Love Is A Battlefield – Pat Benatar | Top 40 Chart Performance, Story and Song Meaning

Chart Performance: Pop (#5); 1983

Story Behind The Song By Ed Osborne

Although John Cougar – as Mellencamp was known in 1979 – charted with I Need A Lover, it was Pat Benatar’s more streamlined version that caught the ears of many and introduced her to fans of no nonsense rock ‘n’ roll.

After Pat’s hit, the hard driving Heartbreaker, the diminutive New Yorker with the opera-trained voice unleashed a volley of hits, including her tough take on You Better Run (The Young Rascals, #20; 1966) and Hit Me With Your Best Shot (#9; 1980).

The album Crimes Of Passion took home a Grammy, as did singles Fire And Ice and Shadows Of The Night in the following two years. In 1983 Pat released Love Is A Battlefield. The song’s writers, Mike Chapman and Holly Knight, were well-placed to pen hits.

Chapman composed dozens of hits in the 1970’s while Knight had written for the likes of Tina Turner. Battlefield added a another Grammy notch to Pat’s belt, her fourth in as many years.

This content and all Song Meaning articles were created and written by Top 40 Contributing Editor Ed Osborne. © 2024 Ed Osborne. All Rights Reserved. In addition to these song meaning articles, Ed has written our “Year in Music 1960s-1990s” articles.

Produced by:

• Neil Giraldo
• Peter Coleman

Lyrics Written by:

• Mike Chapman
• Holly Knight

Awards:

• “Love Is A Battlefield” won Benatar her fourth consecutive Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance in 1984