Pat Benatar: You can't change the past so don't let it haunt you. You...

I wasn't a visionary but I literally had my finger on the pulse of the women of America.

Pat Benatar

pulse visionaries america

Most chick-singers say "If you hurt me, I'll die"... I say, if you hurt me, I'll kick your ass.

Pat Benatar

ass singers hurt

Everything must change, everything must move forward.

Pat Benatar

moving-forward moving

I felt I had a responsibility to do the right thing. And then I wanted to do the right thing by my family and there was no handbook.

Pat Benatar

my-family responsibility wanted

It's so hard [to be parent] and no matter how old you get and how experienced you get you're always scared you're going to screw it up and you're going to make a mistake.

Pat Benatar

parent matter mistake

When I was a kid about joining the Peace Corps. It said it was "the hardest job you'll ever love." This is what parenting is, as far as I'm concerned. This is parenting. That is the friggin' Peace Corps. Because you don't love doing this - this is the thing you love the most in your life, it's the best thing you ever do.

Pat Benatar

hardest-job jobs kids

I have different reasons for the way that I react to things now that I have kids. It's not about me, it's about my children going out into this world that makes me say, "What the hell are you all doing?" I have to put them out there, and then I have to worry.

Pat Benatar

worry kids children

Love is more than a one way reflection, stop using sex as a weapon.

Pat Benatar

reflection love sex

We can't afford to be innocent, stand up and face the enemy. It's a do or die situation, we will be invincible.

Pat Benatar

faces inspirational enemy

I never looked at people or singing as commodities.

Pat Benatar

commodity singing people

Hell is for Children' is amazing to do every night and 'Promises in the Dark' and 'Love Is a Battlefied,' of course, but my absolute favorite would be 'Heartbreaker.' It's the one that started everything, so it has a very special place in my heart. And it still rocks every night! It's so fun to do.

Pat Benatar

heart fun children

It was very difficult when I was trying to figure out how to have a marriage and babies and do this at the same time. There was no handbook. You were making it up as you went along.

Pat Benatar

figures trying baby

There are so many young women coming up through the ranks. Adele is an amazing singer. Beyonce has great stage presence. She's just a beautiful woman. I love how everyone has just taken charge of their lives and careers.

Pat Benatar

careers taken beautiful

At fifty. I thought I would be done. I thought I'd be finished by now. So I have no idea. I just leave it.

Pat Benatar

done would-be ideas

I love Katy Perry, she is a wonderful pop singer.

Pat Benatar

pops singers wonderful

I love "Heartbreaker." "Heartbreaker" stands up for me still. It still works to me. The sentiment is still timely and it just works. But I don't want to do that again. I'm not interested in re-creating that. That was great and I'll just leave it there.

Pat Benatar

heartbreaker creating want

It's really hard to make records and concentrate and have a free mind, because I have this whole other life. If you don't have kids it's a whole other thing. I think you can be fifty and still have a rock and roll lifestyle; you can still perpetuate that.

Pat Benatar

rocks kids thinking

I wasn't interested in fabricating things and altering what I did to make hit records.

Pat Benatar

records

Of course, you're not making records in a vacuum. I'm not making them for myself. It would be nice if I could get more people to hear them. But if I have to sell my soul to the devil to do it, I won't.

Pat Benatar

nice soul people

I like Lady Gaga because I like that she pushes the envelope.

Pat Benatar

gaga envelopes

You can't change the past so don't let it haunt you. You can change the future but first you've got to want to.