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TL;DR:

  • Pat Benatar’s “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” was written by a professional songwriter.
  • It was inspired by therapy.
  • The song was a hit.
"Hit Me With Your Best Shot" singer Pat Benatar wearing a sweater
Pat Benatar | ABC Photo Archives / Contributor

All these years later, classic rock radio is still in love with Pat Benatar’s “Hit Me With Your Best Shot.” While “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” is one of Benatar’s most famous songs, she had nothing to do with its writing. In addition, the writer of the song said “weird” therapy involving pillows inspired him.

Bioenergetics inspired Pat Benatar’s ‘Hit Me With Your Best Shot’

Eddie Schwartz is a professional songwriter know for writing hits such as Paul Carrack’s “Don’t Shed a Tear” and The Doobie Brothers’ “The Doctor.” During a 2003 interview with SongFacts, Schwartz discussed the origin of “Hit Me With Your Best Shot.” 

“Well, I was in a kind of weird therapy when I was in my mid-20s,” he said. “It was called bioenergetics, I believe. And one of the things that we did was punch pillows — I guess it had something to do with getting out hostility.” 

The therapy had some value. “I went through a session where we punched pillows for a while, and it all seemed kind of strange, but I remember walking outside this therapy session, but standing on the doorstep of this building that I’d been in — this small house in Toronto, actually — and this title just came to me, ‘Hit Me With Your Best Shot,'” he said. “And it just kind of evolved from there.”

Eddie Schwartz said there’s a misconception about Pat Benatar’s involvement with the song

Schwartz revealed many within the music industry know him for writing “Don’t Shed a Tear.” Elsewhere, Schwartz is famous for another reason.

“Obviously ‘Hit Me’ was such a huge global hit that that’s certainly the one people would know me — if they know me at all,” Schwartz revealed. “You know, most people think that Pat Benatar wrote the song.”

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How ‘Hit Me With Your Best Shot’ and its parent album performed on the charts in the United States

“Hit Me With Your Best Shot” was popular in the United States. It peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and lasted on the chart for 24 weeks. It stayed on the chart longer than any other Benatar single.

“Hit Me With Your Best Shot” appeared on Benatar’s sophomore album Crimes of Passion. The album peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and lasted 93 weeks on the chart. Only Benatar’s previous album, In the Heat of the Night, remained on the Billboard 200 for a longer time.

“Hit Me With Your Best Shot” is one of the classics of 1980s pop-rock and it wouldn’t be the same without some interesting therapy techniques.

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