Unfortunately, however, a lot of people think like that. The next song should be, 'We're in Therapy Now,'

Goffin and King wrote the song after discovering that singer Little Eva was being regularly beaten by her boyfriend.[1] 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.[1]

Phil Spector's arrangement was ominous and ambiguous.[1]
“ 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." ”
 
— Dave Thompson[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.[1] Soon, the song was played only rarely on the radio, as now.
The 1930 Frank Borzage film Liliom contains the line "He hit me and it felt like a kiss" in its final scene. The film was not a success and nothing suggests that Goffin or King had seen it. Liliom, originally a play by Hungarian playwright Ferenc Molnár, was the basis for the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical classic, Carousel. While King and Goffin may not have seen Liliom, it is possible that they were familiar with the successful 1956 film version of Carousel, which contains essentially the same line. However, King has stated that their friend who inspired the song had used that exact phrase.[2]

Carole King, in that same radio interview, said that she was sorry she had ever had anything to do with the song. She was a survivor of repeated domestic abuse (but not from Goffin, who had been her husband from 1969 to 1969.[3])

it's actually 1959 to 1969, according to imdb. I should edit the wiki page, but I have to go grocery shopping.

Carole King and Gerry Goffin wrote this song. They were inspired to write it after their babysitter Little Eva told them about her relationship with an abusive boyfriend who beat her almost on a regular basis. When they asked her why she tolerated the abuse, she answered that it symbolized how much he loved her.

The subject matter of the song made it a commercial failure. It was disliked by the public, and radio stations denied the song airplay. The Crystals hated the song as well. Why Phil Spector convinced them to record it and then tried to release it as a single remains a mystery today.

La La Brooks of The Crystals recalled to Mojo magazine in a 2011 interview: "It is an overlooked song and misinterpreted. That was weird for us. We were thrown aback by the song. I'm a teenager at the time. Barbara (Alston, fellow Crystal) was a little uneasy doing it. And I was trying to figure out the song and why Phil would record something like this. Barbara was so turned off because she was singing the lyrics and can't feel anything. So in the studio Phil was telling her, 'Don't be so relaxed on it.'"

http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=2790

thanks for posting.

Thank you for that information!

that the ref to Little Eva and the song which is the subject of the OP relates to a specific event /issue rather than to Little Eva in general and the Locomotion for example. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Loco-Motion Its interesting that some think its actually Carol King doing the vocal track.

Thanks for the link but sadly it won't play in the UK even using a proxy server. I'll have a root round later to see if their is another link. Might buy the film : my daughter likes Lynch stuff.

The Locomotion itself was a just one of numerous short lived solo dance crazes which followed the Twist : http://www.wisegeek.org/what-are-the-common-dances-from-the-1960s.htm I was never into such dances having already learned partner dance to R & R, jazz and blues to help overcome dreadful shyness and still only partner dance to this day -
R & R and Lindy Hop etc now. Even at Rock & Roll some , particularly the girls , prefer to do strolls to certain tempos : each to their own I guess.

Use inland empire locomotion video in google to see some other links. They'll likely have a few seconds of one of the dancers with her top up.

I don't know if Lynch was referencing Little Eva's life and I don't want to post Spoilers so I'll let that idea go.

The movie is as deep and disturbing as it gets; and I've seen Mulholland Dr. and Lost Highway.

I obviously can't put the young lady getting 'em out with anything but as my daughter will be 44 next month I'm not into youngsters anyway. My daughter checked into the film and said it looked interesting so I've ordered the Blu-ray for her.

Lynch now loves digital cameras and I guess it does fit his aesthetic of life = a dream, or is it vice versa?

Blu ray should minimize any compression errors and you get better audio as well. But parts of the movie are meant to be a bit hazy so don't be disappointed.

Maybe the intent was to have made it "uneasy"...

Thanks for the background.

which I've had for years but I'd never even noticed that track probably because I tend to focus on all the stuff I remember from dancing when I was a teenager.

I've got all of the Ronettes , Shangri-Las, Darlene Love , Bob B. Soxx &The Blue Jeans etc recordings most of which were about teen heartbreak/problems whatever.

The thing went nowhere on the charts. It's not like the Crystals don't have enough good material to fill out an album.

I first heard about this in the book Girls Like Us, which is partially a biography of Carole King. Somehow-or-other, I never heard it on the Top 40 when it came out...

-- Mal

and couldn't believe it either. can't remember if it was the loog or the mighty manfred, but someone told the production story, which i think makes it make more sense as a historical curiosity.

"Goodbye Earl" by the Dixie Chicks

Never heard/saw that one.

Was Earl played by Dennis Franz?

Who was probably a bit old for the part.

I should mention that my wife spent 17 years working at a shelter for domestic violence victims, and I was a volunteer there for many of those years. I have seen women who were sent to intensive care by their husbands/boyfriends.

I think I'll play that video when I need cheering up.

Of course I also liked the story line where the Desperate Housewives offed the child molester.

Maybe I have a mean streak somewhere.

Thank you sincerely for bringing it to our attention. I couldn't bear to listen to it, though. The man I married years ago in my foolish youth turned out to be a closet sociopath; the only reason I eventually escaped alive was because I told him straight out that if he ever raised a hand to me, he'd better finish the job or I'd finish him. He knew I meant it too. But he was still hateful and cruel in other ways.

Holy crap, Carole! What a serious turd

LYRICS

He hit me
And it felt like a kiss.
He hit me
But it didn't hurt me.

He couldn't stand to hear me say
That I'd been with someone new,
And when I told him I had been untrue

He hit me
And it felt like a kiss.
He hit me
And I knew he loved me.


If he didn't care for me
I could have never made him mad
But he hit me,
And I was glad.

(instrumental break)

Yes, he hit me
And it felt like a kiss.
He hit me
And I knew I loved him.

And then he took me in his arms
With all the tenderness there is,
And when he kissed me,
He made me his.

hits his (living) daughter. I forget why.. but she
tells her mother later that it "felt like a kiss"

so her mother knew it must have been an angel...


Maybe that's where CK got her inspiration.

Then when I realized it was a cover, by the Crystals no less, I was even more shocked.

let me tell you it doesn't feel like a kiss.