Me and a Gun
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"Me and a Gun" is a song by American singer-songwriter and musician
Tori Amos Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...
. It was released as the first single from her debut studio album ''
Little Earthquakes ''Little Earthquakes'' is the debut solo album by the American singer-songwriter Tori Amos, featuring the singles "Silent All These Years", "China", "Winter" and "Crucify". After Atlantic Records rejected the first version of the album, Amos bega ...
''. It was released on October 21, 1991 by Atlantic Records in North America and EastWest Records in the UK.


Background

The song is three minutes and 44 seconds long. Amos wrote the song about being
rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...
d in
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when she 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. Years later, in
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, she saw the film ''
Thelma and Louise Thelma is a female given name. It was popularized by Victorian writer Marie Corelli who gave the name to the title character of her 1887 novel ''Thelma''. It may be related to a Greek word meaning "will, volition" see ''thelema''). Note that altho ...
'' and was stirred. Amos discussed the attack in a 1994 interview:
"I'll never talk about it at this level again but let me ask you. Why have I survived that kind of night, when other women didn't? How am I alive to tell you this tale when he was ready to slice me up? In the song I say it was 'Me and a Gun' but it wasn't a gun. It was a knife he had. And the idea was to take me to his friends and cut me up, and he kept telling me that, for hours. And if he hadn't needed more drugs I would have been just one more news report, where you see the parents grieving for their daughter. And I was singing hymns, as I say in the song, because he told me to. I sang to stay alive. Yet I survived that torture, which left me urinating all over myself and left me paralyzed for years. That's what that night was all about, mutilation, more than violation through sex. I really do feel as though I was psychologically mutilated that night and that now I'm trying to put the pieces back together again. Through love, not hatred. And through my music. My strength has been to open again, to life, and my victory is the fact that, despite it all, I kept alive my vulnerability."
When released as a single, the track was not the A-side: " Silent All These Years," another song from ''Little Earthquakes'', was the first track, with "Me and a Gun" appearing third (or as the B-side on the 7" release). "Silent All These Years" 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 her a Visionary award for the song and the co-creation of
RAINN The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) is an American nonprofit anti-sexual assault organization, the largest in the United States. RAINN operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline, as well as the Department of Defense Safe Helplin ...
. 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
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in August 2005).


Effect on rape myths

The lyrics of Me and a Gun address the
rape myth Rape myths are prejudicial, stereotyped, and false beliefs about sexual assaults, rapists, and rape victims. They often serve to excuse sexual aggression, create hostility toward victims, and bias criminal prosecution. Extensive research has bee ...
where some people believe that a woman who dresses in revealing clothes is somehow responsible for her rape. Amos acknowledges wearing a revealing red top and challenges her rapist with the question of whether this made him think she deserved to be raped. A survey of thousands of Amos listeners revealed that only about 6% of the Amos listeners believed this myth as compared to 26% of the general population. This was the rape myth most rejected by Amos listeners, but the survey went on to analyze the attitudes of Amos listeners to other rape myths as well. All rape myths were rejected more strongly--to varying degrees--by Amos listeners than by the general population.


Later appearances of the song

* Trance pioneers Salt Tank sampled the line "Do you know Carolina, where the biscuits are soft and sweet" on their 1996 release "Eugina." * A VHS video of music videos and live performances was released in 1992; it was also called ''
Little Earthquakes ''Little Earthquakes'' is the debut solo album by the American singer-songwriter Tori Amos, featuring the singles "Silent All These Years", "China", "Winter" and "Crucify". After Atlantic Records rejected the first version of the album, Amos bega ...
.'' Amos sings "Me and a Gun" in an appearance on MTV Asia. * Amos performs "Me and a Gun" on the video '' Tori Amos: Live from New York,'' a recording of the 1997 RAINN
benefit concert A benefit concert or charity concert is a type of musical benefit performance (e.g., concert, show, or gala) featuring musicians, comedians, or other performers that is held for a charitable purpose, often directed at a specific and immediate hu ...
. * During 1997, a CD called ''Tori Amos the benefit for RAINN'' (Atlantic #PRCD 6995-2) was given out during several promotions in order to raise money for RAINN. An audio version of the above live concert version was released on this two-track CD. (The other track was the album version of " Putting the Damage On.") * In 1999, the song was featured on an MTV compilation called ''Fight for Your Rights: Take a Stand Against Violence.'' * "Me and a Gun" is also included on ''A Tori Amos Collection: Tales of a Librarian.'' * While performed for her stint on ''
MTV Unplugged ''MTV Unplugged'' is an American television series on MTV showcasing musical artists usually playing acoustic instruments. The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999 and less frequently from 2000 to 2009, when it was usually billed as ''MTV Un ...
,'' "Me and a Gun" was cut from the final airing of the show. Clips of this performance surfaced on the MTV special ''Hips, Lips and Genderbenders: MTV's History of Sex,'' but it has otherwise remained unreleased. * On November 6, 2007, during a concert in
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on her ADP tour, Amos performed "Me and a Gun" as Pip with her backing band, using a knife and gun as props. This marked the first time she sang the song with instrumentation. The performance was considered especially controversial, with Amos dancing to the instrumentation in a sexual but angry manner. Pip was considered the angriest of her ADP alter egos. Amos, who was raped at knifepoint, opened her legs and used the knife prop to simulate her rapist's penis entering her, provoking great shock from most of her audience who were used to the song being performed in a very different way. Amos also used the gun to point at her audience, causing some in the audience to fear she might actually fire it in anger during the performance, although she did not. * On November 12–14 and 17, 2011, during her Night of Hunters tour, Tori performed "Me and a Gun" for all four of her South Africa concerts. * On June 16, 2022, during her Ocean to Ocean tour, Amos performed "Me and a Gun" as part of the solo section during the penultimate show of the US leg in Los Angeles.


Covers and remixes

* Fan remixes of this track exist; however, no official club or house remix exists. It was remastered for the album '' Tales of a Librarian.'' * Rock band Stabbing Westward covered the song in 1996 during a live concert. * Amanda Palmer covered the song live on September 12, 2009. * JPEGMafia sampled the song on his 2015 EP, ''Darkskin Manson''.Cops are the Target Interlude , JPEGMAFIA
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Track listing

;CD single and 12" single # "Silent All These Years" – 4:11 # "Upside Down" – 4:22 # "Me and a Gun" – 3:42 # "Thoughts" – 2:36 Tracks 1 & 3 are from the album. Track 2 also appeared on the single for "
Winter Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultur ...
". Track 4 was otherwise unavailable until it was remastered and released on the deluxe reissue of Little Earthquakes in 2015. ;7" single # "Silent All These Years" – 4:11 # "Me and a Gun" – 3:42


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Me And A Gun Tori Amos songs A cappella songs 1991 songs Songs written by Tori Amos Song recordings produced by Eric Rosse Songs about sexual assault Atlantic Records singles East West Records singles