Me and a Gun

by

Tori Amos

Edit

"Me and a Gun" was the first single released from the Tori Amos LP, Little Earthquakes, released on October 21, 1991 in the United Kingdom, as a CD single, 7" and 12". It was also released in Germany.

The song is three minutes and forty-four seconds long. It was inspired by a rape that occurred in LA when Amos was 21. After she performed at a bar, a patron asked her if he could have a ride home. She obliged, and he raped her at knifepoint (many journalists mistakenly state she was raped at gunpoint, possibly due to the song's title). She escaped. Years later, in London, Amos saw the film Thelma and Louise and was stirred. On the way to a show, she wrote the song in her head. That night, she performed the song a cappella.

Tori Amos explains the experience:

This song did not take off very well as a single, possibly given its serious subject matter; in fact, the track was not the A-side to its own single. "Silent All These Years," another song from Little Earthquakes, was the first track on this single, with "Gun" appearing third (or as the B-side on the 7" release). "Silent" was a more accessible song, and radio stations began to play that instead. Ultimately the single was re-released with nearly identical packaging but retitled as Silent All These Years.

Amos made a habit of singing this song during live appearances. In 1994, the DC Rape Crisis Center awarded Amos a Visionary award for the song and the co-creation of RAINN. Ultimately Amos stopped singing the song live in December 2001 and did not sing it live again until September 2007 (with the exception of one performance in Istanbul in August 2005).