Love Is a Battlefield
Encyclopedia
"Love Is a Battlefield" is a song written by Holly Knight
and Mike Chapman, after Pat Benatar
asked Chapman to write her a hit song. It was released as a single
from Benatar's album
Live from Earth
. The single has been certified gold and is her highest charting single in the United States
. It topped Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks
chart for four weeks and made number five on the Billboard Hot 100
in December 1983. It topped the Australian singles chart for five weeks in 1984. The song was finally released in the United Kingdom in March 1985 and reached #17.
Lyrics where used in a South Park episode Red Man's Greed
.
, which depicted Benatar as a teenage runaway trying to survive the mean streets of New York City
, was nominated for an MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video
and was viewable on the DVD
for the movie 13 Going on 30
. The single was unlike most of Benatar's previous work, as it featured an electronic dance element, but guitars and drums were still present. The song won Benatar a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance
.
The original music video features Benatar playing a teenage girl being kicked out of her house by her father (played by actor Trey Wilson
), while her brother watches sadly from an upper-story window. She later becomes a prostitute for hire to get by in the city, even though her father feels guilty about kicking her out. She writes to her little brother, telling him about her exciting new life. Later in the video, she witnesses a pimp harassing another dancer. Benatar rounds up the girls and leads a rebellion against him. The girls escape and strike out on their own, Benatar walking into the sunrise.
The music video has been credited as being the first to feature spoken word.
Holly Knight
Holly Knight is a songwriter, vocalist and musician of pop and rock music.- Biography :She was born in New York City and started playing classical piano as a young child. She soon became interested in rock music, and left home at about sixteen to pursue her dreams...
and Mike Chapman, after Pat Benatar
Pat Benatar
Pat Benatar is an American singer and four-time Grammy winner. She had considerable commercial success particularly in the United States...
asked Chapman to write her a hit song. It was released as a single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
from Benatar's album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
Live from Earth
Live from Earth
Live from Earth is the first live album from Pat Benatar and was released in 1983. It also contains two studio tracks, "Love Is a Battlefield" and "Lipstick Lies", and these were produced by Neil Giraldo and Peter Coleman...
. The single has been certified gold and is her highest charting single in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It topped Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks
Mainstream Rock Tracks
Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks is a ranking in Billboard magazine of the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations, a category that includes stations that play primarily rock music. Modern rock tracks are counted in the Alternative Songs chart.This chart began with the March 21, 1981, issue...
chart for four weeks and made number five on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
in December 1983. It topped the Australian singles chart for five weeks in 1984. The song was finally released in the United Kingdom in March 1985 and reached #17.
Lyrics where used in a South Park episode Red Man's Greed
Red Man's Greed
"Red Man's Greed" is episode 707 of the Comedy Central series South Park, first broadcast on April 30, 2003. It is a parody of the Indian removal policies of the 19th century. Alex Glick won a guest voice role in a charity auction.- Plot :...
.
Chart performance
| Chart (1983) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
5 |
| US Billboard Top Tracks Mainstream Rock Tracks Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks is a ranking in Billboard magazine of the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations, a category that includes stations that play primarily rock music. Modern rock tracks are counted in the Alternative Songs chart.This chart began with the March 21, 1981, issue... |
1 |
| Chart (1984) | Peak position |
| Australian Singles Chart | 1 |
| Dutch Top 40 Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting... |
1 |
| Chart (1985) | Peak position |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
17 |
Music video
The music videoMusic video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
, which depicted Benatar as a teenage runaway trying to survive the mean streets of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, was nominated for an MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video
MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video
The MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video is one of the original general awards that has been handed out every year since the first annual MTV Video Music Awards in 1984. In 2007, however, the award was briefly renamed Female Artist of the Year, and it awarded the artist's whole body of work...
and was viewable on the DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
for the movie 13 Going on 30
13 Going on 30
13 Going on 30 is a 2004 American romantic comedy fantasy film starring Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo. It has a similar premise to the classic short story Rip Van Winkle, in which a young person falls asleep and wakes up many years later as an older person...
. The single was unlike most of Benatar's previous work, as it featured an electronic dance element, but guitars and drums were still present. The song won Benatar a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance
Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance was an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to female recording artists for works containing quality vocal performances in the rock music genre...
.
The original music video features Benatar playing a teenage girl being kicked out of her house by her father (played by actor Trey Wilson
Trey Wilson
Donald Yearnsley "Trey" Wilson III was an American character actor known for playing rural, authoritarian type characters, most notably in comedies such as Raising Arizona and Bull Durham.-Early life:...
), while her brother watches sadly from an upper-story window. She later becomes a prostitute for hire to get by in the city, even though her father feels guilty about kicking her out. She writes to her little brother, telling him about her exciting new life. Later in the video, she witnesses a pimp harassing another dancer. Benatar rounds up the girls and leads a rebellion against him. The girls escape and strike out on their own, Benatar walking into the sunrise.
The music video has been credited as being the first to feature spoken word.
See also
- List of number-one singles in Australia during the 1980s
- List of Dutch Top 40 number-one singles of 1984
- List of number-one mainstream rock hits (United States)