Love Is a Battlefield

"Love Is a Battlefield" is a song performed by Pat Benatar, and written by Holly Knight and Mike Chapman. It was released in September 1983 as a single from Benatar's live album Live from Earth, though the song itself was a studio recording. The song was ranked at number 30 in VH1's list of the 100 Greatest Songs of the 1980s.[2] "Love Is a Battlefield" went on to sell over a million records.[3]

This article is about the song sung by Pat Benatar. For other uses, see Love Is a Battlefield (disambiguation).

"Love Is a Battlefield"
Standard artwork (US vinyl release pictured)
Single by Pat Benatar
from the album Live from Earth
B-side"Hell Is For Children" (live version)[1]
ReleasedSeptember 12, 1983
Format
Recorded1983
StudioMCA Whitney Studios
(Glendale, California)
Genre
Length5:23
LabelChrysalis
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Pat Benatar singles chronology
"Looking for a Stranger"
(1983)		 "Love Is a Battlefield"
(1983)		 "We Belong"
(1984)
Audio sample
  • file
  • help

Background and composition

Holly Knight and Mike Chapman wrote this song for Pat Benatar initially as a ballad with a beautiful melody and moving chord changes. After some exploration with drum machines and the band, Neil Giraldo decided to make this an uptempo song.[4][5] The single was Benatar's second American million-seller and is tied with "We Belong" as her highest charting single in the United States. It topped Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for four weeks and peaked at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in December 1983.[6]

It hit #1 on the Australian singles chart in February 1984 and remained there for five weeks, becoming the 11th-biggest-selling single of the year.[7] In The Netherlands, the song peaked the charts for 4 weeks. It became #2 in the 1984 year-end chart. The song was re-released in the United Kingdom in March 1985 and reached #17.[8] It was awarded a Gold certification in Canada as well.[9] The song was featured in the television series Psych.[10] In the television series Drop Dead Diva[11] the song is performed by the actresses Brooke Elliott and Faith Prince. It was also featured in the film 13 Going on 30,[12] where "love is a battlefield" is the mantra of the main character Jenna Rink, played by Jennifer Garner.[4] The song in the Kay Gee Remix version, featuring Kay Gee and Queen Latifah, is on the end credits of the 1998 film Small Soldiers.[13]

The single was unlike most of Benatar's previous work, as it featured an electronic dance element, but guitars and drums were still present. In 1984, the song won Benatar her fourth consecutive Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.[14]

"Love Is a Battlefield" is set in the key of D minor,[15] at a tempo of 90.691 beats per minute.

Music video

The Bob Giraldi-directed music video[16] features Benatar playing a rebellious teenage girl running away from her home with her father (played by actor Trey Wilson) warning her, "If you leave this house now, you can just forget about coming back!" Her mother looks on helplessly and her brother (played by actor Philip Cruise) watches sadly from an upper-story window. She later becomes a taxi dancer at a seedy club to get by in the city, outwardly New York. She writes to her brother, telling him about her exciting new life, while her father seems to feel guilty about being angry at her. Later in the video, she witnesses the club owner (played by actor Gary Chryst) harassing another dancer. Benatar rounds up the women and leads a rebellion against him. As the club owner is cornered by the women against his will, he tries to seduce Benatar only to have her throw a drink in his face. Angered by this, he tries once again to assault her but Benatar and the women overpower and defeat him, then storm out of the club dancing into the sunrise before bidding goodbye to one another, thanking Benatar for their escape. The women escape and strike out on their own and Benatar walks into the sunrise. The final scene shows Benatar sitting in the back of a bus headed for an unknown destination. The video was choreographed by Michael Peters,[17] who appears briefly in the video.

A special dance club remix of the song was created by Jellybean Benitez. Benitez also created an edited version of his mix specifically for the video. It differs slightly in structure and instrumentation, and aside from appearing in the video, has never been commercially released.

The video was the first ever to feature the use of dialogue.[18] The scenes featuring dialogue include the opening scene of Benatar stomping out of the house while being berated by her father and the scene featuring the pimp harassing the female dancer in which she shouts "Leave me alone!"

The video was nominated for an MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video[19] and is contained on the DVD for the movie 13 Going on 30.

Charts

Cover versions
  • In 2005, Carrie Underwood performed this song in American Idol season 4 under its theme: the year they were born.
  • In 2011, Cee Lo Green and Vicci Martinez duet in a live performance of The Voice season 1.
  • in 2014, Chris Colfer and Darren Criss covered the song in the episode "Tested" during the fifth season of Glee.
  • In 2014 WrongChilde ft White Sea released a version of the song. WrongChilde is the solo project of Mat Devine from Kill Hannah.

Luke Evans version
"Love Is a Battlefield"
Single by Luke Evans
from the album At Last
ReleasedOctober 8, 2019
GenrePop
LabelBMG
Luke Evans singles chronology
"Love Is a Battlefield"
(2019)		 "Changing"
(2019)

In 2019, Luke Evans covered the song as part of his debut album At Last and also released it as a single.[37]

See also

References
  1. "Benatar – Love Is a Battlefield". Discogs. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  2. "VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 80's". Scribd.
  3. "Pat Benatar – Love Is a Battlefield". www.rockpopinfo.com. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  4. "Love Is A Battlefield by Pat Benatar". www.songfacts.com. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
  5. "Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo on Rewriting "Love is a Battlefield"". vision4music.com. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
  6. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 57.
  7. "Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – CHART POSITIONS PRE 1989". australian-charts.com. Archived from the original on October 20, 2013. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  8. "Love Is a Battlefield". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  9. "Gold/Platinum Most Recent Certifications". Music Canada. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  10. "Songs and music featured in Psych – E2: Murder?...Anyone?...Anyone?...Bueller?". www.tunefind.com. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  11. "Drop Dead Diva – What If? Season 1, Episode 11". IMDb. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  12. "13 Going on 30 (2004) – Soundtracks". IMDb. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  13. "Small Soldiers (1998) – Soundtracks". IMDb. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  14. "Grammy Awards: Best Rock Vocal Performance – Female". www.rockonthenet.com. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  15. Mike, Chapman; Holly, Knight; Pat, Benatar (October 25, 2004). "Love Is a Battlefield". Musicnotes.com. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
  16. "Pat Benatar: Love Is a Battlefield (1983)". IMDb. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  17. "Michael Peters (I) (1948–1994)". IMDb. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  18. "Pat Benatar - Love is a battlefield @ mvdbase.com". mvdbase.com - the music video database.
  19. "Love Is A Battlefield (1983)". imvdb.com. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  20. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  21. "Ultratop.be – Pat Benatar – Love Is a Battlefield" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  22. "CHART NUMBER 1409 – Saturday, January 14, 1984". CHUM. Archived from the original on November 7, 2006. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
  23. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 4423." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  24. "Offiziellecharts.de – Pat Benatar – Love Is a Battlefield". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  25. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Love Is a Battlefield". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  26. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 11, 1984" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40 Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  27. "Dutchcharts.nl – Pat Benatar – Love Is a Battlefield" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  28. "Charts.nz – Pat Benatar – Love Is a Battlefield". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  29. "Swisscharts.com – Pat Benatar – Love Is a Battlefield". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  30. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  31. "Love Is A Battlefield by Pat Benatar". www.song-database.com. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  32. "Pat Benatar Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard.
  33. "CASH BOX Top 100 Singles – Week ending DECEMBER 10, 1983". Cash Box magazine. Archived from the original on September 11, 2012. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
  34. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  35. "Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – 1984". Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Archived from the original on May 16, 2017. Retrieved March 4, 2017.
  36. "Talent Almanac 1985: Top Pop Singles". Billboard. Vol. 96 no. 51. December 22, 1984. p. TA-19.
  37. "Luke Evans - Love Is A Battlefield (Official Video)". youtube.com. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
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