Give It a Shot

Song 313: This week the playlist comes around to Hit Me With Your Best Shot by Pat Benatar, written by Eddie Schwartz. This week’s track provides a major contrast with last week’s cut, going from a recording that broke new musical ground, opened up new musical possibilities and featured poetic lyrics with layers of meaning, to a 45 in the love category that’s about a simple as a song can get. When this single hit the airwaves about 11 years after last week’s track, it didn’t create the kind of expectations for Pat Benatar that King Crimson’s debut did for them, and no one expected her to do much more than make some fun records, but she certainly did do that, with this hit being the one that first got her some major recognition, though it was actually from her second LP. I’ll admit that I didn’t get too impressed when I started hearing it on the radio, but I did notice after a while that I didn’t get tired of it the way I often did with other radio hits, and over time I got to liking it more. Don’t look for any deep shades of meaning in the words, because you won’t find any, but if you want a few short minutes of simple rock and roll fun, Pat’s first top-tenner will hit you with her best shot, or at least one of them.