“He Hit Me (It Felt Like a Kiss)” – The Crystals (1962)
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 (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
Yes, he hit me and it felt like a kiss (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
****
“He Hit Me (It Felt Like a Kiss) is actually the only song on this list that I actively dislike. This song is just all kinds of wrong, sung from the point of view of a victim of domestic abuse who excuses the violence with logic that’s been twisted to the limit. It’s sad, and the fact that the song is based on the true-life experience (and internal logic) of “The Locomotion” singer, Little Eva, makes it even sadder. To be fair to the ‘60s, this song did receive some pushback soon after it was released, so… that’s good. In conclusion, this may be the most messed up song ever written… and yet, somehow, still not the most sexist song of the ‘60s…
12 thoughts on “The 6 Sexistiest Songs of the ’60s — #2”
Yes, I agree. I’ve never heard this song before. Interesting…
Sunshine
omg I never heard the lyrics like that before. UGH yuck I want to wipe it off.
Kristen
Omg. Knowing it is based on someone’s real life experience makes so much worse.
🙁
Brandy
I’m sorry, it this song that has to be even worse than the Jack Jones song. Physical abuse, right there for all to see, yep this is the worse. I have heard this over the years and always thought, “WTF?”
Jack H
I’m definitely with you. Looking good was definitely a part of the 60’s, physical violence against women was probably not any more common than it is today.
FC
“…physical violence against women was probably not any more common than it is today.”
[…]
(>ლ)
Danielle
I heard this song for the first time a few weeks ago on Spotify of all places!! . I was shocked, my jaw literally dropped and I looked at my wife, she looked at me, and we thought “Who would write this, and how could any woman in her right mind sing it?”
Biran
Even worse, a woman co-wrote it.
Paula
I don’t dislike this song. It was written by the famous Goffin and King writing partnership. Little Eva was their babysitter (She sat for their daughter, Louise Goffin, who would later become a singer/songwriter herself).
In my mind it’s the wrong song written for the right reasons, Unfortunately, women in this situation do sometimes see it this way, which is why some domestic violence goes on for so long. Carole King said she wanted the song to show how the victim felt and at the same time make people realise just how wrong that is. She did admit that with hindsight it didn’t work.
Jason
“The wrong song written for the right reasons.” Well said!
Sugardanny
It is evident both parties are toxic here and this is a relationship built on [A] promiscuous womanhood
(because virginal women don’t to f*ck around to goad you into reacting or because the relationship’s soured)
and [B] inconsistent manhood
(because strong men know better than to humor undisciplined and emotionally volatile females; know better than to become softened and domesticated thereby, thus loosing said broads’ respect; and know better than to lash out in a womanly fashion during a fit of rage instead of having the greater self-respect to walk away).
Nevertheless, it’s also a TRUE song, in that it demonstrates two givens of interssexual dynamics: (1) that women are not unfaithful to men they respect and (2), that they respect a man who stands up for himself (even if it is in a womanly way).
The reason the woman feels “like a kiss” when she’s struck is because, in responding to her (albeit childishly) instead of just bitching about it and begging her to stop, the guy stands up for herself and THAT is something she loved in the first place, before he gradually lost the behavioral mannerisms and attitudes that she respected. Granted, he’d be an idiot to take her back because, clearly she wasn’t the girl he thought he’d gotten together with and “once a cheatress, always a cheatress” but, he asserted himself instead of just “taking it” or begging her like a submissive to keep the relationship afloat. In an indirect way, that’s manly and, respectable.
David Paulus
Just found this list.. glad its still around…abominable. any song esp one making these references should be banned from ever been used again. 🙈
Ness