Love Is a Battlefield

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"Love Is a Battlefield"
Single by Pat Benatar
from the album Live from Earth
Released	October 24, 1983
Format	7", 12"
Recorded	1983
Genre	Rock, New Wave
Label	Chrysalis Records
Writer(s)	Holly Knight, Mike Chapman
Producer	Neil Geraldo, Peter Coleman
Pat Benatar singles chronology
"Anxiety (Get Nervous)" (1982) "Love Is a Battlefield" (1983) "Lipstick Lies" (1984) Music sample Love Is a Battlefield

"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.^[1] It was released as a single from Benatar's album Live from Earth, which was popular in 1983 and 1984. The single has been certified gold and is her highest charting single in the United States, as it topped Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for four weeks and made number five on the Billboard Hot 100.^[2] 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.

The music video, 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.

Chart performance

Cover versions

• Chris Norman was the first artist to cover this song in 1984. He released it as a single in Europe at around the same time where Benatar's version was a hit on both sides of the Atlantic.
• A hi-NRG dance cover of the song by Rochelle was released in the 2000s through Almighty Records. An audio sample can be heard on the official Almighty Records website.^[4]
• Alternative rock supergroup Zwan recorded a cover for the 2002 movie Spun.
• A eurotrance cover of the song by German group White Doves was released as a single in 2003.
• In 2007, he song was covered by alternative rock band MorissonPoe on their debut album Evolution, which was produced by Nile Rodgers and D.S. Poe. The video for this song was directed by R3Y Gutierrez for DarkHak.
• Canadian singer-songwriter Jann Arden covered the song for her 2007 album, Uncover Me.
• Australian post-hardcore band The Amity Affliction recorded a cover of the song for their debut album Severed Ties in 2008.

Live cover performances

• Cher performed the song live during her 1992 Love Hurts Tour. She has also performed it live again for her Cher at the Colosseum concert series at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
• Mary J. Blige and Shakira performed the song in the VH1's Divas 2002.
• The song has appeared in many versions of the Pop Idol series, including American Idol when it was sung by Carrie Underwood. Brooke White, the fifth placed finalist on season seven of American Idol, performed this song on the Top 16 with a much more mellow sound with only an acoustic guitar playing the background.
• The song was performed by Hilary Duff on her Dignity Tour 07/08 in support of her third studio album Dignity. A studio version was expected to be recorded for her next album but did not appear on it in the end.

Sampling

• Queen Latifah did a rap version with Benatar's original vocals and music for the film and soundtrack of the 1998 movie Small Soldiers.

Appearances/References in other media

• In author Laurie Notaro's first book of fiction "There's a (Slight) Chance I Might Be Going to Hell," the main character Maye Roberts sings the song for her talent segment in the Sewer Pipe Queen Pageant. Her dog, Mickey, sings back-up.
• In 1993, the music video was featured on the animated comedy Beavis and Butt-head. Beavis and Butt-head don't like the video and make a very memorable comment after the video starts telling a story, "This story sucks!" Then they change the channel.
• A 1998 episode of the animated comedy South Park from Season 2, entitled "Ike's Wee Wee", where Mr. Mackey sings the song drunk, and adds his signature catchphrase "mmkay" after every pause in the main chorus. It was also featured in the Season 7 episode "Red Man's Greed" from 2003, which depicts the residents of South Park standing up to an invasion by walking down the streets and on the roof tops, singing an a cappella version of the song and mimicking the original music video.
• The song was played briefly in The Simpsons during the Season 14 episode Strong Arms of the Ma in 2003, where it played on the jukebox in Moe's Tavern during Marge's rampage.
• The music video appeared in an episode of the short-lived 2002 sitcom That '80s Show
• The song features in the 2004 movie 13 Going on 30 at the sleepover when the girls are putting themselves down and Jenna Rink quotes Pat Benatar, "Hey, we are young. Heartache to heartache we stand. Love is a battlefield" with her teenage friends replying "Wow", unaware of the 80s song. The song then plays and the girls at the sleepover dress up and dance to it.
• In the 2005 movie Domino, Mickey Rourke, playing Ed Moseby, states that he played with Benatar earlier in his career, but only when he needed money. When Domino says that she loves Pat Benatar, Ed replies: "Yeah, who doesn't? Love is a battlefield, baby."
• Among other Pat Benatar references in the show, 30 Rock features character Tracy Jordan singing the song on stage at a strip club in the pilot episode.
• The song was featured on the soundtrack of the popular Playstation 2/PSP game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories in 2006.
• A Season 7 episode from 2007 of the popular Canadian teen drama Degrassi: The Next Generation is named after this song.
• The song has been used twice on The Singing Bee game show, on July 17 and August 6 of 2007. In the latter episode, a contestant sung the entire chorus of the song to advance, gaining a standing ovation from the crowd.
• In July 2008, Katherine St-Laurent covered the song on Canadian Idol.
• The song is a playable song for the game Band Hero.

References