Gaynor Hopkins , more known as Bonnie Tyler is a Welch singer born on June 8, 1951 in Skewen, Neath, Wales. The begining of her stardom was in 1976 with her song, "Lost in France", from her debut album The World Starts Tonight which made the UK top 10. She then had a transatlantic top 5 hit with "It's a Heartache" in 1978.
In 1977 she had a throat operation, to remove her nodules .She was ordered to remain silent for six weeks. She didn't because one day she just screamed out in frustation. That episode of her life developed her distinct singing voice. ‘I had my first hit in America with my new husky voice on It’s a Heartache. Three other girls had recorded the song before me and it didn’t go anywhere in America, so maybe my husky voice was what that song, and my career, needed.’
She hit the big time when she became the first Welsh singer to have a transatlantic number 1 hit with "Total Eclipse of the Heart" in 1983, for which she was nominated for Grammy. The accompanying album "Faster than the Speed of Night" also entered the UK Album chart at number 1.
It was hard for her to repeat the success, but "Holding Out for a Hero" in 1985 from the Footloose (1984) soundtrack made her famous again. In 2004 she recorded the Total Eclipse song in French, and it went to #1 in France!
She remains active in the music industry having toured all over the world, the singer Meat Loaf, and performed at Michael Douglas & Catherine Zeta-Jones' (British actress and dancer) wedding. Also, she has become a successful business woman.
Like many celebrities Bonnie Tyler doesn't like aging , she declared in an interview in 2007 that she is a "bottox fan" which made her look more stunning than she should be at 55.
I've been around for such a long time. My first hit record was over 20 years ago and the people who bought my records then are married now and they probably still play these records and their children like them.
Meaning of the song
The protagonist is looking for a hero with amazing capacities that most of heroes have. Strenght, speed, wiseness and a natural high sense of proctetion. She is tired of the common men who are the complete opposite of her savior and who cannot meet her expectations for the man she could be completly devoted to. This hero is so amazing that he's almost untainnable , he probably lives so far away "Somewhere just beyond my reach" away enough for him to watch her, the hero in question might even be a god or a half-god living beyond the clouds and the stars.
She's holding out for him means that she is waiting for the right one to appear, she will be waiting until the end of the night if it is necessary
My interpretation for the song if I read behing the lyrics could be applied to many situations since I know that the main theme is the seeking for a hero. In the song "Somewhere after midnight in my wildest fantasy" could mean that the protagonist is in a helpless situation and that she may be friendless and/or isolated so the fact that she can dream could be her only form of escapism, she builds her own world, her own "white knight upon a fiery steed" hoping that one day he will come to life and maybe save her from whatever she is afraid of, running from.
Meaning of the video
In the beginning , we see a burning house the video then shots of angelic background singers dressed all in white. Bonnie Tyler then escapes from the burning house thereatened by evil cowboys dressed in black, carrying neon whips. A cowboy hero wearing all white riding a white horse, with a gun, and the evil cowboys flee on their horses. The cowboy appears as the song is ending in front of kneeled Bonnie Tyler. The meaning of the video is just linked to the lyrics except that we know now that the hero has now come to save the day and defeat evil.
The song "Holding out for a Hero" is related to the theme "Myths and Heroes" because the word hero is always mentionned and it is a portrait that is painted throughout the song with the traits of the common hero. The role of the hero here is as always to rescue the ones in need.
OK Koumba.
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