"Hell Is for Children" is a hard rock song by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

singer

Pat Benatar Patricia Mae Giraldo (''née'' Andrzejewski, formerly Benatar; born January 10, 1953), known professionally as Pat Benatar, is an American rock singer and songwriter. In the United States, she has had two multi-platinum albums, five platinum alb ...

. It was written by guitarist

Neil Giraldo Neil Thomas Giraldo (born December 29, 1955) is an American musician, record producer, arranger, and songwriter best known as the musical partner of Pat Benatar since 1979and spouse since 1982. He has also performed, written and produced for art ...

, bass player Roger Capps and Benatar. The song is about child abuse and was recorded by Benatar in 1980 for her second

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

Crimes of Passion A crime of passion (French: ''crime passionnel''), in popular usage, refers to a violent crime, especially homicide, in which the perpetrator commits the act against someone because of sudden strong impulse such as anger rather than as a premed ...

.'' While it was not released as an A-side single, it was a hit on album-rock radio stations as it reached number 7 on the Tunecaster Rock Tracks Chart. Pat Benatar started writing the song after reading a series of articles on child abuse in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. She was shocked to learn such things happen and wanted to write about it. A live version of this song from her album ''

Live from Earth ''Live from Earth'' is the first live album by American rock singer Pat Benatar, and was released in October 15, 1983. The album was recorded during Benatar's sold out 'Get Nervous' world tour in late 1982 and early 1983. It also contains two ...

'' (1983) was released as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of her "

Love Is a Battlefield "Love Is a Battlefield" is a song by American singer Pat Benatar, recorded and released on September 12, 1983, as a single from Benatar's live album '' Live from Earth'' (1983), though the song itself was a studio recording. It was written by Ho ...

" single three years later.

Cover versions

* In 1989, thrash metal band

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

covered the song on the B-side of their album ''Man of Straw''. * In 2000, heavy metal band

Seven Witches Seven Witches is an American heavy metal band from New Jersey, founded in 1998 by Jack Frost and Bobby Lucas. History Seven Witches released a demo-CD in 1998, which resulted in them signing a record deal with Massacre Records. The first two ...

covered the song for their album ''City of Lost Souls''. * In 2002, the American comic horror metal band Rosemary's Billygoat covered the song for their album ''Evilution''. * In 2009, the Finnish metal band

Children of Bodom Children of Bodom was a Finnish melodic death metal band from Espoo. Formed in 1993 as Inearthed, the final line-up of the group upon their split in 2019 consisted of Alexi Laiho (lead guitar, lead vocals), Jaska Raatikainen (drums), Henkka Sep ...

covered the song for their cover album ''Skeletons in the Closet.'' * In 2013, the American rock band

Halestorm Halestorm is an American rock band from Red Lion, Pennsylvania, consisting of lead vocalist and guitarist Lzzy Hale, her drummer brother Arejay Hale, guitarist Joe Hottinger, and bassist Josh Smith. The group's self-titled debut album was re ...

covered the song for their EP '' Reanimate 2.0: The Covers EP''. * In 2021, the American gothic metal band Unto Others covered the song for their album ''Strength''.

References

Pat Benatar songs 1981 singles Songs about child abuse 1980 songs Chrysalis Records singles Song recordings produced by Keith Olsen Songs written by Pat Benatar Songs written by Neil Giraldo {{1980s-rock-song-stub