How Tragedy Inspired Bon Jovi’s “Bullet”

While Bon Jovi in the 1980s became a band of brothers who went through the highs, lows, and travails of their young lives together with a strong sense of camaraderie, things changed with 1992’s Keep The Faith, their fifth album. Frontman Jon Bon Jovi cut his hair, the band brought in bassist Hugh McDonald, and their songs started to lean less on party-hearty sentiments and simple messages of hope. Instead, they dived deeper into social issues and topics that everyday people could relate to. They struck a balance, but it was clear that after a decade of fun, the iconic New Jersey group wanted to tackle more adult concepts.

This lyrical trajectory continued into the new millennium, especially on their 2009 studio album The Circle, considered by many to be a return to their hard-rocking roots. The album served up songs like “We Weren’t Born to Follow,” “Work for The Working Man,” and the gritty, guitar-driven “Bullet.” The lyrics to the latter certainly invoked a dark picture:

Dateline early Sunday morning
Shots ring out without a warning
No one seems to even blink in this town
Two dead and a baby missing

Sirens screaming in the distance
A mother pleading bring my baby home now
For the pink slip of an SUV
A night cut down in tragedy
His defense another generation breakdown

The moody, anguished anthem railing against senseless gun violence and war was written by Bon Jovi and guitarist Richie Sambora. It painted a sad portrait of lives torn apart by violence, but it also sought hope, no matter how desperate, in the aftermath of tragedy. And it was inspired by a real-life incident.

In July 2010, Jon Bon Jovi gave an interview to the Chicago Sun-Times about the album and forthcoming shows. At one point, the interviewer noted the band was “tackling topical matters more than ever” and wondered how they could take on current events without going the folk troubadour route.

The singer replied, “We think universally and timelessly. Case in point: the song ‘Bullet.’ One Sunday morning Richie was at my house, and I’m watching ‘Meet the Press,’ and it’s about Jennifer Hudson’s brother-in-law, what’s his name? The guy who killed her family members on a rampage?”

Specifically, he was talking about the murder of actress and singer Hudson’s mother, brother, and nephew by her estranged brother-in-law William Balfour in October 2008 on Chicago’s South Side. In 2012, Balfour was found guilty of all seven counts against him. He received three life sentences plus an additional 120 years for home invasion and aggravated kidnapping. Prosecutors asserted that Balfour, ex-husband of Hudson’s sister Julia, was incensed that she was dating another man and had moved on from him.

The story really struck the singer.

“He’s this guy going, like, ‘Why didn’t I get mine?’ Awful,” remarked Bon Jovi of Balfour. “But instead of sitting down and writing a song with his name in it or hers, with a specific day and date, you make your case because this same situation is going to happen again in five years somewhere else. You speak to the larger issues. You ask whether the song will stand up 20 years from now and is the message going to be clear.”

Listening to it now, the song still rocks hard and hits hard. It features a searing Sambora solo, followed by a short, ambient organ and vocal transition before the anger kicks back in. The song sadly still resonates today as the gun violence epidemic in America has spiraled further out of control. This isn’t a “thoughts and prayer” song—it’s a “stop this madness” rallying cry.

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