Aerosmith, Janie’s Got a Gun | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 54^th edition of Throwback Vibez (2024), we recollect and reflect on “Janie’s Got a Gun” by legendary rock band, Aerosmith.

The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶! Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace this column are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re ancient – no fossils 🦴! All genres of music are welcome. In the 54^th edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2024), we recollect and reflect on “Janie’s Got a Gun”, performed by Aerosmith.

“Now that Janie’s got a gun / She ain’t never gonna be the same.” What a statement Steven Tyler and Aerosmith make on “Water Song / Janie’s Got a Gun”.  “Janie’s Got a Gun” appears as the fifth track on the band’s 1989 LP, Pump.  A hit single, it peaked at no. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1990. Not only was it successful on the charts, but it also earned Aerosmith one of its four Grammys, for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. “Janie’s Got a Gun” was written by Tyler and Tom Hamilton. The late Bruce Fairbairn produced the gem which benefits from rocking production and a bright, exuberant sound.

It’s surprising that “Janie’s Got a Gun” does sound bright – the content is dark! What isn’t surprising is the fact that we get high-flying, rousing vocals by Steven Tyler.  That, of course, is the expectation from the iconic, gifted front man.  The songwriting, coupled with the tuneful melodies, make “Janie’s Got a Gun” the sugar honey iced tea. “They say when Janie was arrested / They found him underneath the train,” Tyler sings in the second verse. He adds, “But man, he had it comin’ / Now that Janie’s got a gun / She ain’t never gonna be the same.”  So, how and why did he have it comin’? Well, her daddy “Jacked a little bitty baby /… They say the spell that he was under / The lightening and the thunder / Knew that someone had to stop the rain.” Controversial justice, right? Of course, Tyler fills us in on how things went down with Janie: “She had to take him down easy / And put a bullet in his brain / She said, ‘cause nobody believe me / The man was such a sleaze / He ain’t never gonna be the same.”  Facts – he’s dead! “Janie’s Got a Gun” is one of the best rock songs of the late 80s and early 90s – a tour de force by Aerosmith.

Aerosmith // Pump // Geffen // 1989

Aerosmith, Janie’s Got a Gun: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 No. 54 (2024) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Geffen; OpenClipart-Vectors, Speedy McVroom via  Pixabay]