First things first: I was ten in 1980, and there were two pop stars fighting for space in my pubescent skull: Blondie and Pat Benetar. And Pat won.
I have all of her albums (in multiple formats), and probably know the lyrics to every single song she performed up to “All Fired Up.” I mean every song. Not just the hits. Songs like Ooh Ooh song, Suburban King, Treat Me Right, etc. still run through my head frequently. It is the indelible music of my youth, from a time when music was very, very important to kids.
So why did I pick “We Belong” as her Greatest Tune, instead of her bigger hits or better-known songs, like Love is a Battlefield or Heartbreaker?
It’s a little arbitrary. It comes down to taste: I love this song more than the others. It sounds like a tune that could have come out today, whereas the sledgehammer morality of “Hell is for children” and the 1970s/80s sound of Hit Me With Your Best Shot make those tunes seem a little more dated. We Belong was the hit single from Tropico, the album where Benetar started moving away from hard rock and into a softer sound. It was written by the team of Lowen and Navarro—Eric Lowen recently passed away from ALS (aka Lou Gherig’s disease).
Further listening: Where do I start? Benetar is one of the most successful female artists ever. Some of my favorite of her songs (hits and deep cuts included) are: Hell is for children, Love is a Battlefield, Hit Me with Your Best Shot, Invincible, Heartbreaker, Treat Me Right, Fire and Ice, You Better Run (The Rascals cover), I Need a Lover (John Cougar cover), Run Between the Raindrops, We Live for Love, and Don’t Let It Show (Alan Parsons cover). Whew!
Covers: A few. The Bangles one is okay, but it feels kinda watered down. There should be more covers of this song.
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