Love Is a Battlefield

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

"Love Is a Battlefield" is a song by American singer Pat Benatar, released on September 12, 1983, as a single from Benatar's live album Live from Earth (1983), though the song itself was a studio recording. It was written by Holly Knight and Mike Chapman. The song was ranked at number 30 in VH1's list of the 100 Greatest Songs of the 1980s.^[3] "Love Is a Battlefield" went on to sell over a million records.^[4]

"Love Is a Battlefield"
US 7-inch picture sleeve
Single by Pat Benatar
from the album Live from Earth
B-side	"Hell Is for Children" (live version)[1]
Released	September 12, 1983
Recorded	1983
Studio	MCA Whitney (Glendale, California)
Genre	Dance-rock[2]
Length	5:23 (album version) 4:11 (single edit)
Label	Chrysalis
Songwriter(s)	Mike Chapman Holly Knight
Producer(s)	Neil Giraldo Peter Coleman
Pat Benatar singles chronology
"Looking for a Stranger" (1983) "Love Is a Battlefield" (1983) "We Belong" (1984)
Audio sample
file help
Music video
"Love Is a Battlefield" on YouTube

Background and composition

Knight and Chapman wrote this song for Benatar initially as a mid tempo song. After some exploration with drum machines and the band, producer Neil Giraldo decided to make it an uptempo song.^[5][6] The single was Benatar's second US 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 number five on the Billboard Hot 100 in December 1983.^[7]

It reached number one on the Australian singles chart in February 1984 and remained there for five weeks, becoming the 11th biggest-selling single of the year.^[8] In the Netherlands, the song topped the charts for four weeks; it reached number two on the 1984 year-end chart. The song was re-released in the United Kingdom in March 1985 and reached number 17.^[9] It was awarded a gold certification in Canada as well.^[10]

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.^[11]

"Love Is a Battlefield" is set in the key of D minor,^[12] at a tempo of 91 beats per minute.

Music video

The Bob Giraldi-directed music video^[13] features Benatar playing a rebellious teenage girl running away from her home (although Benatar was actually 30 at the time). Her father (played by actor Trey Wilson) berates her as her mother watches helplessly. Benatar waves goodbye to her brother (played by actor Philip Cruise), who watches sadly from an upstairs window. She later becomes a taxi dancer at a seedy club in the city. She writes letters to her brother, who is reassured that she is okay, as her father begins to regret yelling at her. When she witnesses the club owner (played by actor Gary Chryst) harassing another dancer, Benatar rounds up her fellow dancers and leads a rebellion against him. The dancers get the upper hand on the club owner and escape from the club, dancing off as the sun rises. After thanking Benatar for helping liberate them, the dancers bid each other goodbye and all go their separate ways. The video ends with Benatar sitting in the back of a bus headed for an unknown destination. The video was choreographed by Michael Peters,^[14] 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 one of the first ever to feature the use of dialogue - Philip Bailey's "I Know" was the first but Benatar's got more exposure.^[15] The scenes featuring dialogue include the opening argument scene between Benatar and her father in which he shouts at her, "If you leave this house now, you can just forget about coming back!" and the scene when the club owner harasses the taxi dancer, causing her to scream "Leave me alone!" at him.

The video was nominated for an MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video.^[16]

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for "Love Is a Battlefield" Chart (1983–1984) Peak position Australia (Kent Music Report)[17] 1 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[18] 1 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[19] 2 Europe (European Top 100 Singles)[20] 28 Ireland (IRMA)[21] 9 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[22] 1 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[23] 1 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[24] 6 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[25] 11 UK Singles (OCC)[9] 49 US Billboard Hot 100[26] 5 US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[27] 41 US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[28] 1 US Cash Box Top 100 Singles[29] 4 West Germany (GfK)[30] 3 Weekly chart performance for "Love Is a Battlefield" (UK re-release) Chart (1985) Peak position Europe (European Top 100 Singles)[31] 61 UK Singles (OCC)[32] 17

Year-end charts 1983 year-end chart performance for "Love Is a Battlefield" Chart (1983) Position US Cash Box Top 100 Singles[33] 43 1984 year-end chart performance for "Love Is a Battlefield" Chart (1984) Position Australia (Kent Music Report)[8] 11 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[34] 7 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[35] 71 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[36] 2 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[37] 7 US Billboard Hot 100[38] 57 West Germany (Official German Charts)[39] 20

Certifications

Certifications for "Love Is a Battlefield"

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[10]	Gold	50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[40]	Silver	200,000‡
United States (RIAA)[41]	Gold	500,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Cover versions

• Co-songwriter of the song, Holly Knight recorded her own version for her 1989 debut solo album, Holly Knight.
• In 2007, Jann Arden released a cover of the song for her album Uncover Me.
• In 2008, the Amity Affliction released a cover of the song for their album Severed Ties.
• In 2013, a cover recorded by Sara Skinner was released which was featured in the eighth episode of the first season of Dynasty, a reboot of the 1980s soap opera of the same name.
• In 2014, Chris Colfer as Kurt Hummel and Darren Criss as Blaine Anderson covered the song in the episode "Tested" during the fifth season of Glee.
• In 2014, Wrongchilde featuring White Sea released a version of the song. Wrongchilde is the solo project of Mat Devine from Kill Hannah.
• In 2019, Luke Evans covered the song as part of his debut album At Last and also released it as his debut single.^[42]

See also

• List of number-one singles in Australia during the 1980s
• BRT Top 30 number-one hits of 1984
• List of Dutch Top 40 number-one singles of 1984
• List of Billboard Mainstream Rock number-one songs of the 1980s

References

1. "Benatar – Love Is a Battlefield". discogs. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
2. Matos, Michaelangelo (December 8, 2020). "EMI Records, New York City: November 13, 1984". Can't Slow Down: How 1984 Became Pop's Blockbuster Year. Hachette Books. p. 300. ISBN 978-0-306-90337-3.
3. "Rock On The Net: VH1: '100 Greatest Songs of the 80's': 1-50".
4. "Pat Benatar – Love Is a Battlefield". rockpopinfo.com. Archived from the original on June 24, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
5. "Love Is A Battlefield by Pat Benatar". songfacts.com. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
6. "Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo on Rewriting "Love is a Battlefield"". vision4music.com. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
7. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits (8th ed.). Billboard Publications. p. 57.
8. "National Top 100 Singles for 1984". Kent Music Report. No. 548. December 31, 1984 – via Imgur.
9. "Pat Benatar: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
10. "Canadian single certifications – Pat Benatar – Love Is a Battlefield". Music Canada. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
11. "Grammy Awards: Best Rock Vocal Performance – Female". rockonthenet.com. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
12. Chapman, Mike; Knight, Holly; Benatar, Pat (October 25, 2004). "Love Is a Battlefield". Musicnotes.com. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
13. "Pat Benatar: Love Is a Battlefield (1983)". IMDb. September 20, 1983. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
14. "Michael Peters (I) (1948–1994)". IMDb. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
15. "Pat Benatar - Love is a battlefield @ mvdbase.com". mvdbase.com - the music video database.
16. "Love Is A Battlefield (1983)". imvdb.com. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
17. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. pp. 32–33. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
18. "Pat Benatar – Love Is a Battlefield" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
19. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 4423." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
20. "European Top 100 Singles" (PDF). Eurotipsheet. Vol. 1, no. 5. April 30, 1984. p. 9. OCLC 29800226 – via World Radio History.
21. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Love Is a Battlefield". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
22. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 11, 1984" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
23. "Pat Benatar – Love Is a Battlefield" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
24. "Pat Benatar – Love Is a Battlefield". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
25. "Pat Benatar – Love Is a Battlefield". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
26. "Pat Benatar Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
27. "Pat Benatar Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
28. "Pat Benatar Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
29. "Cash Box Top 100 Singles – Week ending December 10, 1983". Cash Box. Archived from the original on September 11, 2012. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
30. "Offiziellecharts.de – Pat Benatar – Love Is a Battlefield" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
31. "European Top 100 Singles" (PDF). Eurotipsheet. Vol. 2, no. 16. April 22, 1985. p. 9. OCLC 29800226 – via World Radio History.
32. "Pat Benatar: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
33. "The Cash Box Year-End Charts: 1983 – Top 100 Pop Singles". Cash Box. December 31, 1983. Archived from the original on December 23, 2019. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
34. "Jaaroverzichten 1984 – Singles" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
35. "Top 100 Singles of 1984". RPM. Vol. 41, no. 17. January 5, 1985. p. 7. ISSN 0033-7064 – via Library and Archives Canada.
36. "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1984" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
37. "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1984" (in Dutch). Dutch Charts. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
38. "Hot 100 Songs – Year-End 1984". Billboard. Archived from the original on January 2, 2021. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
39. "Top 100 Single-Jahrescharts – 1984" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
40. "British single certifications – Pat Benatar – Love Is a Battlefield". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
41. "American single certifications – Pat Benatar – Love Is a Battlefield". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
42. "Luke Evans - Love Is A Battlefield (Official Video)". October 7, 2019. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved December 8, 2019 – via YouTube.