Songfacts®:

• This was the first single and the title track from Jordin Sparks' sophomore set.
• Sparks performed this song on the May 13, 2009 edition of American Idol. The R&B/pop singer was the winner of the show's sixth season.
• The song was co-written and produced by OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder. His other credits include "Bleeding Love," "Apologize" and "Halo."
• In this mid tempo R&B song, a frustrated Sparks cries, "Why does love always feel like a battlefield!" Back in 1983 Pat Benatar sang a similar lyric when she explained, "We are strong, no one can tell us were wrong. Searchin our hearts for so long, both of us knowing, love is a battlefield." Sparks sang Benatar's song on Idol in 2007. However she explained in a press conference that the shared title was pure coincidence. She said: "When I first heard the song, I fell in love. I didn't think of Pat Benatar at all." Sparks added that she remains a Benatar fan: "Me and my mom have been listening to her since I was a little kid."
• Choosing this song as the lead single was a bold decision, since it finds Sparks taking a step away from her bright and breezy image and singing assertively about the dark side of love. Her manager Kevin Jonas, who's also the manager (and father) of the Jonas Brothers, explained to Billboard magazine: "Jordin started out as the youngest American Idol winner and had all the blessings that come with that. But now it's important for Jordin to tell everyone, 'I am a strong woman and I have something to say.'"
• Jordin Sparks came across this song by chance. She explained to Digital Spy: "It kinda came up by fluke. I was in the studio working on another song with Wayne Wilkins, one of the writers of 'Battlefield', and he said to me, 'I have a song I wanna play you but I don't know if I should'. I was like, 'Go for it - the worst that could happen is I don't like it'. He played the song and honestly my jaw hit the floor. I didn't wanna ask him on the spot if I could have the song, so I went to my A&R and said, 'This song's so phenomenal, you have to ask him if it's available'. About a week later I got a call saying I was going to record it."
• Sparks told Digital Spy about the recording of the song: "What grabbed me at first actually was the fact it was so big. The melody starts off very soft but then it gets massive and kinda angsty. I've had lots of friends who've gone through 'Battlefield' situations in their relationships, so when I was singing the song I put myself in their position and tried to imagine what they were going through. I got so, so into it and I think you can tell."
• Sparks said in a press release: "To me, the title 'Battlefield' is about strength and perseverance. Things can go from good to bad in an instant, it could be family, friendship or work; and my favorite line in the song is, 'you better go and get your armor,' because it's telling you to be prepared for that time so that you can overcome it." She added that the album was named after this song because it was central to the themes and other recordings for the set.