He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss)

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"He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss)" was a 1962 pop song, written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King, and recorded by The Crystals under the guidance of Phil Spector.

Goffin and King wrote the song after discovering that singer Little Eva was being regularly beaten by her boyfriend. When they inquired why she tolerated such treatment, Eva replied with complete sincerity that her boyfriend's actions were motivated by his love for her.

The song was written and intended as a sort of protest song from the point of view of an abused woman. Phil Spector's arrangement was ominous and ambiguous. Dave Thompson writes, "It was a brutal song, as any attempt to justify such violence must be, and Spector ’s arrangement only amplified its savagery, framing Barbara Alston’s lone vocal amid a sea of caustic strings and funereal drums, while the backing vocals almost trilled their own belief that the boy had done nothing wrong. In more ironic hands (and a more understanding age), 'He Hit Me' might have passed at least as satire. But Spector showed no sign of appreciating that, nor did he feel any need to. No less than the song’s writers, he was not preaching, he was merely documenting." [1]

Upon its initial release, "He Hit Me" received some airplay, but then there was a widespread protest of the song, with many concluding that the song was an endorsement of spousal abuse. The song soon became played only rarely on the radio, as now.

[edit] Trivia

Courtney Love's band Hole played a cover of the song as part of their MTV Unplugged performance. Love introduced the song by saying This is a really sick song. It's one of those Spector songs and it was written by Carole King, which...you have to think. At the end of the song Courtney commented Nice feminist anthem.

In 2005, the British band Spiritualized recorded a song called "She Kissed Me (It Felt Like a Hit)".