Annie Get Your Gun (song)

"Annie Get Your Gun" is a 1946 song written by Irving Berlin for the musical Annie Get Your Gun. While the musical itself tells a fictionalized version of the life of Annie Oakley, a sharpshooter in Buffalo Bill's Wild West show, the title refers more broadly to the central plot of the show and the character's assertive personality.

The phrase "Annie Get Your Gun" is used in several contexts within the musical. Most prominently, it serves as the title of a high-energy opening number, sung by the members of Buffalo Bill's Wild West show, encouraging Annie to join their troupe. This song establishes the theme of Annie's entrance into a male-dominated world and her subsequent rise to fame.

The title and the song are suggestive of action, self-reliance, and empowerment, reflecting Annie Oakley's unconventional role as a woman in a traditionally masculine profession. The phrase has since become a part of popular culture, often used to imply a call to arms or a directive to be assertive and take charge.