‘Battlefield’ also had a dark thing going on that was really interesting, so I thought, ‘I think I should give this a shot because I think I can do something interesting with it.’ I felt the essence of the song was there I just needed to figure out how to pull it out. I always loved ‘Working Class Hero’ by John Lennon because of its dark nature. I happen to love songs that have a minor feel. “Something about the song really intrigued me. “The demo was Mike singing with an acoustic guitar and it had a nice, minor-y feel to it,” Giraldo says. Written by Mike Chapman and Holly Knight, “Love Is a Battlefield” came to them via a very slow, acoustically performed demo. The song, about the angst of teen love, was the perfect follow-up for Benatar, who had become one of the strongest female voices of the late ’70s and early ’80s, behind such mega-hits as “Heartbreaker,” “Hit Me With Your Best Shot,” “You Better Run,” “Treat Me Right,” “Promises in the Dark” and “Shadows of the Night.” “Love Is a Battlefield,” which features some quirky production elements, became one of her most successful releases, going to Number 5 on the Billboard singles charts and becoming a Number One rock album hit.Īrranger, co-producer (along with Peter Coleman, who also engineered), guitarist, creative visionary and Benatar’s husband since 1982, Neil Giraldo recalls how, like with most songs sent to them (and even those he co-wrote), he always had a penchant for changing them around, sometimes quite radically. And so it was with Pat Benatar’s “Love Is a Battlefield,” one of the two new studio tracks that Benatar and her cohorts recorded for the Live From Earth album in 1983. Many hits would not see the light of day if not for the insistence of the musicians, as too many times, a record company has vetoed a track that went on to become a monster song. It’s fortunate that most creative people are extremely confident in their visions and fight for their beliefs.

Pat benatar love is a battlefield