Shortly after that, with Kenny's assistance, Joan formed the backing group "The Blackhearts" with three obscure New York area musicians: Gary Ryan on bass, Eric Ambel (replaced shortly thereafter by Rick Byrd) on guitar and Lee Crystal on drums. After almost a year of touring, Joan's first album with The Blackhearts, entitled I Love Rock'N'Roll came out in December of 1981. The album included a version of "Little Drummer Boy" on the pre-Christmas editions. The album's impact on the music scene was immediate with the LP reaching the Top Five, while the single "I Love Rock'n'Roll" hit the very top of the Billboard's Charts on March 20, 1982 and stayed #1 for 7 weeks. Joan Jett had come back from nowhere.
A string of Top 40 hits followed, as well as sellout tours with The Police, Queen, and Aerosmith, among others. Jett was the second American act of any kind to perform behind the Iron Curtain, the first one being Blood, Sweat & Tears in Romania in 1969. She was among the first English-speaking rock acts to appear in Panama and the Dominican Republic.
Forced label changes in the 80's led to a decline in popularity. Despite the follow-up albums "Album" and "Glorious Results of a Misspent Youth" being praised by her devout fans, neither got the attention or radio play the first two albums received.
After receiving her own MTV New Year's Eve special, Jett beat out a number of contenders to appear in the movie Light of Day with Michael J. Fox. It was about this time that Ryan and Crystal left the Blackhearts. They were soon replaced by the powerful rhythm section of Thommy Price and Kasim Sulton. Later that year, Jett released "Good Music", which featured appearances by The Beach Boys, The Sugarhill Gang and singer Darlene Love. The album only spawned two minor singles which received little airplay. This label decided the band had to either take in outside help or they would lose their contract.
And so they did. Her next release, Up Your Alley, went multi-platinum and was followed by "The Hit List", which was an international hit. Popular songwriter/producer Desmond Child was brought in, resulting in the release of album "Up Your Alley". This album brought the band a resurgence in popularity, with top 10 singles "I Hate Myself for Loving You" and "Little Liar".
This return to the spotlight would be short-lived, however. Follow-up album "The Hit List", an all-cover songs release, spawned only a minor hit with Jett's version of AC/DC's "Dirty Deeds".
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts became the first rock band to perform a series of shows at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on Broadway, breaking the record at the time for the fastest ticket sell-out ever.
1991 and 1994 had two more releases, "Notorious" and "Pure & Simple". But radio had started looking to grunge by this time, and neither album got the attention they deserved.
In the 1990s, Jett and Laguna released "Flashback", a compilation of her career so far on their own Blackheart Records. Her next release, "Notorious" (which featured The Replacements' Paul Westerberg) was the last with Sony/CBS as Jett switched to Warner Brothers.
In 1994, the Blackhearts released the well received Pure and Simple, which featured tracks written with Kat Bjelland (Babes in Toyland), Donita Sparks (L7) and Kathleen Hanna (Bikini Kill).
While a slew of hits packages, some with an occasional new or previously unreleased track were released following this, it would be 10 years before a new studio album would appear.
This would be 2004's "Naked", and thus far has been a Japan-only release. The album sees Jett returning to a more raw and experimental sound, closer to that of her first 4 releases than the polished material that began with "Good Music".
Failing to get "Naked" released in other markets, Jett released on a more international level "Sinner" in June 2006, on Blackheart Records, her own label.. This album featured many remixed tracks from "Naked", and a complete rewrite of "Stuck in the Middle" to new version "Riddles". Lead-off single and video was a cover of "A.C.D.C." by Sweet.
To support the album, the band appeared on the 2006 Warped Tour, and embarked on a Fall 2006 tour with Eagles of Death Metal.
After a long break from recording, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts released a 6-song EP of new material, "Mindsets," in June 2023.
Wynnewood
You Got A Problem
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Spit your words right out of my mouth
Since you picked this fight
Know my life is just that, it's just that mine
Oh no, not me
[Chorus:]
You think you can
But there's no cage can fit me
You gotta problem
You gotta problem
You gotta problem
Whatcha gonna do
You gotta problem
You gotta problem
I gotta problem
And it's name is you
Ain't gonna wear your shame
Who will win this silent war
When I don't even want to play
Or know the rules to your game
Oh no, not me
[Chorus]
You gotta problem
You gotta problem
You gotta problem
Whatcha gonna do
You gotta problem
You gotta problem
I gotta problem
And it's name is you
Oh no, not me
[Chorus]
You gotta problem
You gotta problem
You gotta problem
Whatcha gonna do
You gotta problem
You gotta problem
I gotta problem
And it's name is you
[Repeat x 3]
The opening lines of "Stay out of my sight, spit your words right out of my mouth" convey a clear message of a person who is assertively telling someone to stop bothering them. The lines "Since you picked this fight, know my life is just that, it's just that mine" emphasize the point that the person being addressed has no right to interfere with the singer's life or decisions. The song is a declaration of confidence and independence, with the repeated refrain "You gotta problem, whatcha gonna do" underscoring that this person is not going to back down or be intimidated.
The chorus is particularly assertive, with the repeated lines "You think you can, but there's no cage can fit me" conveying the message that this person cannot be contained or controlled. The final lines of the song, "I gotta problem and it's name is you," sum up the whole message of the song. The person being addressed is the singer's problem, not the other way around.
Overall, "You Got A Problem" is a defiant and powerful song that celebrates individuality and refuses to be intimidated or held back by anyone else.
Line by Line Meaning
Stay out of my sight
Don't come anywhere near me
Spit your words right out of my mouth
I won't listen to anything you have to say
Since you picked this fight
You started it, not me
Know my life is just that, it's just that mine
My life is my own and you have no right to interfere
Oh no, not me
I won't let you bring me down
You gotta problem
You have a problem
Whatcha gonna do
What are you going to do about it
And it's name is you
You're the problem
Ain't gonna wear your shame
I won't take the blame for something I didn't do
Who will win this silent war
We're both fighting, but silently
When I don't even want to play
I don't even want to be a part of this
Or know the rules to your game
I don't understand what you're trying to do
You think you can
You believe you have the power to control me
But there's no cage can fit me
You can't contain me or take away my freedom
I gotta problem
I have a problem
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: DESMOND CHILD, KATHLEEN HANNA, JOAN MARIE JETT
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind