Bondage theme, jadedtom? Strange, yes; surprisingly good, yes. But the only reference in the song to anything having anything to do with what is often called "S&M" [which actually is nowhere near the point of the song] is to what would today be called domestic violence: the girl's boyfriend (apparently nothing more, from the song's denouement) is apparently angry ["If he didn't care for me, I could have never made him mad"] over her interaction with another person ["He couldn't stand to hear me say that I'd been with someone new"], so he hits her. No bondage, no dom/sub, only anger and apparent repentance, leading to a happy ending ["And then he took me in his arms with all the tenderness there is, and when he kissed me, he made me his"].And the B-side, by the way, is no retreat from the "wall of sound" for which Spector would become famous. Listen to the echo and reverb, and it's obvious that the Gold Star studio and underground chambers were very much in use for that session as well.

This is a strange and surprisingly good song. "He Hit Me" was not your average Goffin-King pop tune. It deals with its bondage theme directly and honestly, a la the intended meaning of their cleverly titled "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?" by the Shirelles. But this was years before the Velvet Underground's "Venus in Furs", and this rather tame anthem by today's standards did not sit well with the many insipid teen love songs of the time.The b-side is a sad little piece that works in the same way, with simple direct lyrics. It also appears to be a retreat from Spector's "wall of sound" as it is a quiet song with a simple string arrangement. This was not an upbeat single for the Crystals, so it probably had little commercial potential at the time.The original pressing is fairly rare, but the tune is available on CD.

Interesting how Rodgers & Hammerstein managed to get away with the same theme, years earlier, in their musical "Carousel." And that play was based on the Hungarian play "Liliom" (which had been made into motion pictures in 1919 by Michael Curtiz, 1930 by Frank Borzage and 1934 by Fritz Lang). It appears that some themes will simply endure (no matter how they may conflict with current trends).BTW the release of this single (in the U.K.) was cancelled (possibly due, as mentioned above, to the perceived lack of commercial potential, but more likely because of the overt S&M references).