Lynyrd Skynyrd – Gimme Back My Bullets

Sweet talkin’ people done ran me out of town 
And I drank enough whiskey to float a battleship around 

This is one of my favorites from this band. The guitar riff is mean, jagged, ragged, and dangerous…it’s a really good rock song.

The bullets Ronnie Van Zant is referring to are bullets in the music charts…as in #1 with a bullet…not bullets from a gun. It had been a while since they charted and he wanted more.

Fans started throwing bullets and other objects on stage when they performed this song. They had to take it out of their setlist because they were afraid someone would get hurt. I’ve read about them in the past few years along with talking to my UK readers. They were very popular in the UK in the seventies with their live shows. They were one of the best live bands out there at the time. They were never glam or followed trends…they just played their genuine rock songs.

Ronnie’s voice is on point in this one. He was a great songwriter and used his voice well. He didn’t have range some singers had around BUT…he knew his limitations and got everything out of it with more feeling than many singers with a richer voice. He had attitude and plenty of it.

The song was off of the album Gimme Back My Bullets. It peaked at #20 on the Billboard 100, #73 in Canada, and #34 in the UK in 1976.

Lynyrd Skynyrd recorded this with two lead guitarists…Allen Collins and Gary Rossington. Ed King had left just before making this album when he was fed up with touring relentlessly without a break.

When this album didn’t sell as well as expected, another guitarist, Steve Gaines, was brought in. He gave a new life to the band and their popularity soared with a live album One More From The Road. Steve Gaines and Ed King could have played with any rock band at the time…they were that good.

Van Zant would get his bullets back with their next studio album Street Survivors but would not live long enough to enjoy it. His image on stage was not a carefree image…it was more of a “Don’t Fu*k with Me” vibe.

Gimme Back My Bullets

Life is so strange when its changin’, yes indeed 
Well I’ve seen the hard times and the pressure’s been on me 
But I keep on workin’ like the workin’ man do 
And I’ve got my act together, gonna walk all over you 

[Chorus] 
Gimme back my bullets 
Put ’em back where they belong 
Ain’t foolin’ around ’cause I done had my fun 
Ain’t gonna see no more damage done 
Gimme back my bullets 

Sweet talkin’ people done ran me out of town 
And I drank enough whiskey to float a battleship around 
But I’m leavin’ this game one step ahead of you 
And you will not hear me cry ’cause I do not sing the blues 

[Chorus] 
Gimme back, gimme back my bullets 
Oh, put ’em back…where they belong 

Been up and down since I turned seventeen 
Well I’ve been on top, and then it seems I lost my dream 
But I got it back, I’m feelin’ better everyday 
Tell all those pencil pushers, better get out of my way 

[Chorus] 
Gimme back, gimme back my bullets 
Oh put ’em back where they belong 
Gimme back my bullets

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

30 thoughts on “Lynyrd Skynyrd – Gimme Back My Bullets”

  2. Been a long time since I heard this one so thanks for bringing it back. Pretty typical of the bands songs which is to say pretty fantastic. I really didn’t know they were that popular in the UK.

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    1. Yes they were very popular there…it surprised me also.
      I’ve also talked to a lot of UK bloggers who either saw the original band or like them a lot. They had a gift for melody also.

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      1. 75 to 76 was the peak of their popularity. Punk sort of put a stop to it.

        This is one of my favourite live clips of all time, from August 1976 at Knebworth, UK. My enthusiasm is possibly due to my unbridled lust for Jo Jo Billingsley (on the far right as you look of the three singers, in the flowing dress).

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      2. Oh yea I know Jo Jo! The one I liked the most was Leslie Hawkins… but I wasn’t picky lol. Jo Jo liked Janis Joplin a lot and you could tell.

        Over here…Street Survivors was soaring when the plane crash happened and they were starting headlining stadium tours. I’m not sure how big they would have been… I do think Van Zant would have went country after a while.

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      6. … twice! Just found an old photo, too. From Feb 1977 I think. 😀

        Their shows at Glasgow Apollo are legend – if you check the Apollo Facebook page, there’s been loads of comments on them over the years. They were dearly loved over here. 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

      7. Yep! You were one of the ones I was talking about!
        I just looked it up…I’ll go through the comments…that is so cool.

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  3. I read that Ronnie Van Zant was like two different people when he was sober and when he was drunk. When he was not drinking, he was said to be kindhearted and generous and intelligent, but when he was drunk, lookout!

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    1. Yes that about sums him up. He hired his best friend to be security…mostly to keep alcohol away from the band…it was working at the end…but of course the crash happened. His friend survived the crash though.

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  4. another good rocker from them. It’s funny though, our experiences growing up Max, things did vary locally in the ’70s. Up north, I heard ‘Sweet Home Alabama” constantly, for years, on all sorts of radio stations, by just about every bar band I saw, often played in bars that had recorded music. But once in a while, when I listened to FM later on, I’d hear ‘Free Bird’ or ‘Give Me Three Steps’, but that was about it. All in all, I hate to say it to you, but in Ontario they would have been close to viewed as a One hit Wonder… whereas where you are, sounds like radio played a lot of their stuff.

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    1. Oh yea…the radio stations here played them to death…well they were a southern band…just like you heard more Canadian bands than I did… In America it’s sometimes not an American band but a **** band…. like Bob Seger…people in Detroit and the north knew who he was but not us until later on.
      But Dave…didn’t “What’s Your Name” hit there? It was a top twenty hit in America.

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      1. Apparently it got to #6 in Canada, but I don’t remember it on radio back then, but like ‘Give me three steps”, you would hear it on classic rock stations some in the ’80s and ’90s.

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      2. Now classic radio stations…yes…they play this one as well…and they play The Ballad of Curtis Lowe.

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  6. You could do worse than that line:
    ‘And I drank enough whiskey to float a battleship around’
    and..this fascinating music event:
    ‘Fans started throwing bullets and other objects on stage when they performed this song. They had to take it out of their setlist because they were afraid someone would get hurt.’

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    1. Yea it’s not actual bullets… it’s clever song and that lyric about drinking enough whiskey to float a battle ship around is brilliant to me. I would have loved to write that line.

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