If I understand what I have read correctly, this song actually was originally in the place where “Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fire” now appears but was replaced by that song. It appears on the cast recording, so I’m covering that here, but it was not actually performed in the show at this point. It’s something of an alternate version of that moment, showing the perspectives of the women of the show instead of that of the men (and, honestly, it makes more sense than “Out of the Frying Pan” does).

It becomes much more clear in the next scene, but in its final form this musical is really about three troubled couples in various stages of their relationships. Strat and Raven are the main storyline as the teenaged star-crossed lovers. Raven’s parents, Sloane and Falco, appear as the middle-aged couple that has lost the spark and fun of an early relationship but both parties are, so to speak, pot-committed to stay together. And then the Lost also includes Jagwire and Zahara, a former couple who still have feelings for each other but just aren’t in the same place as one another emotionally.

The story of the post-apocalyptic teenaged vampire gang trying to topple the would-be autocratic leader of the heavily-damaged remains of New York is, really, an excuse to let us watch these three couples. The clash between the generations that serves as the primary motivation for the story in The Dream Engine is still around but it’s a small part of this final story.

“Good Girls Go to Heaven (Bat Girls Go Everywhere)” starts off with the same saxophone line as the Meat Loaf recording. Zahara, played by Danielle Steers (Who is really great throughout this show and doesn’t get a ton of opportunity.), opens with the melody going at lightning speed on top of almost entirely drums. Drums and horns are the majority of the sound of this version, which definitely sounds more like the Meat Loaf recording than the Pandora’s Box recording. The rhythmic piano that serves as the real foundation of the latter is just completely absent.

Sloane takes over for her (and Sharon Sexton is amazing) and then they sing together. Seemingly the idea is that Sloane is in Raven’s bedroom singing to her while Zahara is at the Lost’s hideout singing to them. In the second verse, Raven gets some lines as well (and Christina Bennington is generally good in the show, but I don’t think she fits in this song all that well–her voice is just a bit too delicate for this level of rocker, and having Sexton and Steers surrounding her makes her easy to lose). Sexton and Steers are the main singers through the rest, though Bennington does get a number of lines.

This version of “Good Girls Go to Heaven,” while it seems to fit the show better than the song that replaced it, is probably my least favorite version of the song. It’s great that it has real drums and doesn’t sound as electronic as Megumi Shiina’s original but it rather sounds like it’s taking the Meat Loaf recording and just replacing half of the guitars with horns, which is not an improvement. Everyone sings well, but it’s not enough to overcome the arrangement being worse.

Ranking the Versions

1. Pandora’s Box-Original Sin
2. Meat Loaf-Bat out of Hell II: Back into Hell
3. Megumi Shiina-“Kanashimi Wa Tsudzukanai”
4. Jim Steinman’s Bat out of Hell: The Musical