Meat Loaf Excerpt Vs Archilochus

Meat Loaf Objects in the Rearview Mirror:

There was a beauty living on the edge of town

And 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

Archilochus Excerpt:

Oh heart, my heart, churning with the unmanageable sorrows, rouse yourself and fiercely drive off your foes with frontal attack, standing hard by them steadfastly; and neither exult openly if you win, nor if you are beaten, fling yourself down at home in lamentation.

The first excerpt is from the song Objects in the Rear View Mirror, by Meat Loaf.  The first line is pretty straightforward; the “beauty on the edge of town” is obviously referring to a woman that Meat Loaf was in a relationship with.  The second line seems to say that this woman is very controlling in the relationship.  The “she always puts the top up” can be interpreted literally and figuratively.  In the literal sense it’s saying that Meat Loaf likes to drive a convertible with the top down but the girl makes him put it up when they drive, possibly because the wind makes her hair frizz or any one of a multitude of reasons.  This serves as a common theme of the relationship; He has to do everything that she says and is not allowed to make his own decisions. When he disagrees with what she wants, the woman “puts the hammer down” by reprimanding him in some way.  Simply put, he is whipped.  The third and fourth lines are saying that although the relationship was a bad one, it taught Meat Loaf a lot about love and how difficult and fickle it can sometimes be.

         The first part of the second excerpt, which is from Archilochus seems to send the message that if one is feeling sad or angry, he should put those feelings into something he is passionate about like fighting.  The “neither exult openly if you win... nor fling yourself down [if you lose]” line is saying to not take the result of the fight so seriously.  It is meant as a way to relax the mind and being hypercompetitive will not aid in accomplishing that.  

         Both excerpts deal with struggles that happen in the authors’ lives.  I think Meat Loaf is saying that when life knocks him down he sees this misfortune as a learning experience. Archilochus is a little different.  He is saying that people should not let their sadness and woes cripple them and instead of moping around, they should do something fun to ease the pain.