You Can't Get a Man with a Gun
"You Can't Get a Man with a Gun" is a song from the 1946 musical Annie Get Your Gun, written by Irving Berlin. It was originally performed by Ethel Merman.
Background
In the song, Annie Oakley sings about how a girl with talent as a sharpshooter nevertheless finds that her abilities do not help her attract men. She introduces herself with: "I'm quick on the trigger/with targets not much bigger/than a pinpoint I'm number one." The song is humorous in that she imagines different scenarios in which shooting a man will not make him fall in love with her, e.g. "A man may be hot/but he's not/when he's shot/oh, you can't get a man with a gun!" and "But you can't shoot a lover,/and use him for a cover/oh, you can't get a man with a gun!"Recordings
- Doris Day - for her album Annie Get Your Gun
- Judy Garland - recorded for the film soundtrack but not used as Garland was subsequently dropped from the film.
- Eydie Gormé - for her album Gormé Sings Showstoppers.
- Betty Hutton - included in the album Annie Get Your Gun .
- Ethel Merman - included in Annie Get Your Gun .
- Mary Martin - released as part of album of a 1957 TV recording with John Raitt.
- Björk - included in Gling-Gló.
- Bernadette Peters - included in Annie Get Your Gun .
- Suzi Quatro – starred as Annie Oakley in the 1986 West End production of Annie Get Your Gun. She sings the song in the album Annie Get Your Gun – 1986 London Cast, and the associated single "I Got Lost in His Arms".