" washing her car was filmed in Valley View, Texas, near to the Oklahoma border.[8]
Plot
The video opens with Kenny playing with his friend (Josh Diaz), and the father (Robert Patrick) letting them sit in his airplane. A little older, Kenny takes the plane for a ride. The father runs outside just in time to see Kenny lose control of the aircraft, crash and killed ("They said he crashed and burned"). The firefighters extinguish the fire from the wreckage and an ambulance takes away the body.
Meat Loaf and Will Estes in the music video, showing some of the style of cinematography.
In the second section of the song, the protagonist (Will Estes [9])sees the ghost of the plane fly over the graveyard at Kenny's funeral. Synchronic with the lyrics relating to "winter" ("freeze"; "no leaves on the trees") in this verse, some of the mise-en-scene is minimal. It shows his father as a family man during the day but an abusive alcoholic all the time. The line "He hit me again, and again, and again" is accompanied by a baseball scene, rather than visually depicting the violence of "hit" that the autobiographical elements suggest.[2]
He runs away trying to regain his freedom ("I had to run away alone... my life became my own"). He then meets an older woman who teaches him everything "about the mystery and the muscle of love." A risqué sequence of them engaging in sexual activity in the back of a car matches the lyrics ("She used her body just like a bandage/She used my body just like a wound").
At the end of the video, whenever Meat Loaf sings the line "Objects in the Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer Than They Are", he sees either the ghost of the plane, the woman or himself when he was younger. As with the lyrics, the sequence depicts how, as Allmusic says, "he still feels haunted by their memory."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object...sic_and_lyrics
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"Objects In The Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer Than They Are"
The skys were pure and the fields were green,
and the sun was brighter than it's ever been
When I grew up with my best friend, Kenny,
we were close as any brothers that you ever knew
It was always summer and the future called
We were ready for adventures and we wanted them all,
and there was so much left to dream,
and so much time to make it real
But I can still recall the sting of all the tears when he was gone
They say he crashed and burned, I swear I'll never learn,
why any boy should die so young
We were racing; we were soldiers of fortune
We got in trouble but we sure got around
There are times I think I see him peeling out of the dark
I think he's right behind me now, and he's gaining ground
But it was long ago, and it was far away
Oh God, it seems so very far,
and if life is just a highway, then the soul is just a car
And objects in the rear view mirror may appear closer than they are
And objects in the rear view mirror may appear closer than they are
And objects in the rear view mirror may appear closer than they are
And objects in the rear view mirror may appear closer than they are
And when the sun descended and the night arose
I heard my father cursing everyone he knows
He was dangerous and druk and defeated,
and corroded by failure and envy and hate
There were endless winters and the dreams would freeze
No where to hide and no leaves on the trees,
and my father's eyes were blank as he hit me again and again and again
I know I still believe he'd never let me leave, I had to run away alone
So many threats and fears, so many wasted years,
before my life became my own
And though the nightmares should be over,
some of the terrors are still intact
I'll hear that ugly, coarse, and violent voice,
and then he grabs me from behind, and then he pulls me back
But it was long ago, and it was far away
Oh God, it seems so very far,
and if life is just a highway, then the soul is just a car
[Instrumental solo]
There was a beauty living on the edge of town
She always put the top up and the hammer down,
and she taught me everything I'll ever know,
about the mystery and the muscle of love
The stare would glimmer and the moon would glow
I'm in the back seat with my Julie like Romeo
And the signs along the highway all said
Caution! Kids at play!
Those were the rights of spring and we did everything;
There was salvation every night
We got dreams reborn and our upholstery torn,
but everything we tried was right
She used her body just like a bandage
She use my body just like a wound
I'll probably never know where she disappeared,
but I can see rising up out of the back seat now,
just like an angel rising out of a tomb
But it was long ago, and it was far away
Oh God, it seems so very far,
and if life is just a highway, then the soul is just a car
And objects in the rear view mirror may appear closer than they are
And objects in the rear view mirror may appear closer than they are
And objects in the rear view mirror may appear closer than they are
And objects in the rear view mirror may appear closer than they are
And objects in the rear view mirror may appear closer than they are
And objects in the rear view mirror may appear closer than they are
And objects in the rear view mirror may appear closer than they are
And objects in the rear view mirror may appear closer than they are
And objects in the rear view mirror may appear closer than they are
She used her body just like a bandage
She used my body just like a wound
I'll probably never know where she disappeared,
but I can see her rising up out of the back seat now...
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Originally Posted by hjmick
