The lyrics to Pat Benatar’s most famous song have taken on troubling new meaning to the rock star in the wake of unrelenting gun violence across the country — and she says she doesn’t care if fans are disappointed that she won’t be performing it.
“I’m not going to sing it. Tough,” Benatar told USA Today in an interview published Thursday.
Benatar’s “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” has become a staple in karaoke bars, sports stadiums and movies since it hit the airwaves in 1980. From there, the song about daring “a real tough cookie with a long history of breaking little hearts” to fire away has become synonymous with the decade known for its neon colors, glam metal bands and aerobics classes.
At its core, “it’s a song saying ‘no matter what you throw at me, I can handle it, I can play in your league,’ ” the song’s writer, Eddie Schwartz, has said. But even if the reference to guns is meant to be tongue-in-cheek, Benatar said, “you have to draw the line” — amid the spate of deadly shootings that have thrust the nation into collective grief.
“I can’t say those words out loud with a smile on my face, I just can’t,” Benatar told USA Today.
So far this year, there hasn’t been a single week in the United States without a mass shooting. In fact, as of July 4, there hadn’t been a week without at least four mass shootings.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines mass shootings as killing or injuring at least four victims, the country has been rocked by 357 in 2022 — including those in Uvalde, Tex., one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history, and in Highland Park, Ill., where Fourth of July parade spectators were attacked.
At this rate, the pace is comparable to last year’s, which was marked by nearly 700 mass shootings — a significant uptick from the 611 in 2020 and the 417 in 2019. At least 371 people have been killed so far this year in those mass shootings, and 1,557 more have been injured, according to Gun Violence Archive data.
There are too many mass shootings for the U.S. media to cover
For Benatar, it’s thinking of those victims’ families that has stopped her from singing “Hit Me With Your Best Shot,” she told USA Today. But it’s also “my small contribution to protesting,” she told the outlet.
The soon-to-be Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee isn’t the only celebrity bringing awareness to the epidemic of gun violence. Hours after the Uvalde shooting, Golden State Warriors Coach Steve Kerr implored senators to put “the lives of our children, our elderly and our churchgoers” ahead of their own desire for power. Days later, actor Matthew McConaughey made an impassioned plea for action from the White House briefing room, at one point showing a pair of green Converse sneakers that belonged to a 10-year-old victim.
And Florida Gators quarterback Anthony Richardson announced this week that he will no longer use the nickname “AR-15” — based on his initials and jersey number — because of its association to the semiautomatic rifle used in a slew of shootings.
Fans, however, don’t seem too pleased with Benatar’s “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” boycott. They “are having a heart attack” that it won’t be included in set lists with her other power ballads, like “We Belong” and “Heartbreaker,” the singer told USA Today.
In 1980, Benatar discusses her fame
Schwartz, the songwriter, first recorded “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” on a four-track demo when he was in his mid-20s. The music publishing company “hated it” and ended up erasing the recordings, Schwartz told Songfacts. However, one engineer saved a copy of the demo for Schwartz, who sent it to another producer.
“And sure enough, he liked it, and he kept playing it over and over again,” Schwartz told Songfacts. “And the story I heard — I wasn’t there — was Pat Benatar took a meeting in the office next door and heard it through the wall, got excited about it.”
A year later, Benatar’s version of “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was her first top-10 hit.
Since then, the song has cemented its status as a classic, and fans expect to hear it at her shows. But Benatar is giving them something different on this tour — she’s playing the Beatles’ “Helter Skelter,” which, curiously enough, is also associated with a violent episode in American history: the Charles Manson murders of 1969.
“I’m not going to sing it. Tough,” Benatar told USA Today in an interview published Thursday.
Benatar’s “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” has become a staple in karaoke bars, sports stadiums and movies since it hit the airwaves in 1980. From there, the song about daring “a real tough cookie with a long history of breaking little hearts” to fire away has become synonymous with the decade known for its neon colors, glam metal bands and aerobics classes.
At its core, “it’s a song saying ‘no matter what you throw at me, I can handle it, I can play in your league,’ ” the song’s writer, Eddie Schwartz, has said. But even if the reference to guns is meant to be tongue-in-cheek, Benatar said, “you have to draw the line” — amid the spate of deadly shootings that have thrust the nation into collective grief.
“I can’t say those words out loud with a smile on my face, I just can’t,” Benatar told USA Today.
So far this year, there hasn’t been a single week in the United States without a mass shooting. In fact, as of July 4, there hadn’t been a week without at least four mass shootings.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines mass shootings as killing or injuring at least four victims, the country has been rocked by 357 in 2022 — including those in Uvalde, Tex., one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history, and in Highland Park, Ill., where Fourth of July parade spectators were attacked.
At this rate, the pace is comparable to last year’s, which was marked by nearly 700 mass shootings — a significant uptick from the 611 in 2020 and the 417 in 2019. At least 371 people have been killed so far this year in those mass shootings, and 1,557 more have been injured, according to Gun Violence Archive data.
There are too many mass shootings for the U.S. media to cover
For Benatar, it’s thinking of those victims’ families that has stopped her from singing “Hit Me With Your Best Shot,” she told USA Today. But it’s also “my small contribution to protesting,” she told the outlet.
The soon-to-be Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee isn’t the only celebrity bringing awareness to the epidemic of gun violence. Hours after the Uvalde shooting, Golden State Warriors Coach Steve Kerr implored senators to put “the lives of our children, our elderly and our churchgoers” ahead of their own desire for power. Days later, actor Matthew McConaughey made an impassioned plea for action from the White House briefing room, at one point showing a pair of green Converse sneakers that belonged to a 10-year-old victim.
And Florida Gators quarterback Anthony Richardson announced this week that he will no longer use the nickname “AR-15” — based on his initials and jersey number — because of its association to the semiautomatic rifle used in a slew of shootings.
Fans, however, don’t seem too pleased with Benatar’s “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” boycott. They “are having a heart attack” that it won’t be included in set lists with her other power ballads, like “We Belong” and “Heartbreaker,” the singer told USA Today.
In 1980, Benatar discusses her fame
Schwartz, the songwriter, first recorded “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” on a four-track demo when he was in his mid-20s. The music publishing company “hated it” and ended up erasing the recordings, Schwartz told Songfacts. However, one engineer saved a copy of the demo for Schwartz, who sent it to another producer.
“And sure enough, he liked it, and he kept playing it over and over again,” Schwartz told Songfacts. “And the story I heard — I wasn’t there — was Pat Benatar took a meeting in the office next door and heard it through the wall, got excited about it.”
A year later, Benatar’s version of “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was her first top-10 hit.
Since then, the song has cemented its status as a classic, and fans expect to hear it at her shows. But Benatar is giving them something different on this tour — she’s playing the Beatles’ “Helter Skelter,” which, curiously enough, is also associated with a violent episode in American history: the Charles Manson murders of 1969.