“Hell Is For Children,” Pat Benatar

From Crimes of Passion, 1981.

Benatar, Giraldo, Capps.

A Child’s Hell

You’re going out again tonight, Mommy?

 I get scared when you leave me all alone.

 She put me to bed; no supper for me;

 So hungry- what if she never comes home?

You damn well better stop your sniveling,

Or I’ll give you something to cry about!

That guy, Uncle Larry took out his thing…

I didn’t tell you a lie; please don’t shout!

I bumped into the table; it fell down;

Honest, I didn’t break it on purpose…

Daddy, don’t push me down on the ground.

Don’t hit me!  I’ll stop making you nervous!

You say when I was born it ruined your life;

I’ll sneak in the kitchen, get a sharp knife. ---Lisa Cole-Allen

Pat Benatar was prompted to write the lyrics to

“Hell Is For Children” after reading a series of articles in

 the New York Times about the prevalence of child abuse

 in America.  She gave the words to her husband, lead guitarist

 Neil (Spyder)Giraldo, who composed the music.  Though the

song was considered controversial and was not as huge a hit as

many of Benatar’s other songs, she has stated that it’s her most

important work, and it is reserved for the grand finale at all the

band’s performances.

“Hell Is For Children”

They cry in the dark
So you can't see their tears
They hide in the light
So you can't see their fears
Forgive and forget
All the while
Love and pain become one and the same
In the eyes of a wounded child

Because hell, hell is for children
And you know that their little lives can become such a mess
Hell, hell is for children
And you shouldn't have to pay for your love
With your bones and your flesh

It's all so confusing this brutal abusing
They blacken your eyes and then apologize
"Be daddy's good girl, and don't tell mommy a thing"
"Be a good little boy, and you'll get a new toy
Tell grandma you fell from the swing"

Because hell, hell is for children
And you know that their little lives can become such a mess
Hell, hell is for children
And you shouldn't have to pay for your love
With your bones and your flesh

[Repeat: x3]
Hell, hell is for hell
Hell is for hell
Hell is for children

Hell is for children
Hell is for children

Benatar’s poetry in song covers the many different ways

 children are abused.  The somber melody and tempo that

begins “Hell Is For Children” illustrates the insidious sickness

 that is infused into the abused child: “Forgive and forget all

the while; love and pain become one and the same in the eyes

of a wounded child.”

The tempo as well as Benatar’s voice volume increases as she

 belts out passionately, “Because hell, hell is for children and you

know that their little lives can become such a mess.”  She speaks

directly to the child with: “You shouldn’t have to pay for your love

with your bones and your flesh.”

The next verse emphasizes how the abused child’s psyche is

 damaged: “It’s all so confusing, this brutal abusing; they

blacken your eyes and then apologize.”  She alludes to sexual

abuse in the next wheedling line: “Be daddy’s good girl and don’t

tell mommy a thing."  Benatar brings emotional abuse to

the surface with the bribing and demanding line: “Be a good

little boy, and you’ll get a new toy; tell grandma you fell from

the swing.”

The song ends in a passionate fever as the band rocks and

Benatar screams emotionally: “Hell, hell is for hell, hell is

for hell, hell is for children” over and over again.  Benatar and

the band bring the house down (and me to tears) with this

animated, emotive song with its important message to all.

If this song resonates; if Benatar sang of your own hellish

past, know that it is within your power not to perpetuate

abuse.   Break the cycle of abuse, protect our most precious

assets, our children, our future.  The responsibility to end child

abuse lies with every parent, teacher, child caregiver, and all

adults who have contact with children. Stop child abuse now.