Singer Pat Benatar turns 55 today. Her top hits, which include, "Heartbreaker," "Hit Me With Your Best Shot," "We Belong," and "Love Is a Battlefield," are important precursors to more recent songs like "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)." So we thought we'd take a moment on this occasion to discuss the "Battlefield" song, which could be one of our anthems here at Smitten. But there are more layers than we first suspected. We begin with the perplexing music video. Let's take a closer look, shall we?
In the "Love Is a Battlefield" video, Pat leaves what I assume is her parents' house in a fury, and looks back at an underage boy in the upstairs window. She gets on an inter-city bus, becomes a hooker who wears rags but in a cool, fashionable way; dances in a club, throws a drink on a gross guy with a weird tooth, and struts out of the club with her band of hookers; they do a little run-and-snap a la the Sharks and the Jets, and then she's back on the bus.
Typical '80s music video narrative. But what does it all mean, Pat???
I'm sure readers are familiar with the lyrics…
We are young, heartache to heartache we stand,
*No promises, no demands,
Love is a battlefield.*Question: 'We are young'—who, exactly, is "we"? Now that we've re-examined the video, is this song about young lovers vs. parents, exes vs. each other, or all women vs. men and heartbreak?
__I welcome any and all interpretations of the lyrics and video in the comments. And since everyone was so funny and creative with the Facebook status write-ins, let's all try our hand at finishing the following lyrics (but updated for the 21st century). I'll go first: __
Pat:
We are strong, no one can tell us we're wrong…
Erin:
*Searchin' Match-dot-com for long, both of us winking,
Love is a Battlefield.*
Now, your turn!
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