I'll choose something a little different here....... Isn't She Lovely by Stevie Wonder. Iconic song that appeals to almost everyone, and lifts your spirits.
Man. I was a college DJ in ‘79, and I remember the day “In the Heat of the Night” showed up. Pat’s voice and intensity blew us all away. I knew right away she was going to be a star.
As a kid, when I first discovered Pat Benatar, it was 1988 and her song "All Fired Up" was all over MTV. I asked my mom if she had any of Pat's other music and she loaned me her copy of the "Best Shots" album where I stumbled upon what would become the song that pretty much saved my life and that song was "Hell Is For Children". At the time, I was being harmed by a neighbor and nobody knew what was happening and that song spoke to me, like there was someone out there who understood what I was going through and clearly voiced all of the pain and hurt that I had. 20-something years later, everything came full circle. My friends took me to a Pat Benatar concert and somehow got backstage passes as well for my 30th birthday, which my friends decided to celebrate in the summer. When it got near the end of the show, I watched as Pat started to give her little speech about the song and how they always played it live in solidarity for victims past and present, I instantly started crying because I knew what song it was! It had been lightly raining for most of the show but for some reason it started raining a bit harder once she started "Hell Is For Children" and once she got to the heavy Rocking part at the end, I was screaming every word with tears in my eyes! We were maybe like 2nd or 3rd row and Pat made eye contact with me and threw a fist in the air my way. When I got to meet her and Neil backstage, I instantly started crying again as I told them the whole story of what had happened to me and how that song both saved my life and became an anthem for me to keep going. Before I left, I got a big hug from Pat, a picture with her and Neil, and my copy of "Precious Time" on vinyl signed by her and Neil with the saying "Survivors are rock stars and you are one"
Will never have a bad word to say about Pat, I got the opportunity to meet her when I was just 14 years old. I will never forget how nice she was in a situation where she didn't expect to meet a fan. See my aunt knew her mom, and I got to meet her when I went with my aunt to her mom's house and she just happened to be there. One of the nicest people I have ever met.
That’s nice for you. Maybe the media is painting a narrative about her, or maybe she’s become a victim of political correctness. Liberalism is a mental disorder.
I've always seen this song as such a power song, when she says hit me with your best shot, I've always felt like "hit me, I can take it" with the line "I'll get back on my feet again" basically just iterating "I'll go down but always get back up" Never seen it as a sexual thing, just a song full of confidence and power.
Exactly, it's not about violence, it's about self-empowerment and self-confidence. I've been listening to the song since it was first release and I never imagined it as about violence or sex. I have to wonder though if Pat isn't using this as an excuse to not do a song that is iconic of her; but hates?
I always took it as a positive thing…life may be throwing “punches” but you can tough it out, get back up and do better….prove yourself. It’s sad that people think otherwise. 😢
Agreed 100%. I completely disagree with her decision. I will continue to cover it in my shows. It's an empowerment song. Nothing at all about sex or violence. It's sad that she has this skewed view of her own music when all she ever did was provide a positive role model to young girls.
Definitely a memory song for me. I was divorced with 2 young daughters in my mid twenties, PAINFULLY shy, but I could sing. I had offers from a couple of metro Detroit area club bands, but decided that wasn't the kind of mommy image I wanted to present to my 2 little girls. So I got into a couple of Christian groups, singing for the Lord instead of singing for money. One group was rock gospel, and we did some great music. This was one of a couple of songs that Bob, our lead guitar player, always liked for us to warm up with. He loved the guitar solo. I loved to rock those vocals. The guys would jokingly call me 'Peggy Benatar'. When singing . . . I could be that strong, self confident person that I wasn't in real life. By the end of my twenties, I had found more of that strength and self confidence in my own soul.
As a female who grew up in the 80’s as a product of baby-boomer parents who instilled rather Victorian values of what it meant to “act like a lady,” “Hit me with your best shot” was EARTH SHATTERING for me. This song blasted the doors wide open for me. I began to see myself, not as “of the weaker sex”, but as EMPOWERED. This song didn’t mean ANYTHING about men hitting women, or about actual shooting, it meant, “Whatever you’ve got, bring it Baby, because I CAN HANDLE IT. I am stronger than whatever garbage you are trying to throw at me.” Seriously…BOOM! This was mind-blowing and life altering to me. To this day, it is my life anthem. Cancer? “HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT!” I’m really sad to hear that Pat “retired” this song. It’s too bad she couldn’t see it from another perspective.
Exactly! And I don't doubt for a second that she meant it that way when she sang it. How sad that she isn't carrying that message forward anymore. It got me through some serious tough times.
I interpreted it the same as you. I thought the song was gonna be that one about hell being for children!??? That’s the lyric I was having a hard time with at the time. Lol
Liberals ruin everything they touch. Not pushing a political party or Sarah Palin, but in one of her ads, she used a crosshair and indicated she was targeting a certain city or state to get their vote. The nutty controlled-Left said -- w/o proof [because they just made it up] -- that this was condoning violence. I too, am a product of the 80s and just loved this song and also thought it was about taking on others or the like who thought that they could defeat me. Once again, today's DEMs destroy everything they touch.
I've LOVED Pat since the first moment She, her music, her beauty entered my teen age brain! I have listened to her every chance available. I HAVE NEVER CONNECTED THIS SONG TO THE ACT OF FIRING A GUN !!!
The song is over 40 years old. Viewing “hit me with your best shot” as having anything to do with firearms is very, very new. Some soft-brained PR type with no understanding of metaphors probably advise her to retire the song and virtue signal about it for good press.
Pat Benatar was one of the few artists I saw live on more than one occasion. She always threw an amazing concert. In one of them, she sang this song as an encore and the crowd went wild. She acted a little reluctant and quipped "You all know how much I hate this song!" I honestly thought she was throwing in a little comedic sarcasm because she was smiling and then commenced to sing her heart out! She is truly the Queen of Rock & Roll!
No s*** huh? I think she doesn't like performing it,, but for inner reasons of her own still does even though she hates it... I've known girls who are masochists and all of them recognize that in Pat Benatar,, although she's not what one girl I knew called the dog collar variety LOL...
One thing that strikes me about Pat and Neil is that they must be one of the hardest-working couples in the music business. When Pat's career started to take off, she was playing in Houston (my home town) on such a frequent basis that I started to get the impression that she was a local act. Actually, they played Houston so often because a strong fan following had developed there, but she and her band were still playing nation-wide too. Man, did all that work and constant touring pay off! While I'm a little disappointed that she retired this song from her live set list, I really admire this woman.
Anybody that grew up in the '80s (or ever watched Fast Times At Ridgemont High) could tell you how big of an impact Pat Benatar had in the music industry and in pop culture. She was everywhere! Sex symbol to the guys, role model for the girls. I remember in Jr. High I was in 9th grade and my sister was in 7th grade. She was in the school band and they had a show for the students. I can't remember all the songs they played, but I do remember hearing Hit Me With Your Best Shot. All the songs were just the music playing, no vocals. The band did a great rendition of it. And I felt kinda weird because I was actually proud of my little sister. She played an instrument after the band instructor told me I had no rhythm and couldn't keep a beat. She made the family suffer through her practicing her clarinet for the show. But I was proud of the results. Goes back 40 years to admit that.
Pat Benetar was the 1st music video I think I saw on MTV. I have seen her so many times and she always finished her show with hit me with your best shot. Crazy that people get offended so easy these days. I have tickets to see her in a few months. I will really miss her singing that. It was her biggest hit. How can she not play that? I wish we could rewind and go back to the 80s.
Yeah, it's kind of sick that people are walking around looking for an excuse to be offended; that's a tactic I stopped using as a very young child. So most of the world has reverted to being 4-years old? GROW UP. Also, enjoy the concert, wish I was there. :)
As a teen you would think I picked up on the sexual innuendo, and I did, but I did see the song as more about self confidence. To use todays slang, the song is, basically, declaring "Bring it!"
Pat Benatar is amazing. 'Invincible' holds a permanent spot on my workout mix. The fact that it took so long for her to be inducted into the Hall Of Fame is a complete absurdity.
The Hall is a sad pathetic joke. Too many people that did not sing ROCK at all in there, yet they ignored a lot of great ROCK acts for literally DECADES - like Chicago and Deep Purple.
Pat Benatar, what an amazing set of pipes. The lady can sing! She might not like "Hit me with your best shot," but it is still a Rock and Roll classic.
Hit Me With Your Best Shot is obviously her most recognizable song, but Heartbreaker, imo is her best, hardest, banger by a mile! HMWYBS, is probably down around 5 or 6 on my personal list of favorite Benatar songs. And for anyone who didn’t realize that this was a proverbial metaphor as opposed to seriously promoting domestic violence or any sexual innuendo, well that’s what you wanted to hear. I was 13 or 14 when this came out, & I knew what it was about immediately. It’s too bad that time hasn’t treated this song fairly & she now feels like she cannot be performed anymore.
Pat exploded when I was in middle school. Damn what a badass rock and roller. Beautiful, talented and had a generation of teenage boys in the palm of her hands, including this one. Rock on Pat!!!
"Hit Me With Your Best Shot" was the first Part Benatar song I heard very young. I'll always remember it as one of my first Rock songs. The fact that she won't sing it live anymore, it really hurts deep inside. The song means so much to me, and always will.
I love Pat Benatar. "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" and "Love is a battlefield" is what I think of when I hear her name. She deserved all the fame and credit she got. I didn't think of her as a sex symbol, but as a great rocker. It's so sad that she thinks this song isn't good anymore. Thank you.
Pat Benatar is a true trailblazer and her fame is well-deserved. As for Eddie Schwartz, the royalties from that tune paid a lot of bills over the years and got him into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. Great story behind Pat's stellar career and the way this song came into being! Thanks, Adam!
One of my all time favorite female singers to this day ❤️ I'm amazed anyone can misinterpret this song as something negative, the meaning is so obvious.
My first concert was Pat Benatar in 1981 in Amarillo, Texas. I saved a whopping $8 to get a ticket. Her voice is awesome in concert! Way too many songs of hers that I love, so I can't pick a favorite.
As a teenage girl who wanted to sing & act, I took this song as inspiration to work hard, hone your craft, and then one day when a record exec looks at me doubtfully and says: "Okay, kid. Hit me with your best shot." That never happened in real life, but THAT is what this song inspired in me.
I was in a band in high school in the 80's. We were strictly a cover band. We had two female lead singers, so of course we had to do this song! And honestly, it fit us. Everyone that listened to us always enjoyed it when we played this song, and we got that same energy back from the crowd. It's too bad that Pat Benatar came to hate the song, because she absolutely killed it when she sang it!
I had my own opinion about this matter with my wife who informed me this song was one of those songs that gave her strength to push through life. We both shortened the opinion that like so many famous songs, these songs are truly owned by the public. Those people with whom each song had a hand in shapping all our lives, that yes legally it's the artist's song, but socially it is not. Doesn't the artist have the social responsibility to listen to the people with whom these songs molded their fans into the people they are today?
With that being said, it's possible that another artist could "take over" a song and make it theirs. There are plenty of cover songs that became more famous as a cover song than the song by the original artist. Whitney Houston's cover of I Will Always Love You, for example, was originally written and recorded by Dolly Parton. It was even a hit for Dolly on the Country charts, but Whitney's version is arguably the better known version nowadays. Wikipedia was pretty sketchy on covers of Hit Me With Your Best Shot, only mentioning Kelly Clarkson performing the song live.
Yeah, the true impact of these classics is how we the people of the United States of America and beyond interpret it. For some, it could be a metaphor, for others it could be a comeback story.
@Andey McFarlin agreed!! Not singing this epic song is a tragedy. It's the EXACT opposite of why she "claims" she won't sing it. It's an Anthem of the underdog, "get back up on my feet again" how could you interpret it any other way? Especially after singing it LIVE, and seeing with your own eyes, and hearing in real time how people react to it....
"Hit me with your best shot" has always been a rallying song for me, reminding myself that whatever life throws at me, I can take it. I can get back up and try again. As you said, we can always listen to it on our own, and I'm sure I will, many times. Thanks for covering it here.
Pat Benatar's vocals with Spyder's guitars are up there with Van Halen and AC/DC as the greatest rock act of the 1980s. Heartbreaker is one of the most perfect rock hits of all time.
I still think "Invincible" is her best song. The way that chorus hits you, they found a supernatural chord progression for sure. I was 6 when I saw "The Legend of Bille Jean" the first time. I've been a fan ever since.
@@moriconvallaria1279 I know she wrote it but I think Pat Benatar did it better. I think "Running up that hill" is EXTREMELY OVERRATED as well. The only thing I've ever liked by Kate is "Dont Give Up" with Peter Gabriel.
Pat is one of my all time favorites, and Neil is an excellent song writer and guitarist. I have all of her albums and listen to her often. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame FINALLY inducted her and it was long overdue.
Not my favorite of hers and Neil's, but definitely one of their best. My favorite memory of it was... I think on the ABC show "Fridays" that was kind of like their version of SNL... During the "break" in the song, hearing Neil bring everyone back in with the off-mic (but still picked up) count "one two three four" - "DAAAAARRRRRK"... such a cool moment.
@@AnastaciaInCleveland Yup! Michael Richards got his start there! I loved his "Kid with green army men" skits. And if you do a YT search for "Promises In the Dark Live" I'm pretty sure the one with Pat in the black jumpsuit with red laces is the performance I saw. Neil does the count in the middle.
Pat Benatar's song "Here's My Heart" for thr film METROPOLIS (1984) is such a little-known hidden gem. She sings the heck of it and more people should know about it.
I saw Pat Benatar live in 2007 at Casino Aztar. She never sang this song during the show leaving everyone to believe it would be her encore. The song never came and she left us with this " I don't perform that song anymore" as the crowd was screaming 'Hit me with your best shot" She exited the stage and that was it. For all these years I wondered why, thanks to the Professor of Rock I now know.
I guess she got to the point where her morality/ego surpassed her obligation to the fan base, by deleting Hit me with your best shot from her set. It's not a wise game to play when a performer relies on ticket sales for live show, as opposed to album/digital catalogue revenue, as things stand. If artists want to alienate their fan bases by making such stances, be it at their own financial peril.
@XxLilly_playsXx Kiz nah, it's a totally stupid reason. This song is an Anthem for the underdog, "get back on my feet again" HOW could anyone in their right minds think this has some "evil" intent? It's INSPIRING. Read some (any really) of the comments from this video. Everyone was inspired by this song. The foolish reason she "claims" for not singing it, is ridiculous.
The guitar solo is one of the things I remember about that song along with many of her other songs. You had a brief clip of it. Neil was an essential part of what made her songs rock.
@@DAVEBROWNE2004 Woke means challenging injustice like sexism, misogyny, homophobia and patriarchy. The world needs as much so called woke as possible. Needless to say most of those who decry it cannot even define it which speaks volumes. Next level woke is what the world needs. Hope for the future.
Thank you for doing a video on this song. I love Pat's singing and have since the first time I heard her. I don't get how anyone would think the song is about any violence it seems clear it is about I will take what ever you throw at me and excel, overcome. It doesn't hurt Pat is a beautiful lady but I love her power and strength in her voice. Be safe all.
What a shame Pat isn't doing this song anymore. I saw her in concert back in the 90's and she was phenomenal. I also always saw Hit me with Your Best Shot song as being about female empowerment. I remember being in middle school and listening to the song and feeling confidant and strong during a time in my life as a young pre-teen girl who felt awkward and meek.
I was looking everywhere for this. I was at her concert in Las Vegas a few months ago. People were asking for "Hit me with your best shot" it was never played. I was wondering why, lookin all over for an answer and her we are. THANK YOU
😎👍🏻 Every time I watch one of your videos, I walk away with a new all-time favorite song. How can they ALL be that good?? Simple, your love for each of them is highly contagious. I'm starting a reserved playlist of songs you've taught me about. ❤️❤️❤️
I saw Pat Benatar in the mid 80ties she totally dominated the stage. The music was great, her voice impeccable. I especially remember her drummer was quite a performer.
I was a teenager in the 80s and it might have been how music in my teens helped me through some bad teenage times but I swear music was just better in the 80s than it is now.
Run Between The Raindrops (Philadelphia, '88) and Somebody's Baby are two of THE most underrated songs by Pat. She's wonderful to be around too, very kind and generous.
Anyone who takes the words "hit me with your best shot" literally needs more living in the world. It's a metaphor. Don't metaphors exist in today's world?
As a teen in the 80s I always knew it was metaphorical, so to think that people took it as a song about violence is just sad. I loved listening to her and many other 80s legends. I truly miss the music of the 80s. I love a lot of the music today, but it just doesn't measure up to stuff we had back then.
Well considering I recall one of my in-laws commenting that she didn't like Britney Spears when she was up an coming, simply because her song, 'Hit Me, Baby' quote: "Encouraged domestic violence," yeah, I think folks have a hard time understanding metaphors, particularly parents.
God, I love this band...such classic rock. We in Wisconsin are so lucky...they perform here almost every year, like 8 miles from my house. Wouldn't miss them. Great singer, great music, an adorable loving couple...kismet. Her choice on the songs sung tho I looove 'hit me with your best shot.Never thought of it as sexist??? Finally...hats off to Neil Giraldo who is a driving force behind the great sound and a superb musician in his own right. Cheers from Wisconsin! 🐄
Her newer stuff like gravity’s rainbow is my favorite body of work from her. She really pours herself into her music and I’ve always enjoyed listening to her music.
When I was young I loved to sing. My greatest teachers were Karen Carpenter, Patsy Cline, Linda Rondstadt, Ann Wilson, and, of course, Pat Benatar. I absolutely loved Pat's Crimes of Passion album. She is still incredible, still rocking, and she looks beautiful with silver hair.
Pat has always been my favorite! As a senior in high school "Heartbreaker" was released and I was amazed at her talent. Have purchased every thing she has released. I'll admit that "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" has been my favorite, but I respect her decision. I guess the highlight of the next show for me will be "Fire and Ice"! Thank you Pat for memories and thank you Professor of Rock, definitely my favorite TH-cam channel.
I remember when this song song came out. I always thought it was a confidence thing too. "No matter what you do to me, you won't defeat me." It has nothing to do with violence. My teen found my copy of the album last year. It's not one of her favorite songs for the same reason, so much so she even drew me an Anime version of the album cover as my Christmas present. Thanks PoF for this story. 😍
Great memory from 90's: punk band in Reno asked the crowd if they knew the lyrics to "Hit Me With Your Best Shot".. they wanted to play it but didn't know the words. Few minutes later there was a fan on the riser belting it out. Rock standard for sure!
A song is whatever the writer, singer or listener wants it to be. As a Canadian when I hear this song all I can visualize in my mind, is a tough hockey game ever since I was 10. I've never associated it with anything else, to me it was a sports anthem. She's my favorite solo artist for over 40 years, but if Hell is for children, All Fired Up and Hit Me With Your Best Shot aren't on the set list together. I would consider the night a total failure for myself 😔 Some songs just put one's self in their happiest place, unfortunately some people have an alternate universes to others happy place.
I fell in love with her music the second I saw her video you better run on MTV. I respect her decision and she is still a powerhouse no matter what. I love singing along to hit me with your best shot. Absolutely love her music. Thanks for sharing this Adam.
I saw Pat and Neil last July at a casino in northwest Indiana. She still puts on a powerful show. This was shortly after she decided not to perform Hit Me in her shows. She took a few minutes to explain why they weren't going to perform the song. It was shortly after the July 4th shooting in Highland Park, IL. Rock On Pat!
She ruined the song for herself. Making it a gun song. It isn’t. Just a song. A good one.I wonder what her husband thinks of her decision? Bet it’s different.
She obviously knows it’s not about guns. The point is she is not performing one of her most popular songs as a personal statement against the proliferation of gun violence. The fact that she never really liked the song is just a bonus.
I was a teenager in the '80s and I also had a background in Opera so I fell in love with Pat Benatar and sang many of her songs at my own auditions. Hit me with your best shot is a wonderful song, but not my favorite that she's done. I loved things like my Clone sleeps alone, and Hell is for children, and her version of Wuthering Heights. I respect her as an artist today as much as I did then. Thank you for this wonderful episode❤
Hit Me With Your Best Shot always reminds me of ice skating at the hockey rink at the park near my house as a kid. They'd just blast rock music over the PA the whole night. This song was huge then.
She's one of my all time favorite artists. Started listening to her in the van on the 8 track player...Crimes of Passion. Her music helped me know how strong women are and feelings about relationships. Thanks Pat
But nothing that many others do not offer…he must have needed her to gain fame because he is never mentioned as guitarists now. Sorry dude. He could play guitar but so can thousands
For those who know of her mostly through her radio/MTV hits, there are some overlooked gems in her discography. Tropico has always been one of my favorite Pat Benatar albums. Innamorata is solid too. Check 'em out when you have a chance.
I went to see Pat Benatar in concert 1982 & 1983(2 nites in a row). She and Neil rocked it all 3 times!. It's amazing that they are both still rockin today! If they came back to my hometown, I will go for sure.
I didn't recognise the song title but knew it instantly when you played a clip. Pat has such a great rock voice, one of the best. It can't be easy for a songwriter to fully accept a song that isn't theirs, that detail is always there and can't be escaped. It's also nice to see a love at first sight relationship actually work out. So many stars talk about it and finding their soul mates (or whatever), only for it to end a within a year or two. Good for her.
@@PianoMan-hx3ev You just proved my point as being 100% correct. You couldn't even read my very basic comment correctly, which didn't disagree with you. Intelligent thought is obviously impossible for you.
I was at the concert in 1981 at the New Haven Collusseum where she was filming her HBO special. I worked back stage security and got to meet the band. I was awestruck and they were as nice as they could be.
Her hit Heartbreaker was used with good dramatic effect in the recent movie Nobody. Her singing is great and some early classical music recordings show her vocal training prowess.
This shows how much social rumouring got to me back in those days - I, too, thought the song was a sexualized thing, but the real history totally makes sense. I think it is fine that Pat doesn't sing it live now, though the reason why is not fine - we have collectively lost our minds to think that mass shootings are any kind of a good idea or that they are inevitable - so she wants to stay clear of provoking such a thing - "let it be that my actions do not make someone else stumble..." Very Christian response. I am glad she is still around; like so many of us, she was a big voice of the time. My favorite song of hers is "We Belong", and then "Shadows of the Night", then "Love is a Battlefield - long version" - We belong I always misheard as "We belong to the Light, we belong to the Father" (it is really "thunder") but it was very inspiring to me to hear it, and it had such tasty synth licks... amazing singer and great musical support!
I Think it’s ridiculous that she won’t sing it anymore. It’s her biggest hit, not my personal favorite Pat Benatar song, but it was the money maker 21:25 for her. There’s too much going on with this MeToo movement and the gun control thing. It’s a song. Simply a song. You don’t have to make a social statement out of it. No one was even entertaining those ideas back in the 80s, when this song came out. It could be an anthem in a sports arena, it can be a break my heart song but I’ll get back up, it can be perceived so many ways. It’s a shame because I’m sure many of her fans are going to her shows hoping to hear this song. Again it’s not my favorite Pat Benatar song. I did love the Martina McBride/Pat Benatar CrossRoads episode. It was one of the very best I’ve ever seen, next to the Keith Urban/John Mayer episode.
I always associated this song with being strong, and able to overcome anything life throws at you!! I’m sure there are scores of women for decades who’ve used this song as a source strength after divorce or other hardship. I believe only handwritten letters from thousands of these women could convince Pat to change her mind.
When that song came out I first heard it because we had it in middle school band for the marching side and a bigger version for stage band. I just liked everything about Pat Benatar's music. It was also a time when I was exposed to more bands that I got into like Pink Floyd, Police, Men at Work, etc.... Great times for music.
Pat's songs empowered young women in the 80s and gave us the strength to not take crap from anyone. I never took Hit Me With Your Best Shot literally, but figuratively which gave so many woman inner strength to stand up for themselves. I just hope she knows how many women she empowered to fund their inner strength.
Poll: What is your pick for the best signature hit for an artist ever? A song that has to be played if they ever perform a show you're at?
Hotel California
I'll choose something a little different here....... Isn't She Lovely by Stevie Wonder. Iconic song that appeals to almost everyone, and lifts your spirits.
Camper Van Beethoven "Take the Skinheads Bowling" - I saw them perform it live at First Ave, it was awesome.
Kayleigh Marillion
Sultans of Swing
Friends In Low Places. Garth Brooks. Especially with 82000 mad Irish fans singing the lost verse
Piano Man - Billy Joel
Man. I was a college DJ in ‘79, and I remember the day “In the Heat of the Night” showed up. Pat’s voice and intensity blew us all away. I knew right away she was going to be a star.
As a kid, when I first discovered Pat Benatar, it was 1988 and her song "All Fired Up" was all over MTV. I asked my mom if she had any of Pat's other music and she loaned me her copy of the "Best Shots" album where I stumbled upon what would become the song that pretty much saved my life and that song was "Hell Is For Children". At the time, I was being harmed by a neighbor and nobody knew what was happening and that song spoke to me, like there was someone out there who understood what I was going through and clearly voiced all of the pain and hurt that I had.
20-something years later, everything came full circle. My friends took me to a Pat Benatar concert and somehow got backstage passes as well for my 30th birthday, which my friends decided to celebrate in the summer. When it got near the end of the show, I watched as Pat started to give her little speech about the song and how they always played it live in solidarity for victims past and present, I instantly started crying because I knew what song it was! It had been lightly raining for most of the show but for some reason it started raining a bit harder once she started "Hell Is For Children" and once she got to the heavy Rocking part at the end, I was screaming every word with tears in my eyes! We were maybe like 2nd or 3rd row and Pat made eye contact with me and threw a fist in the air my way.
When I got to meet her and Neil backstage, I instantly started crying again as I told them the whole story of what had happened to me and how that song both saved my life and became an anthem for me to keep going. Before I left, I got a big hug from Pat, a picture with her and Neil, and my copy of "Precious Time" on vinyl signed by her and Neil with the saying "Survivors are rock stars and you are one"
Will never have a bad word to say about Pat, I got the opportunity to meet her when I was just 14 years old. I will never forget how nice she was in a situation where she didn't expect to meet a fan. See my aunt knew her mom, and I got to meet her when I went with my aunt to her mom's house and she just happened to be there. One of the nicest people I have ever met.
LUCKY YOU!!! 😁
CBS Sunday Morning did an interview with her a couple years ago. She’s a stand up gal.
That’s nice for you. Maybe the media is painting a narrative about her, or maybe she’s become a victim of political correctness. Liberalism is a mental disorder.
I hated how she was propped up early 00s by rocker wannabes (cough Kelly cough 😷).
What makes her sexy is her not thinking she's sexy and not destroying her body to fit the industry's idea of sexy.
I've always seen this song as such a power song, when she says hit me with your best shot, I've always felt like "hit me, I can take it" with the line "I'll get back on my feet again" basically just iterating "I'll go down but always get back up"
Never seen it as a sexual thing, just a song full of confidence and power.
She’s made of steel, if you come for her, you’ll bounce right off.
@@xxlilly_playsxxkiz9980 or shes a weeble wobble haha
Exactly, it's not about violence, it's about self-empowerment and self-confidence. I've been listening to the song since it was first release and I never imagined it as about violence or sex. I have to wonder though if Pat isn't using this as an excuse to not do a song that is iconic of her; but hates?
I always took it as a positive thing…life may be throwing “punches” but you can tough it out, get back up and do better….prove yourself. It’s sad that people think otherwise. 😢
Agreed 100%. I completely disagree with her decision. I will continue to cover it in my shows. It's an empowerment song. Nothing at all about sex or violence. It's sad that she has this skewed view of her own music when all she ever did was provide a positive role model to young girls.
I never thought of that as violent. To me it was letting people know she was no pushover.
I've always felt the same thing. Even as a kid.
She will come right back atcha.
It was a “bring it on”declaration
Never thought it to be anything thing else
I also never thought of it as violent
Definitely a memory song for me. I was divorced with 2 young daughters in my mid twenties, PAINFULLY shy, but I could sing. I had offers from a couple of metro Detroit area club bands, but decided that wasn't the kind of mommy image I wanted to present to my 2 little girls. So I got into a couple of Christian groups, singing for the Lord instead of singing for money. One group was rock gospel, and we did some great music. This was one of a couple of songs that Bob, our lead guitar player, always liked for us to warm up with. He loved the guitar solo. I loved to rock those vocals. The guys would jokingly call me 'Peggy Benatar'. When singing . . . I could be that strong, self confident person that I wasn't in real life. By the end of my twenties, I had found more of that strength and self confidence in my own soul.
Love that Peggy. ❤
Blessings to you!
Love this!
God wouldn't have minded if you sang rock but glad you did what made you happy
I think being in those bands was exactly the image your kids needed, rather than fairytale self-serving selfish Jesus rubbish. Sorry.
As a female who grew up in the 80’s as a product of baby-boomer parents who instilled rather Victorian values of what it meant to “act like a lady,” “Hit me with your best shot” was EARTH SHATTERING for me. This song blasted the doors wide open for me. I began to see myself, not as “of the weaker sex”, but as EMPOWERED. This song didn’t mean ANYTHING about men hitting women, or about actual shooting, it meant, “Whatever you’ve got, bring it Baby, because I CAN HANDLE IT. I am stronger than whatever garbage you are trying to throw at me.” Seriously…BOOM! This was mind-blowing and life altering to me. To this day, it is my life anthem. Cancer? “HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT!” I’m really sad to hear that Pat “retired” this song. It’s too bad she couldn’t see it from another perspective.
Agree! Always thought of it as an empowering song, saying stand up for yourself no matter what comes at you in life.
Exactly! And I don't doubt for a second that she meant it that way when she sang it. How sad that she isn't carrying that message forward anymore. It got me through some serious tough times.
I interpreted it the same as you. I thought the song was gonna be that one about hell being for children!??? That’s the lyric I was having a hard time with at the time. Lol
Liberals ruin everything they touch. Not pushing a political party or Sarah Palin, but in one of her ads, she used a crosshair and indicated she was targeting a certain city or state to get their vote. The nutty controlled-Left said -- w/o proof [because they just made it up] -- that this was condoning violence. I too, am a product of the 80s and just loved this song and also thought it was about taking on others or the like who thought that they could defeat me. Once again, today's DEMs destroy everything they touch.
That’s how I always viewed it. An anti bully anti abuse song. A shame she didn’t see it that way.
I've LOVED Pat since the first moment She, her music, her beauty entered my teen age brain!
I have listened to her every chance available.
I HAVE NEVER CONNECTED THIS SONG TO THE ACT OF FIRING A GUN !!!
That may be an Americanism since a lot of their cultural does involve guns. I liken it more to boxing myself but to each their own.
I had forgotten about her. Haven't heard a song of hers on the radio in 35 years.
The song is over 40 years old. Viewing “hit me with your best shot” as having anything to do with firearms is very, very new. Some soft-brained PR type with no understanding of metaphors probably advise her to retire the song and virtue signal about it for good press.
I thought it was FIRE & ICE (or eve HEARTBREAKER) that shot her to super startdom
Pat Benatar was one of the few artists I saw live on more than one occasion. She always threw an amazing concert. In one of them, she sang this song as an encore and the crowd went wild. She acted a little reluctant and quipped "You all know how much I hate this song!" I honestly thought she was throwing in a little comedic sarcasm because she was smiling and then commenced to sing her heart out! She is truly the Queen of Rock & Roll!
I agree... The QUEEN for sure.
She was so awesome
She still is awesome. She continues to perform.
No s*** huh? I think she doesn't like performing it,, but for inner reasons of her own still does even though she hates it... I've known girls who are masochists and all of them recognize that in Pat Benatar,, although she's not what one girl I knew called the dog collar variety LOL...
She was amazing in concert. She knew how to get her audience pumped up and she loved having them sing the songs with her.
One of my favorite concerts was Pat benatar, REO Speedwagon and Fleetwood Mac, what a night
When I was a kid my mom played Air Supply and Barry Manilow vinyl nonstop. When she bought Pat Benatar records, it was such sweet relief.
One of the greatest voices in rock history
She has a good voice yes, but one of the best in rock history absolutely not
@@squirellmaster1 So you don't have her in say, the top 20 at least?
Truth!!!
@@thedys70 sure, if it makes you feel better
@@squirellmaster1 fine; if you enjoy pissing on other people's talent
One thing that strikes me about Pat and Neil is that they must be one of the hardest-working couples in the music business. When Pat's career started to take off, she was playing in Houston (my home town) on such a frequent basis that I started to get the impression that she was a local act. Actually, they played Houston so often because a strong fan following had developed there, but she and her band were still playing nation-wide too. Man, did all that work and constant touring pay off! While I'm a little disappointed that she retired this song from her live set list, I really admire this woman.
Little did you know she was a star indeed.
I'm glad that she finally got into the Rock Hall of Fame because she rocked harder than most...
So true! Pat was finally, thankfully, inducted. Way to go, Ms. Benatar ❤
In a world where Jay-Z gets in before Pat Benatar, still. RRHOF = 🗑️
Me too! 👍 She was LONG overdue! Better late than never I guess! 🤷🏻♂️
Is Blondie in there?
@W81Researcher … Yeah, they were inducted back in 2006!
Anybody that grew up in the '80s (or ever watched Fast Times At Ridgemont High) could tell you how big of an impact Pat Benatar had in the music industry and in pop culture. She was everywhere! Sex symbol to the guys, role model for the girls. I remember in Jr. High I was in 9th grade and my sister was in 7th grade. She was in the school band and they had a show for the students. I can't remember all the songs they played, but I do remember hearing Hit Me With Your Best Shot. All the songs were just the music playing, no vocals. The band did a great rendition of it. And I felt kinda weird because I was actually proud of my little sister. She played an instrument after the band instructor told me I had no rhythm and couldn't keep a beat. She made the family suffer through her practicing her clarinet for the show. But I was proud of the results. Goes back 40 years to admit that.
LOVE THIS!! 🤩🩷🤩🩷🤩🩷🤩
lol thank you for sharing!
That's cool,, good thing you weren't overbearing,, so your sister doesn't hate you for the rest of your lives...
Uhhhh….that’s actually “Ridgemont High” Not Rosemont. Aye yi yi
Not only that, Fast Times at Ridgemont High’s soundtrack in general was amazing.
@@xxlilly_playsxxkiz9980 Yes it was!
Pat Benetar was the 1st music video I think I saw on MTV. I have seen her so many times and she always finished her show with hit me with your best shot. Crazy that people get offended so easy these days. I have tickets to see her in a few months. I will really miss her singing that. It was her biggest hit. How can she not play that? I wish we could rewind and go back to the 80s.
Don’t listen to the haters. Pat is forever a rock queen.
Yeah, it's kind of sick that people are walking around looking for an excuse to be offended; that's a tactic I stopped using as a very young child. So most of the world has reverted to being 4-years old? GROW UP. Also, enjoy the concert, wish I was there. :)
One of her videos was the 2nd video ever shown on MTV. The 1st being Radio Killed the Radio Storm.
@anthonybrunsvold4482 … *Video Killed the Radio Star 😎
@Sean Syphers Yeah I did get it wrong.
As a teen you would think I picked up on the sexual innuendo, and I did, but I did see the song as more about self confidence. To use todays slang, the song is, basically, declaring "Bring it!"
That's right. BRING IT ON!
I see it as shutting down the oppressors, the bring-downers.
Yea i didn't think it was sexual or violent. Just about confidence and determination
Pat Benatar is amazing. 'Invincible' holds a permanent spot on my workout mix. The fact that it took so long for her to be inducted into the Hall Of Fame is a complete absurdity.
They have zero merit.
thats because the rrhof is nothing but a joke
I love that song, one of my favorites of hers, along with "Hell is for Children"
The Hall is a sad pathetic joke.
Too many people that did not sing ROCK at all in there, yet they ignored a lot of great ROCK acts for literally DECADES - like Chicago and Deep Purple.
Pretty much every Pat Benatar song brings back amazing memories, such a huge part of the soundtrack of my youth.
I saw Pat in concert just after the birth of her first child. One word...powerhouse. She rocked the house down. Forever a favorite female rocker.
Pat's soaring vocals, and Spyder's cord progression, was a match made in heaven.
Any good guitar player could have done the same with any of her hits.. she was the star. He played guitar
Pat Benatar, what an amazing set of pipes. The lady can sing!
She might not like "Hit me with your best shot," but it is still a Rock and Roll classic.
💯
Hit Me With Your Best Shot is obviously her most recognizable song, but Heartbreaker, imo is her best, hardest, banger by a mile! HMWYBS, is probably down around 5 or 6 on my personal list of favorite Benatar songs.
And for anyone who didn’t realize that this was a proverbial metaphor as opposed to seriously promoting domestic violence or any sexual innuendo, well that’s what you wanted to hear. I was 13 or 14 when this came out, & I knew what it was about immediately. It’s too bad that time hasn’t treated this song fairly & she now feels like she cannot be performed anymore.
Heartbreakers definitely showcases her voice better than Hit Me with Your Best Shot. So powerful!
Heartbreaker’s a great song.
Pat exploded when I was in middle school. Damn what a badass rock and roller. Beautiful, talented and had a generation of teenage boys in the palm of her hands, including this one. Rock on Pat!!!
"Hit Me With Your Best Shot" was the first Part Benatar song I heard very young. I'll always remember it as one of my first Rock songs.
The fact that she won't sing it live anymore, it really hurts deep inside. The song means so much to me, and always will.
If she can get over it, so can you! ❄️❄️
@johnruhl
I'm not a sheep, and neither are a lot of music lover. Just because Pat Benatar "got over it" means I have to.
"Hit Me With Your Best Shot" is definitely one of Pat's best songs-Still packs a great punch!
For sure. Great vocal by her.
To the gut 🥊
nah Love is a Battlefield. No contest.
I love Pat Benatar. "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" and "Love is a battlefield" is what I think of when I hear her name. She deserved all the fame and credit she got. I didn't think of her as a sex symbol, but as a great rocker. It's so sad that she thinks this song isn't good anymore. Thank you.
I also think Sex As A Weapon when I hear her name.
Pat Benatar is a true trailblazer and her fame is well-deserved. As for Eddie Schwartz, the royalties from that tune paid a lot of bills over the years and got him into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. Great story behind Pat's stellar career and the way this song came into being! Thanks, Adam!
Thanks Robster. Best parts of the story... That Eddie had an all-time hit to help him in the long haul and the fact that it opened up career for Pat!
It was a strong song back then due to domestic violence. So not surprised even so nowadays. Not to mention all those mass shootings. Good song though.
This song had the money chops!
Eddie is amongst some elite company in the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame; and well deserved too.
Beginning vocals in the song Promises in the dark, are some of the best vocals I’ve ever heard. Awesome stuff
I love this song.
AWESOME SONG!
One of my all time favorite female singers to this day ❤️ I'm amazed anyone can misinterpret this song as something negative, the meaning is so obvious.
It’s so uplifting.
It's even more amazing that the someone misinterpreting the song as something negative is Pat Benatar herself.
Everything Woke turns to .........
Real shame the woke came after Pat Benatar.
@@9avedon Your comment got shadow blocked by youtube.
@@Dethmeister Thanks for the heads up. Hopefully the open minded will prevail.
My first concert was Pat Benatar in 1981 in Amarillo, Texas. I saved a whopping $8 to get a ticket. Her voice is awesome in concert! Way too many songs of hers that I love, so I can't pick a favorite.
A plethora of great songs to choose from.
She had a lot of great songs but Hit Me With Your Best Shot is the classic one. P.S. Your comment reminded me of Tony Christie.
God, those were the days!
As a teenage girl who wanted to sing & act, I took this song as inspiration to work hard, hone your craft, and then one day when a record exec looks at me doubtfully and says:
"Okay, kid. Hit me with your best shot."
That never happened in real life, but THAT is what this song inspired in me.
Then you understood the song perfectly 🐱
He’s like, “Try it.”
Wish Pat could see these comments, she would realize NOT singing this song is a HUGE mistake!!
I was in a band in high school in the 80's. We were strictly a cover band. We had two female lead singers, so of course we had to do this song! And honestly, it fit us. Everyone that listened to us always enjoyed it when we played this song, and we got that same energy back from the crowd. It's too bad that Pat Benatar came to hate the song, because she absolutely killed it when she sang it!
I had my own opinion about this matter with my wife who informed me this song was one of those songs that gave her strength to push through life. We both shortened the opinion that like so many famous songs, these songs are truly owned by the public. Those people with whom each song had a hand in shapping all our lives, that yes legally it's the artist's song, but socially it is not. Doesn't the artist have the social responsibility to listen to the people with whom these songs molded their fans into the people they are today?
You're right that these songs mold us to who we are today. I have plenty of those..as do you I'm sure!
With that being said, it's possible that another artist could "take over" a song and make it theirs. There are plenty of cover songs that became more famous as a cover song than the song by the original artist. Whitney Houston's cover of I Will Always Love You, for example, was originally written and recorded by Dolly Parton. It was even a hit for Dolly on the Country charts, but Whitney's version is arguably the better known version nowadays. Wikipedia was pretty sketchy on covers of Hit Me With Your Best Shot, only mentioning Kelly Clarkson performing the song live.
Yeah, the true impact of these classics is how we the people of the United States of America and beyond interpret it. For some, it could be a metaphor, for others it could be a comeback story.
It seems like it’s virtue signaling. There’s an awful lot of that going around these days.
@Andey McFarlin agreed!! Not singing this epic song is a tragedy. It's the EXACT opposite of why she "claims" she won't sing it. It's an Anthem of the underdog, "get back up on my feet again" how could you interpret it any other way? Especially after singing it LIVE, and seeing with your own eyes, and hearing in real time how people react to it....
"Hit me with your best shot" has always been a rallying song for me, reminding myself that whatever life throws at me, I can take it. I can get back up and try again. As you said, we can always listen to it on our own, and I'm sure I will, many times. Thanks for covering it here.
Pat Benatar's vocals with Spyder's guitars are up there with Van Halen and AC/DC as the greatest rock act of the 1980s. Heartbreaker is one of the most perfect rock hits of all time.
No
Yes!!!
@@xxlilly_playsxxkiz9980 💩💩💩
Neil
Agreed on Heartbreaker, my favorite Benatar song.
Huge Pat Benatar fan, so many great songs. Love Is A Battlefield is top 5 song of all time for me.
I still think "Invincible" is her best song. The way that chorus hits you, they found a supernatural chord progression for sure. I was 6 when I saw "The Legend of Bille Jean" the first time. I've been a fan ever since.
I love that song so much - it's just so right
I'm digging her "I'm gonna follow you"
And "wuthering heights" a lot lately.
I agree. It's haunting. Still my favorite of Benatar's.
@@fuddcar Wuthering Heights is by Kate Bush.
@@moriconvallaria1279 I know she wrote it but I think Pat Benatar did it better.
I think "Running up that hill" is EXTREMELY OVERRATED as well.
The only thing I've ever liked by Kate is "Dont Give Up" with Peter Gabriel.
Pat is one of my all time favorites, and Neil is an excellent song writer and guitarist. I have all of her albums and listen to her often. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame FINALLY inducted her and it was long overdue.
She is wonderful. My favorite woman singer of the early 80's. I still cry to this day listening to "Hell is for Children".
It's such a good song. So thought provoking.
No one should have to go through that. NO ONE.
I think "Promises in the Dark" is her signature song. That high note she hits when she sings "try again" is mind blowing.
I agree. It just seemed more in keeping with her voice and personality. It's an awesome song! ~ Anastacia in Cleveland
Not my favorite of hers and Neil's, but definitely one of their best. My favorite memory of it was... I think on the ABC show "Fridays" that was kind of like their version of SNL... During the "break" in the song, hearing Neil bring everyone back in with the off-mic (but still picked up) count "one two three four" - "DAAAAARRRRRK"... such a cool moment.
@@JeffBoen I remember Fridays! It's too bad that it was cancelled after only one or two seasons.
@@AnastaciaInCleveland Yup! Michael Richards got his start there! I loved his "Kid with green army men" skits.
And if you do a YT search for "Promises In the Dark Live" I'm pretty sure the one with Pat in the black jumpsuit with red laces is the performance I saw. Neil does the count in the middle.
@@JeffBoen Thanks for your reply!
Pat Benatar's song "Here's My Heart" for thr film METROPOLIS (1984) is such a little-known hidden gem. She sings the heck of it and more people should know about it.
I saw Pat Benatar live in 2007 at Casino Aztar. She never sang this song during the show leaving everyone to believe it would be her encore. The song never came and she left us with this " I don't perform that song anymore" as the crowd was screaming 'Hit me with your best shot" She exited the stage and that was it. For all these years I wondered why, thanks to the Professor of Rock I now know.
I guess she got to the point where her morality/ego surpassed her obligation to the fan base, by deleting Hit me with your best shot from her set.
It's not a wise game to play when a performer relies on ticket sales for live show, as opposed to album/digital catalogue revenue, as things stand.
If artists want to alienate their fan bases by making such stances, be it at their own financial peril.
It’s a totally valid reason.
@XxLilly_playsXx Kiz nah, it's a totally stupid reason. This song is an Anthem for the underdog, "get back on my feet again" HOW could anyone in their right minds think this has some "evil" intent? It's INSPIRING. Read some (any really) of the comments from this video. Everyone was inspired by this song. The foolish reason she "claims" for not singing it, is ridiculous.
The guitar solo is one of the things I remember about that song along with many of her other songs. You had a brief clip of it. Neil was an essential part of what made her songs rock.
Spyder is a guitar god.
It’s a great solo.
That's actually my favorite part of the song.
I remember seeing Her on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert wearing a Red and white Stripped Jumpsuit and was just Blown away. Just Beautiful.
Saw her in ‘78!! What a powerful voice!!🔥🤘
Did Pat get Woke? Sad.
WOW! now that would've been cool!
@@DAVEBROWNE2004 Sounds like it.
@@DAVEBROWNE2004 Woke means challenging injustice like sexism, misogyny, homophobia and patriarchy. The world needs as much so called woke as possible. Needless to say most of those who decry it cannot even define it which speaks volumes. Next level woke is what the world needs. Hope for the future.
@80s Music that soy response means you are no longer allowed to call yourself 80s music. No one would take this crap seriously like you back then.
Thank you for doing a video on this song. I love Pat's singing and have since the first time I heard her. I don't get how anyone would think the song is about any violence it seems clear it is about I will take what ever you throw at me and excel, overcome. It doesn't hurt Pat is a beautiful lady but I love her power and strength in her voice. Be safe all.
It’s a song of empowerment.
I saw her last summer and she explained why she would not sing it again. The audience did not give her a hard time about it. It was a great show.
Mass insanity believing that this song has ANYTHING to do with what she stated. Just nuts
@@JohnB-dr8sk The song is old. Most people who believe that's what it's about probably never even heard it.
I’m glad to hear that.
What a shame Pat isn't doing this song anymore. I saw her in concert back in the 90's and she was phenomenal. I also always saw Hit me with Your Best Shot song as being about female empowerment. I remember being in middle school and listening to the song and feeling confidant and strong during a time in my life as a young pre-teen girl who felt awkward and meek.
Benatar has one of the strongest female voices in rock. Only only that comes close in my book would be Ann Wilson.
Fully agree!
Saw her live 3 or 4 years ago. She said "I can't believe you people are making me still sing this song..." and then nailed it :)
Haha, no kidding!
The loyalty Pat refuses to surrender perfectly exemplifies why we love this bad ass!
What a classic. And just like you say, it's an iconic song that is #1 in nature. Cheers as always
For sure. Thanks RC32... Have a great Thursday!
I was looking everywhere for this. I was at her concert in Las Vegas a few months ago. People were asking for "Hit me with your best shot" it was never played. I was wondering why, lookin all over for an answer and her we are. THANK YOU
I still love this song. Crimes of Passion was one the first albums I bought as a kid. I’ve been lucky enough to see Pat in concert three times.
😎👍🏻 Every time I watch one of your videos, I walk away with a new all-time favorite song. How can they ALL be that good?? Simple, your love for each of them is highly contagious. I'm starting a reserved playlist of songs you've taught me about. ❤️❤️❤️
Pat is the Queen of Rock. Totally amazing vocals. Her range is fantastic - from ballads to hard rock and everything in between, she rocks!
She’s very dynamic.
Just can't beat those 70s babes like Pat, Linda, the gals in ABBA, OLIVIA NEWTON JOHN, THE Wilson sisters, Etc!
I saw Pat Benatar in the mid 80ties she totally dominated the stage. The music was great, her voice impeccable. I especially remember her drummer was quite a performer.
I was a teenager in the 80s and it might have been how music in my teens helped me through some bad teenage times but I swear music was just better in the 80s than it is now.
Run Between The Raindrops (Philadelphia, '88) and Somebody's Baby are two of THE most underrated songs by Pat. She's wonderful to be around too, very kind and generous.
Pat Benatar rocks in that cool 😎 song ! Timeless classic !
Timeless and ageless!
💯
I have more respect for this woman than ever♥️
Anyone who takes the words "hit me with your best shot" literally needs more living in the world. It's a metaphor. Don't metaphors exist in today's world?
Not really? Ha ha. Sadly it's a lost world.
Many people don't even "get" reality these days, let alone a metaphor. LOLOL
Not unless it’s convenient for someone’s narrative.
As a teen in the 80s I always knew it was metaphorical, so to think that people took it as a song about violence is just sad. I loved listening to her and many other 80s legends. I truly miss the music of the 80s. I love a lot of the music today, but it just doesn't measure up to stuff we had back then.
Well considering I recall one of my in-laws commenting that she didn't like Britney Spears when she was up an coming, simply because her song, 'Hit Me, Baby' quote: "Encouraged domestic violence," yeah, I think folks have a hard time understanding metaphors, particularly parents.
"Heartbreaker" is my favorite of hers. It gets played loud.
I always sing along to it every time.
Another great one professor! Thank you and keep on going!
Pat will always be a Dynamo. Love her music, the sheer power she exudes from that small body. I admire her so much, Thanks for reviewing!
It's crazy and insane that people are picking on pat benatar just for making this decision why?
God, I love this band...such classic rock. We in Wisconsin are so lucky...they perform here almost every year, like 8 miles from my house. Wouldn't miss them. Great singer, great music, an adorable loving couple...kismet. Her choice on the songs sung tho I looove 'hit me with your best shot.Never thought of it as sexist??? Finally...hats off to Neil Giraldo who is a driving force behind the great sound and a superb musician in his own right. Cheers from Wisconsin! 🐄
Her newer stuff like gravity’s rainbow is my favorite body of work from her. She really pours herself into her music and I’ve always enjoyed listening to her music.
She and Neil Giraldo have been sharing things on TH-cam too.
When I was young I loved to sing. My greatest teachers were Karen Carpenter, Patsy Cline, Linda Rondstadt, Ann Wilson, and, of course, Pat Benatar. I absolutely loved Pat's Crimes of Passion album. She is still incredible, still rocking, and she looks beautiful with silver hair.
All amazing singers.
Pat has always been my favorite! As a senior in high school "Heartbreaker" was released and I was amazed at her talent. Have purchased every thing she has released. I'll admit that "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" has been my favorite, but I respect her decision. I guess the highlight of the next show for me will be "Fire and Ice"! Thank you Pat for memories and thank you Professor of Rock, definitely my favorite TH-cam channel.
Fire and Ice is awesome.
I remember when this song song came out. I always thought it was a confidence thing too. "No matter what you do to me, you won't defeat me." It has nothing to do with violence. My teen found my copy of the album last year. It's not one of her favorite songs for the same reason, so much so she even drew me an Anime version of the album cover as my Christmas present. Thanks PoF for this story. 😍
Great memory from 90's: punk band in Reno asked the crowd if they knew the lyrics to "Hit Me With Your Best Shot".. they wanted to play it but didn't know the words. Few minutes later there was a fan on the riser belting it out. Rock standard for sure!
They fired away!
As a 50 year musician, I love this channel!! Thank you for sharing such awesome content!!
A song is whatever the writer, singer or listener wants it to be.
As a Canadian when I hear this song all I can visualize in my mind, is a tough hockey game ever since I was 10. I've never associated it with anything else, to me it was a sports anthem.
She's my favorite solo artist for over 40 years, but if Hell is for children, All Fired Up and Hit Me With Your Best Shot aren't on the set list together. I would consider the night a total failure for myself 😔
Some songs just put one's self in their happiest place, unfortunately some people have an alternate universes to others happy place.
I fell in love with her music the second I saw her video you better run on MTV. I respect her decision and she is still a powerhouse no matter what. I love singing along to hit me with your best shot. Absolutely love her music. Thanks for sharing this Adam.
I saw Pat and Neil last July at a casino in northwest Indiana. She still puts on a powerful show. This was shortly after she decided not to perform Hit Me in her shows. She took a few minutes to explain why they weren't going to perform the song. It was shortly after the July 4th shooting in Highland Park, IL. Rock On Pat!
I am so with her. Tired of waking up every day to the news of a mass shooting. There was shooting news everywhere, even in my town!
She ruined the song for herself. Making it a gun song. It isn’t. Just a song. A good one.I wonder what her husband thinks of her decision? Bet it’s different.
She obviously knows it’s not about guns. The point is she is not performing one of her most popular songs as a personal statement against the proliferation of gun violence. The fact that she never really liked the song is just a bonus.
My wife and I had the chance to see her and Neil Giraldo in concert a few years back. She still had it. They rocked the place. Great concert...
Title cut of Promises In The Dark was a favorite rocker of mine.
I was a teenager in the '80s and I also had a background in Opera so I fell in love with Pat Benatar and sang many of her songs at my own auditions.
Hit me with your best shot is a wonderful song, but not my favorite that she's done.
I loved things like my Clone sleeps alone, and Hell is for children, and her version of Wuthering Heights.
I respect her as an artist today as much as I did then. Thank you for this wonderful episode❤
Hit Me With Your Best Shot always reminds me of ice skating at the hockey rink at the park near my house as a kid. They'd just blast rock music over the PA the whole night. This song was huge then.
HIT ME with your best shot! (puck)
She's one of my all time favorite artists. Started listening to her in the van on the 8 track player...Crimes of Passion. Her music helped me know how strong women are and feelings about relationships. Thanks Pat
Neil, what a great guitar player he is. One of the best lead, power chord rhythm, acoustic player.
But nothing that many others do not offer…he must have needed her to gain fame because he is never mentioned as guitarists now. Sorry dude. He could play guitar but so can thousands
I’ve always loved pat benatar,she has everything a musician could want looks,talent,that voice,crimes of passion was a great album,
For those who know of her mostly through her radio/MTV hits, there are some overlooked gems in her discography. Tropico has always been one of my favorite Pat Benatar albums. Innamorata is solid too. Check 'em out when you have a chance.
We Belong is my favorite song of hers. It’s off of Tropico.
Fire and Ice
Painted Desert
@@stflaherty63 Yep, Painted Desert is one of my favorite Pat Benatar songs!
I went to see Pat Benatar in concert 1982 & 1983(2 nites in a row). She and Neil rocked it all 3 times!. It's amazing that they are both still rockin today! If they came back to my hometown, I will go for sure.
I didn't recognise the song title but knew it instantly when you played a clip. Pat has such a great rock voice, one of the best. It can't be easy for a songwriter to fully accept a song that isn't theirs, that detail is always there and can't be escaped.
It's also nice to see a love at first sight relationship actually work out. So many stars talk about it and finding their soul mates (or whatever), only for it to end a within a year or two. Good for her.
Right on all accounts Elwaves! Love Pat and glad to see her get into the rock hall... FINALLy
Interesting story behind it all.
@@PianoMan-hx3ev Same goes for the anti-woke mob. They're all as bad and stoopid as each other.
@@PianoMan-hx3ev You just proved my point as being 100% correct. You couldn't even read my very basic comment correctly, which didn't disagree with you. Intelligent thought is obviously impossible for you.
@@Elwaves2925 I deleted all my prior comments, bc she says it better than I ever could: th-cam.com/video/aIlbq4etUS0/w-d-xo.html
I was at the concert in 1981 at the New Haven Collusseum where she was filming her HBO special. I worked back stage security and got to meet the band. I was awestruck and they were as nice as they could be.
by her retiring the song, she is giving the song a meaning of violence that doesn't now and never did exist.
Exactly
Exactly!
Or she just outgrew it. It served it's purpose.
Retiring the song brings attention to violence. The song's meaning is still a song of strength. Deal with it!
@@ladyv5655 She said she won't sing it any longer specifically because someone "MIGHT" interpret "shot" as being a gunshot.
Pat is my kind of rockstar. She's true to herself and she just wants to rock and make music. I have a lot of respect for her.
Me too.
Her hit Heartbreaker was used with good dramatic effect in the recent movie Nobody. Her singing is great and some early classical music recordings show her vocal training prowess.
This shows how much social rumouring got to me back in those days - I, too, thought the song was a sexualized thing, but the real history totally makes sense. I think it is fine that Pat doesn't sing it live now, though the reason why is not fine - we have collectively lost our minds to think that mass shootings are any kind of a good idea or that they are inevitable - so she wants to stay clear of provoking such a thing - "let it be that my actions do not make someone else stumble..." Very Christian response. I am glad she is still around; like so many of us, she was a big voice of the time. My favorite song of hers is "We Belong", and then "Shadows of the Night", then "Love is a Battlefield - long version" - We belong I always misheard as "We belong to the Light, we belong to the Father" (it is really "thunder") but it was very inspiring to me to hear it, and it had such tasty synth licks... amazing singer and great musical support!
I Think it’s ridiculous that she won’t sing it anymore. It’s her biggest hit, not my personal favorite Pat Benatar song, but it was the money maker 21:25 for her. There’s too much going on with this MeToo movement and the gun control thing. It’s a song. Simply a song. You don’t have to make a social statement out of it. No one was even entertaining those ideas back in the 80s, when this song came out. It could be an anthem in a sports arena, it can be a break my heart song but I’ll get back up, it can be perceived so many ways. It’s a shame because I’m sure many of her fans are going to her shows hoping to hear this song. Again it’s not my favorite Pat Benatar song. I did love the Martina McBride/Pat Benatar CrossRoads episode. It was one of the very best I’ve ever seen, next to the Keith Urban/John Mayer episode.
I agree, never even think of guns when i hear this one...
She was also directly mentioned in the classic movie "Fast Times at Ridgemont High"
"Linda, that girl looks exactally like Pat Benatar"
This actually a song I can pass on. I love heartbreaker , invincible and others. I do appreciate her voice and the Guitar work on this song.
Saw her awhile back and she did say she was tired of it, but laughed and did it anyway. Great show.
I always associated this song with being strong, and able to overcome anything life throws at you!!
I’m sure there are scores of women for decades who’ve used this song as a source strength after divorce or other hardship.
I believe only handwritten letters from thousands of these women could convince Pat to change her mind.
She was a hit machine in the 80s without a doubt. That small period of around three years she was the biggest female band and name on the planet.
When that song came out I first heard it because we had it in middle school band for the marching side and a bigger version for stage band. I just liked everything about Pat Benatar's music. It was also a time when I was exposed to more bands that I got into like Pink Floyd, Police, Men at Work, etc.... Great times for music.
There was something for everyone in the 80s.
Pat's songs empowered young women in the 80s and gave us the strength to not take crap from anyone. I never took Hit Me With Your Best Shot literally, but figuratively which gave so many woman inner strength to stand up for themselves. I just hope she knows how many women she empowered to fund their inner strength.