Patty Smyth Was Devastated About One Part of This Hit Single

Before Patty Smyth launched her solo career in the late 1980s, she was the lead singer for Scandal. The rock band released several singles, beginning with “Goodbye To You”, out in 1982 on their eponymous debut EP.

In 1984, Scandal had their only No. 1 hit, with “The Warrior”. Written by Holly Knight and Nick Gilder, the rock anthem is on Warrior, Scandal’s only full-length album.

While it may seem that Smyth would have been overjoyed by the song’s success, she later reveals that one part of its release — the video — left her devastated. At the time, MTV was beginning to be a huge platform for artists. Smyth had an entirely different vision for the video for “The Warrior” than the end result, which has various people in costumes dancing while fighting to the song.

“When I saw the video, I was crestfallen,” Smyth says in the book I Want My MTV, out in 2011. “I had no idea it would look like an off-Broadway production of Cats.”

Later, Smyth expounded on why she hated the video for “The Warrior” so much.

“I just wanted to do a straight onstage rock video to that,” Smyth explains. “And they just shot me down. … They made me look like Batgirl. I thought when we were shooting it, at least it was going to be funny. I just thought it would be cut more tongue-in-cheek, and when I saw the final version, and it was serious, I called and was like, ‘Please don’t release this video.’”

The Story Behind “The Warrior” by Scandal

“The Warrior” says in part, “Shootin’ at the walls of heartache / Bang, bang / I am the warrior / Well, I am the warrior / And heart to heart you’ll win / If you survive / The warrior / The warrior.“

Knight says the song became personal for her, even though she wasn’t the one singing it.

“Rather than a love song or a fighting song, it was more empowerment,” Knight tells Songfacts. “I never realized before I wrote that song how much the warrior spirit is inside of me. And it means a lot to me … to stand up for the things that you believe in and to follow through, believing that those dreams can come true.”

“Basically not taking s–t from people,” she adds. “But still trying to have some class and be open-minded and listen. It’s all part and parcel for me.”

(Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images)

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