“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…
8 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