Ch' dum dum dum, honey what have you done
Ch' dum dum dum, it's the sound of my gun
Ch' dum dum dum, honey what have you done
Ch' dum dum dum, it's the sound, it's the sound
Janie's got a gun
Janie's got a gun
Her whole world's come undone
From lookin' straight at the sun
What did her daddy do?
What did he put you through?
They said when Janie was arrested
They found him underneath a train
But man he had it comin'
Now that Janie's got a gun
She ain't never gonna be the same
Janie's got a gun
Janie's got a gun
Her dog days just begun
Now everybody is on the run
Tell me now it's untrue
What did her daddy do?
He jacked a little bitty baby
The man has got to be insane
They say the spell that he was under
The lightning and the thunder
Knew that someone had to stop the rain
Run away, run away from the pain
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Run away, run away from the pain
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Run away, run away
Run, run away... ooh
Janie's got a gun
Janie's got a gun
Her dog days just begun
Now everybody is on the run
What did her daddy do?
It's Janie's last I - O - U
She had to take him down easy
And put a bullet in his brain
She said 'cause nobody believes me
The man was such a sleaze
He ain't never gonna be the same
Run away, run away from the pain
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Run away, run away from the pain
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Run away, run away
Run, run away...
Janie's got a gun
Janie's got a gun
Janie's got a gun
Everybody is on the run
Janie's got gun
Her dog day's just begun
Now everybody is on the run
Because Janie's got a gun
Janie's got a gun
Her dog day's just begun
Now everybody is on the run
Janie's got a gun
Lyrical interpretation
The song is about a girl named Janie who takes revenge on her father after being sexually abused; it is one of the few Aerosmith songs to deal with a heavy social issue. Aerosmith vocalist Steven Tyler says that he came up with the title and melody before he knew what direction he wanted the song to take. It had taken nine months to finish the lyrics; after Tyler read a Newsweek article on gunshot victims, he was able to connect the song with the theme of child abuse/incest. The line "He jacked a little bitty baby" was originally "He raped a little bitty baby," but was changed for commercial purposes. In addition, the line "...and put a bullet in his brain" was sometimes changed to "...and left him in the pouring rain" for the radio airplay version.
