35 Years Ago: Aerosmith Tackle Abuse With 'Janie's Got a Gun'

By the late '80s, Aerosmith had already lived the rock star lives that most bands dream about.

There'd been copious amounts of sex and drugs – along with some hugely successful music. International fame followed but these wild times came with a price, as health issues led to long stints in rehab. But they'd finally found sobriety and a new sense of focus with the Nov. 8, 1989, release of “Janie’s Got a Gun.”

The socially conscious Top 5 hit was the brainchild of singer Steven Tyler, who wrote the initial melody on keyboard but couldn’t produce the right lyrics. “I sat for months, waiting for the oracle door to open,” he told Rolling Stone in 1994. “Then I looked over at a Time magazine and saw this article on 48 hours, minute by minute, of handgun deaths in the United States.”

Tyler suddenly had his chorus, though it originally had the line “Danny’s got a gun” before he changed the name and gender to Janie. As he reflected on gun violence, Tyler created a deeper story. “I’d heard this woman speaking about how many children are attacked by their mothers and fathers,” Tyler said. “It was fucking scary. I felt, man, I gotta sing about this.”

Bassist Tom Hamilton crafted the song’s recognizable bass line, with Joe Perry soon adding an emphatic guitar solo. “Steven came in and played ‘Janie’s Got a Gun’ one day at rehearsal, and we all just stood there. It was like a visit from the gods,” Hamilton recalled years later. “There was something really amazing happening in that room.”

“Janie’s Got a Gun” marked the band’s first foray into dark subject matter, a choice that came with risk. John Kalodner, a top executive at Aerosmith’s label, warned that the lyrics could impact the song’s success.

“I heard the rough cut of ‘Janie’ just after they’d recorded it,” Kalodner said in the band autobiography Walk This Way. “I knew it was a big hit, certainly one of Tyler’s best moments as a songwriter. It was a work of art, a masterpiece and so bizarre. He went berserk when I told him it wouldn’t get played on commercial radio with the word ‘rape’ in it. He didn’t want to take it out, and there was a fight.”

Kalodner got his wish. A line that originally said “He raped a little bitty baby” was changed to “He jacked a little bitty baby.” The lyric “put a bullet in his brain” would also be amended on the radio edit.

Watch Aersomith's 'Janie's Got a Gun' Video

Aerosmith Earns Their First Grammy

David Fincher directed the music video, creating cinematic style and haunting storytelling that pointed to later successes with movies like 1995's Seven, 1999's Fight Club and 2010's The Social Network.

The third single off Aerosmith's hugely successful Pump album, “Janie’s Got a Gun” stirred emotions, as the public argued over gun violence, abuse and whether the track glorified vigilante justice. Aerosmith had struck a nerve.

“Steven hit upon a subject that most people were afraid to deal with and even unaware of: parental abuse and violence against their children,” drummer Joey Kramer noted in the band’s autobiography.

The song earned Aerosmith the first Grammy of their career, for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal. Tyler subsequently launched Janie's Fund, a nonprofit organization providing protection and counseling for female victims of abuse.

Still, he tried to keep everything in perspective. “You know, part of me wants to say, ‘What a socially relevant statement this is you finally made, Steven,’” Tyler noted in the documentary The Making of Pump. “And the other part says, ‘Well, that may be true, but it’s really only rock 'n’ roll.’”