Originally Posted by VEGANGELICA (Post 1102153)

I don't love the sound of this song (below), but I like its meaning very much.

I feel this love song expresses well the complicated and powerful feelings of a romance where you can't quite control or understand the emotions that pull you to someone...but you both want what you can't fully understand, and you don't want to let go of each other:

Pat Benatar - "Be Belong"




Edit: I said I don't love the sound of the song, but that isn't actually the full story. I do like some of the musical qualities of this song quite a bit.

For example, the repetition of quieter sections (the verses) building again and again to the powerful chorus could be thought of as reflecting the ebb and flow of emotions in a relationship where the love you share is like the ocean: sometimes, when the tide is high, the feelings of togetherness can be overwhelming (the chorus), but when the tide is low and the bare, lonely beach is exposed, you feel your aloneness, emptiness, and doubts.

The low tides aren't pointless or useless, however, because they let you pay closer attention to some of the beauties of the ocean and the beach (your life) over which it flows, such as the sea stars, sand dollars, and little bubbles rising up from buried crustaceans that you couldn't see during high tide.

Perhaps these low tide times of questioning and feeling separate help you have more to give when you are together. They also remind you that a relationship doesn't mean two people effortlessly become one, but rather they remain two people who maintain the relationship by striving again and again to build and honor the feeling they share. Being able to live with the ocean means being able to accept the tides.

Also, I love the guitar playing at one particular moment in the song, when the guitar is strummed four times sequentially and powerfully. Here, I'll find the moment . . . it is at 2:13, and just before. I feel this is a special moment in the song, a brief quiet section punctuated by strong sounds not repeated elsewhere in the song. This brief section could be viewed as a metaphor for the reality that the person whom you love, and your feelings for that person, are unique and precious.

^ See, these are the sorts of thoughts I have when I hear and think about music. :D

Originally Posted by jackhammer (Post 1103480)

I have rarely read opinions as deep as this regarding Pat Benetar. I do like a lot of her music and have made no secret of it even though I KNOW that musically her music was about appealing to a particular demograph commercially but lyrically her songs have always been a lot more complex emotionally than the music suggests.

Lyrically this is one of her best: [Fire and Ice video]

Originally Posted by VEGANGELICA (Post 1103640)

Pat Benatar does have quite a few decent, popular songs that certainly do pack a lot of emotion in them. "We Belong" is my favorite, and I'd heard "Fire and Ice" before, but two other songs by her that I enjoy whenever I hear them on the radio are "Heartbreaker" and "Hit Me With Your Best Shot." They don't break any revolutionary musical ground and do sound very "commerical" with standard format and sound, but they're good songs!

Originally Posted by Necromancer (Post 1103680)

Do you like Love Is A Battlefield Vegan? I found out this was her highest charting single while looking for the video. I always liked the accent of the backup vocals on this particular song. I actually thought that Hit Me With Your Best Shot would be ranked as her #1 charting single.

Originally Posted by skaltezon (Post 1105887)

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I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now) - Otis Redding



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