Дженис с пистолетом: История песни Aerosmith о мести и помощи жертвам насилия

1989 single by Aerosmith

"Janie's Got a Gun" is a song by American rock band Aerosmith and written by Steven Tyler and Tom Hamilton. The song was released as the second single from Pump in 1989, peaking at number four on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number two on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart in 1990. In Australia, the song reached number one, becoming Aerosmith's first of two number one singles there. It also reached number two in Canada, number 12 in Sweden, and number 13 in New Zealand. The song describes a young woman planning her revenge for childhood abuse. It won the band a 1990 Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.

On the album, "Janie's Got a Gun" is preceded by a 10 second instrumental called "Water Song", which features the work of instrumentalist Randy Raine Reusch, who uses a glass harmonica, wind gong, and bullroarers to produce the special effects heard at the start of the song.

Tyler came up with the main riff using a low tone setting on his keyboard. Hamilton created the bassline. The guitars and drum parts were configured later and Tyler wrote the lyrics. Tyler took nine months to complete the lyrics, which were also inspired by stories he heard in rehab from another addict who turned to drugs after being abused by her father. He explains, "In the 1980s I was in a recovery program where I met so many women who had experienced incredibly painful and debilitating sexual, mental and physical abuse. Those events put them on a path of suffering that led to anything from abusing drugs to self harm to many other self destructive behaviors to mask the pain. It was also around that time that I wrote the song "Janie's Got a Gun," which tells the story of a young girl who is abused by her father." The singer declared, "I got really angry that nobody was paying homage to those who were abused by mom and dad." The line "He jacked a little bitty baby" was originally "He raped a little bitty baby," but Geffen Records A&R executive John Kalodner argued that the band should change it, explaining that he felt the song had the potential to be a hit and was certain it would not get played on commercial radio with the word "rape" in it. Janie is portrayed by actress Kristin Dattilo. Her parents are played by Nicholas Guest and Lesley Ann Warren.

In 2015, Tyler started a charity, Janie's Fund, which raises funds to provide counseling, trauma care, housing and medical care to troubled young women. Tyler explains, "Over the 30 years since that song was released, I've often thought about what could be done to prevent this kind of abuse."