Hit Me with Your Best Shot
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| "Hit Me with Your Best Shot" | |
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| Single by Pat Benatar | |
| from the album Crimes of Passion | |
| B-side | "Prisoner of Love" |
| Released | September 15, 1980 |
| Format | Vinyl record (7") |
| Recorded | 1980 |
| Genre | Pop rock, Hard rock |
| Length | 2:52 |
| Label | Chrysalis |
| Writer(s) | Eddie Schwartz |
| Producer | Keith Olsen |
"Hit Me with Your Best Shot" is a song written by Canadian singer/songwriter Eddie Schwartz, and recorded by American singer Pat Benatar in 1980. It was released as the second single from her sophomore album Crimes of Passion, and reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming her first top 10 hit. "Hit Me with Your Best Shot" sold one million copies, achieving a gold certification by the RIAA. The song is one of Benatar's most recognizable. It can be heard at many baseball and soccer games, and is featured on many of Benatar's greatest hits compilations.
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Structure [edit]
The song is in E major and features a general chord progression of I-IV-vi-V, with occasional added chords built on passing and neighboring tones,[1] although Benatar has commented that in hindsight she would have preferred to replace the C# minor (vi) chord with F# minor (ii).[2]
Covers [edit]
My American Heart covered the song and it was used in a commercial for GameTap. Others to cover the song include John Cougar (Mellencamp), Wheatus, Offcutts, Martina McBride, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Alvin and the Chipmunks and Chikinki. Blowfly has performed a parody of the song entitled "Stick It Down Your Throat Bitch". The song was sampled by D12 in a song of the same name; it was originally made for Eminem's seventh studio album Recovery, released in 2010, but it did not make the final cut. The song has since leaked on the internet, in early 2011. TV show Glee did a mash up of this song with Blondie's "One Way or Another" in its season 3 episode "Mash Off". Kelly Clarkson covered the song during the Fan Request section of her Stronger Tour in 2012. The Glee Project sang the song as part of a mash-up of "Hit Me With Your Best Shot"/"One Way Or Another" in the sixth episode entitled "Fearlessness" in the second season. Catherine Zeta-Jones performs the song during the church scene in the 2012 musical film Rock of Ages. The song was featured in a mash up sequence in the 2012 film Pitch Perfect.
Video games [edit]
- A cover version of the song is a playable track in the game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, while the original master track is playable in Guitar Hero On Tour for the Nintendo DS and Guitar Hero: Smash Hits for consoles.[3][4][5]
- This song is available on the game Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition for the Sony PlayStation 2 and PSP.
- This song also is a downloadable song in the Rock Band series, and is playable in Rock Band Track Pack: Classic Rock.[6][7]
- The song is also referenced in the original Pokémon Red and Blue games, one hiker in the Rock Tunnel section of the game begins the battle with "Hit me with your best shot!", and exclaims "Fired away!" after they are defeated.
- Able to be sung as a Karaoke challenge by the lead character Wei Shen in Sleeping Dogs (video game)
In popular culture [edit]
The song was used in an episode of Cartoon Network's Regular Show - "Go Viral" - in which Muscle Man and High Five Ghost challenge Mordecai and Rigby to make viral videos.[8]
In the early nineties, the song was used in a boxing montage regularly shown as filler on Prime Sports (what STAR Sports was previously called.)
References [edit]
- ^ "Benatar Pat "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" Chords". Tablaturas.buanzo.com.ar. 1997-06-30. Retrieved 2012-02-21.
- ^ "I'm with them on that one, that the F# would sound better there. I thought of that, too, and I wondered whether I should run it by [songwriter] Eddie [Schwartz], but I decided it wasn't worth making a scene over, so the C# went into the single, and now it's what the fans want to hear. But hey, as long as you've got the ASCAP license, you can use whatever chord you want." Interview with Geoff Reynolds, "Pat Benatar Fires Away on Marriage, Middle Age, and the Future of Rock and Roll," Rocker Quarterly, Vol. IX, No. 4 (Winter 1995-96), p. 47.
- ^ Inc, Activision. "Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock - Xbox 360: Video Games". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2012-02-21.
- ^ Inc, Activision. "Guitar Hero Smash Hits: Nintendo Wii: Video Games". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2012-02-21.
- ^ Inc, Activision. "Guitar Hero: On Tour: Video Games". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2012-02-21.
- ^ "Hit Me With Your Best Shot by Pat Benatar // Songs // Rock Band®". Rockband.com. 2007-11-20. Retrieved 2012-02-21.
- ^ ""Hit Me With Your Best Shot" - Xbox.com". Marketplace.xbox.com. Retrieved 2012-02-21.
- ^ "Regular Show - Go Viral". Peteava.ro. Retrieved 2013-01-19.
External links [edit]
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Also in Pitch Perfect "Riff-off" (song)
