As a life-long fan of not giving a shit about American football, I missed almost the entirety of last night’s Super Bowl. Partly because it didn’t start until 11:30 at night in Britain, but mostly because I don’t care. But there was something unexpected that happened last night – I kind of missed it. But at least it could all be solved with a certain Moatloaf single. 

“Paradise By the Dashboard Light” is one of those epic 70s rock operas that will never exist in our realm ever agin. It’s a winning combination with Gease’s “Summer Nights.” There’s a radio station back in Wisconsin (no clue who, they might be a national station, but they must still do this whoever they are) that every Friday night they kick off their classic rock night by playing these two songs back to back. 

The video of “Paradise” is nothing much compared to some of Meatloaf’s videos, but it’s still pretty great in its simplicity of the great man performing with Karla DeVito in instead of Ellen Foley, who performed the female vocals for the song.

Nothing reminds me more of America on a Friday night than those two: leaving my little school and, well, probably going home because I think I only went to a handful of high school football games in the 12 years I went to school there.

But I think America can sometimes be it’s coolest in our daydreams. That’s why we are so soaked in nostalgia all the time. The lyrics to “Paradise” bare zero resemblance to my upbringing (meaning zero boyfriends), but it is so synonymous with memories of chocolate milkshakes and driving to family-owned pizza parlors that I can’t help but love this song each time it plays.

You can keep your Coldplay, I’ll stick to Meatloaf.