Def Leppard

Released: January 20, 1983

Songwriter: Joe Elliott Richard Savage Steve Clark Pete Willis Robert John Lange

Producer: Robert John Lange

Somewhere in the distance
I hear the bells ring
Darkness settles on the town
As the children start to sing
And the lady across the street
She shuts out the night
There's a cast of thousands waiting
As she turns out the light

But it's too late
Too late
Too late
Too late for love
Too late
Too late
Too late
Too late

London boys are gazing
Girls go hand in hand
With a pocket full of innocence
Their entrance is grand
And the queen of the dream
Stands before them all
She stretches out her hand
As the curtains start to fall

[Chorus]
But it's too late, too late, too late
Too late for love
Too late, too late, too late
Too late

Standing by the trapdoor, aware of me and you
Are the actor and the clown, they're waiting for their cue
And there's a lady over there, she's acting pretty cool
But when it comes to playing life, she always plays the fool

[Chorus]
But it's too late, too late, too late
Too late for love
Too late, too late, too late
Too late

[Bridge]
Is it all too late?
Much too late?
Can't you see it's all too late?
Yeah, it's too late

[Chorus]
But it's too late, too late, too late
Too late for love
Too late, too late, too late
Too late

But it's too late, too late, too late
Too late for love
Too late, too late, too late
Too late

In 1977, Rick Savage, Tony Kenning, and Pete Willis were students at a secondary school in Sheffield, England. They had a band called Atomic Mass. Lead singer Joe Elliott joined later that year, and suggested a new band name. Within 10 years, that name, Def Leppard, became one of the most recognised in English rock music. To date, they have released more than 40 singles.

Def Leppard was a definitive part of the new wave of British heavy metal bands in the late 1970s. Their first three albums had tremendous momentum, each outselling the one before. Then, after the release of Pyromania in 1983, drummer Rick Allen lost his arm in a car accident. The band stuck by him through his recovery and retraining.

When Def Leppard came back, they came back hard. Their fourth album, 1987’s Hysteria, was a hard rock masterpiece that took the world by storm. By then the music video had matured as a film style, and Hysteria’s singles and videos had enough pop, sex, colour, and glam to put it over the top. Hysteria was one of the biggest-selling albums of the 1980s.

more tracks from the album

Pyromania

From the albums

Pyromania (1983)
Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection (2005)

Def Leppard popular songs

Too Late for LoveDef Leppard

Def Leppard

Pyromania