You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth

"You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth" (also known as "You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night)") is the first solo single by the American singer Meat Loaf, released in 1977. It is a track from his album Bat Out of Hell, written by Jim Steinman. Steve Popovich reportedly listened to the intro to the song and it became a key factor of his accepting Bat Out of Hell for Cleveland International Records. According to his autobiography, Meat Loaf asked Jim Steinman to write a song that was not 15 or 20 minutes long, and, in Meat Loaf's words, a "pop song." His autobiography also dates the writing of the song to 1975, the song reportedly being a key factor in Meat Loaf and Steinman deciding to do an album together. The song was the first single released from the album, with an edit of "For Crying Out Loud" as the B-side. The record peaked at No. 73 in the Record World singles chart, but only reached No. 97 in Cash Box and didn't appear at all in Billboard Hot 100. Billboard reviewed the single, finding the guitar introduction to be energetic, the beat to be "catchy" and the vocal performance to be somewhat similar to Bruce Springsteen. Billboard also commented on how occasional pauses in the instruments allow the "infectious" vocals to be highlighted. Following the success of the next two singles, "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad" and "Paradise by the Dashboard Light", the song was re-released in October 1978 with "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" as the B-side. This issue peaked at No. 39 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, over a year after the first release of the song.