Pat Benatar is a four-time Grammy winning musician with six platinum and fo… Read Full Bio ↴Pat Benatar is a four-time Grammy winning musician with six platinum and four gold albums to her credit. Singing such hit singles as "I Need a Lover", "Heartbreaker", "Fire and Ice", "Treat Me Right", "Hit Me with Your Best Shot", "Hell Is for Children", "Shadows of the Night", and "Love Is a Battlefield", Benatar is acknowledged as one of the leading female rock vocalists in the industry.

She was born in the neighborhood of Greenpoint in Brooklyn, New York City, New York on January 10, 1953 as Patricia Andrzejewski. She graduated from Lindenhurst High on Long Island in 1971. She married her lead guitarist, Neil "Spyder" Geraldo, in 1982, and she has two children, named Haley and Hana.

In 1973, Benatar quit her job as a bank teller to pursue a singing career after being inspired by a Liza Minnelli concert she saw in Richmond. She got a job as a singing waitress at a flapper-esque nightclub named "The Roaring Twenties", and got a gig singing in lounge band Coxon's Army. They garnered enough attention to be the subject of a never-aired PBS special, and the band's bassist, Roger Capps, would go on to be the original bass player for the Pat Benatar band.

This period also yielded Benatar's first solo single – 1974's "Day Gig" – until her eventual major label debut on Chrysalis Records in 1979. The song was released via Trace Records, and was both written and produced by Coxon's Army band leader Phil Coxon.

Benatar's big break came in 1975 at an amateur night at the comedy club "Catch a Rising Star" in New York City. Her rousing rendition of Judy Garland's "Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody" earned her a call back by club owner Rick Newman, who would later become her manager.

After many years of producing big budget albums, Neil and Pat have continued to produce albums together, even though they have decided to end their association with major labels. They have chosen instead to place the care of their children above industry demands, and make records at home in their own professional quality studio. Each summer when their girls get out of school for vacation, they all pack up, board a tour bus, and set out to play as many shows as they can fit into the summer months. Pat and Neil maintain a close, and much more personal, relationship with their fans, than they were able to do in 80's during the heights of their commercial success.

http://www.benatargiraldo.com

Brokenhearted
Pat Benatar Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I see them everyday; they're like shadows
Tryin' to run from the pain
But you know the pain, it always follows
So there's nowhere to go, not really

Sometimes I want to touch them
Try and set them free
But I'm afraid I might know them

Or they will recognize me

Where do they go? The brokenhearted
Do they travel alone when they carry that weight
Do they disappear without a trace
Look into the eyes of those who know
Can you tell me, where do they go?

Is there a place that they go to
That's for them alone
Where memories are sacred
And heartache has no home
I see them here in the moonlight
Searching for a sign
That love is out there waiting
Waiting for the right time

Where do they go? The brokenhearted

Do they travel alone when they carry that weight
Do they try to return to where they started
Do they disappear without a trace
Look into the eyes of those who know
Can you tell me where do they go?

The power of love gives them strength to carry on
Everywhere they go

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Pat Benatar’s song Brokenhearted reveals the singer’s incredible empathy with those who have suffered from heartbreak. She describes seeing them every day, like shadows, always trying to run away from their pain. She knows that no matter how far they run, the pain will follow them. She wonders where they go - the brokenhearted - when they carry the weight of unrequited love. Do they disappear without a trace or return to where they started? She believes that they may travel alone but the power of love gives them strength to carry on.

Pat Benatar portrays herself as someone who wants to help the brokenhearted. She wants to touch them and try to set them free but she is afraid of recognizing them or being recognized by them. She wonders if there is a place where the brokenhearted go to find solace, where memories are sacred, and heartache has no home. The singer probably speaks from personal experiences of heartbreak and understands that pain is a part of life but that love gives us the strength to carry on.

Line by Line Meaning

I see them everyday; they're like shadows
The singer often sees people who are suffering and defeated, and they seem to blend into the background like shadows.

Tryin' to run from the pain
These people are trying to escape from their pain and heartache.

But you know the pain, it always follows
Unfortunately, the pain that these people are trying to leave behind will always catch up to them.

So there's nowhere to go, not really
Even though they are trying to flee, there is no place to go where they can escape their heartbreak.

Sometimes I want to touch them
The singer feels compassion for these individuals and wishes to reach out and help them.

Try and set them free
The singer wants to free them from their suffering and relieve them from their pain.

But I'm afraid I might know them
The singer feels hesitant to approach them because they might recognize each other and share similar heartaches.

Or they will recognize me
The singer is scared that the brokenhearted individuals that she wants to help might recognize her as someone who has also suffered a similar heartbreak.

Where do they go? The brokenhearted
The singer is wondering where people go when they are brokenhearted.

Do they travel alone when they carry that weight
She wonders if they carry their heavy burden alone and isolated from others around them.

Do they try to return to where they started
The singer questions if the brokenhearted try to go back to where they were before their heartbreak.

Do they disappear without a trace
The singer questions if the brokenhearted simply vanish without a trace, leaving everyone in their past behind.

Look into the eyes of those who know
The singer is asking others to look deeply into the eyes of the brokenhearted to see their suffering.

Can you tell me where do they go?
The singer is asking if anyone can provide answers to where the brokenhearted go to escape their pain.

Is there a place that they go to
The singer wonders if there is a particular location that brokenhearted individuals go to seek refuge.

That's for them alone
The singer thinks that brokenhearted people require their own special space to deal with their heartbreak.

Where memories are sacred
She suggests that this space would be somewhere where the individuals can hold their memories dear as they move forward in life.

And heartache has no home
The singer thinks that this space should be a place where heartache cannot dwell.

I see them here in the moonlight
The singer sees these brokenhearted people searching for something, under the light of the moon.

Searching for a sign
The brokenhearted are looking for something to give them hope and the strength to move on.

That love is out there waiting
The singer suggests that the brokenhearted people are looking for evidence that there is still love and hope in the world.

Waiting for the right time
These individuals are waiting for the appropriate time to heal and find love again.

The power of love gives them strength to carry on
The power of love can be a driving force that motivates and gives the brokenhearted strength to carry on.

Everywhere they go
The brokenhearted carry this strength and are capable of finding love in different places throughout their lives.

Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS

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