It's all coming back to me now

So what kind of music do I like?

Well, it is wide ranging. From The Corrs to Meat Loaf.

It is probably easier to list what I don't like:

• Most of the true 'classical' stuff - The Great Composers etc.
• Most Jazz
• Anything even remotely rap
• Trance and other electrosynth crap
• People that take old songs and resing them with a pathetic dang-dang-dang-dang in-yer-face bass beat. Suggs, are you listening? Jive Bunny, are you listening?

• You took the words right out of my mouth - Meat Loaf
• Bat out of hell - Meat Loaf
• Everything from the 'Bat out of hell II' album - Meat Loaf
• Holding out for a hero - Bonnie Tyler
• Deadringer for love - Meat Loaf / Cher
• Bad for good - Jim Steinman :-)
• It's all coming back to me now - Céline Dion

• Total eclipse of the heart - Bonnie Tyler

But I wish to concentrate on the title song of this page - It's all coming back to me now.
Céline Dion made this song famous in 1997. But did you know it had been floating around for eight years? Yes, I happen to have right here a 45rpm 12" record with the unedited version of this song. Lasting eight minutes and twenty two seconds, and sung by Elaine Caswell.

If you have the Céline Dion version to hand, or know it well, why not compare the songs...

(soft intro, similar to the Céline Dion version, only longer)

(calm)

There were nights when the wind was so cold
And my body froze in bed if I just listened to it right outside the window
There were days when the sun was so cruel
And all our tears turned to dust and I just knew my eyes were drying up forever (forever)

(strong, with sleigh bells (?!) one beat in each bar)

I finished crying in the instant that you left
And I can't remember where or when or how
And I banished ev'ry memory you and I had ever made

(calm, rememberance)

When you touch me like this
And you hold me like that
I just have to admit that it's all coming back to me
When I touch you like this
And I hold you like that
It's so hard to believe, but it's all coming back to me
It's all coming back, it's all coming back to me now

(strong)

There were moments of gold and there were flashes of light
There were things I'd never do again, but then they'd always seemed right
There were nights of sacred pleasure
It was more than any laws allow!
Baby, baby...
If I kiss you like this
And if you whisper like that
It was lost long ago but it's all coming back to me
If you want me like this
And if you need me like that
It was dead long ago but it's all coming back to me
It's so hard to resist and it's all coming back to me
I can hardly recall but it's all coming back to me now!!!

Kick-ass adrenalin-pumped guitar solo (a massive 58 seconds)

(calm, remorseful)

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
There were hours that just went on for days
When alone at last, we count up all the chances that were lost to us forever (forever)

(with attitude)

But you were history with the slamming of the door
And I made myself so strong again somehow
And I never wasted any of my time on you since then!

(calm, rememberance)

When I touch you like this
And if you kiss me like that
It was so long ago, but it's all coming back to me
If you touch me like this
And I kiss you like that
It was gone with the wind, but it's all coming back to me
It's all coming back, it's all coming back to me now

(strong)

There were moments of gold and there were flashes of light
There were things we'd never do again, but then they'd always seemed right
There were nights of endless pleasure
It was more than all your laws allow!
Baby, baby, baby...
When you touch me like this (touch me like this)
And when you hold me like that (hold me like that)
It was gone with the wind, but it's all coming back to me
When you see me like this (see me like this)
And I see you like that (see you like that)
We will see what we wanna see, all coming back to me
The flesh and the fantasies, all coming back to me
I can barely recall, but it's all coming back to me now!

25 seconds of piano / guitar interlude

(calm)

If you forgive me all this
I forgive you all that
We forgive and forget and it's all coming back to me

When you see me like this
And I see you like that
We see just what we wanna see, all coming back to me
The flesh and the fantasties, all coming back to me
I can barely recall, but it's all coming back to me...now
It's all coming back to me now
If you kiss me like this
It's all coming back to me now
If you hold me like that
It's all coming back to me now
If I touch you like this
It's all coming back to me now
And if we.....

  Duration            8 minutes, 22 seconds.

  Lead vocal          Elaine Caswell
  Grand piano         Roy Bittan
  Keyboards           Jim Steinman
  Keyboards           Jeff Bova
  Synth & programming Jeff Bova
  Drums & programming Jim Bralower
  Guitars             Eddie Martinez
  Bass guitar         Steve Buslowe
  Back vocal arranger Todd Rundgren
  Backing vocals      Ellen Foley, Gina Taylor,
                      & Deliria Wilde

  Engineered & mixed  Larry Alexander

  Written & produced  Jim Steinman

  Pandora's Box © 1989 Virgin Records Ltd (VST 1216).
  Published by Lost Boys Music / Rightsong Music Inc.

Somebody, whose email address got mangled somehow (grrr!) wrote to tell me that Ellen Foley's "We belong to the night" isn't a Jim Steinman song.
That is correct, so this has been removed from the list at the top of the page.

Excuse: This came about because of a CD I have with a collection of Jim Steinman songs sung by various people (Meat Loaf, Bonnie Tyler, Jim himself...), and there are also a few Ellen Foley tracks on it. As the styles are similar, I erroneously figured it was a collection of Jim's work. I was wrong. Oops. Whatever. :-)

Thank you for the correction, whoever you are...