Introducing rock to your kids: #2 - Pat Benatar "Heartbreaker"

My little girl knows what she wants.  Of the hundreds of books in our apartment, Callie only wants 3 or 4 read to her.  When the TV goes on, it's Yo Gabba Gabba or nothing.  But the beauty of giving her something she likes--carrots, for instance--is that she will sit there in total bliss and have the time of her life.

And so began my quest to find her the perfect rock song.  Months went by.  Callie perched on her chair coloring, me desperately playing songs in hopes of drawing a reaction.  Zeppelin - nothing.  Stones - nothing. The harder I tried, the more futile my attempts seemed.

Then Pat Benatar came on and Callie stopped coloring.  She raised her head and stared at the speakers, perfectly silent and hypnotized by the drums.  Think of a deer munching on berries that suddenly hears footsteps.

Pat Benatar won Callie's heart with her song "Heartbreaker."  Who can deny the monstrous opening guitar riff, the awesome chorus, the caged-animal vocals?  You can't help but feel like you're in some 80s gang movie, running through an alley or scaling some giant fence.

Callie, the mild-mannered and sweet 2 1/2 year old, turns into a raging rocker when Pat sings for her.  She slams her air drums, jumps, spins, howls, yelps -- all  the while making some sort of pirate face.  Watching her rock to this song is a thing of beauty.  Together with her brother, they have developed some sort of odd chaotic choreography.  At 2:15, when Pat sings accapella, Quinn and Callie take one final rest before going into an all-out, no holds barred blitz.  They flip, twist and turn their bodies into positions that seem painful, and I can't help but throw my arms into the air and shout:  VICTORY!

-Neal

Here's Pat in action, rocking "Heartbreaker" on American Bandstand -