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Rhythm guitarist/backing vocalist Joan Jett composed the song with Kim Fowley, the band's then-manager. In the documentary Edgeplay: A Film About the Runaways (2005), Fowley and former Runaways lead singer Cherie Currie claimed that "Cherry Bomb" was quickly written just for Currie to audition for the band because the band members could not perform the song she originally chose to sing.
The song was included in the soundtrack for the made for the TV movie: "Dawn Portrait of a Teenage Runaway" starring Eve Plumb, in 1976. The song was also included in the film Dazed and Confused (1993), the 16th episode of season 4 of Warehouse 13 with guest appearance by Currie (2013), the film Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), in the second episode of the Amazon Prime series The Boys (2019), in the seventh episode of the FX/Hulu miniseries Mrs. America (2020), and in the Netflix film Fear Street Part Two: 1978 (2021).
Jett re-recorded the song with her band the Blackhearts for the album Glorious Results of a Misspent Youth (1984). Cherie Currie also re-recorded "Cherry Bomb" with Marie Currie, her twin sister, on their 1997 re-released version of the album Messin' with the Boys (1980).
Lyrics:
Can't stay at home, can't stay in school
Old folks say, "You poor little fool"
Down the streets I'm the girl next door
I'm the fox you've been waiting for
Hello, daddy, hello, mom
I'm your ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb
Hello world I'm your wild girl
I'm your ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb
Stone Age love and strange sounds too
Come on, baby, let me get to you
Bad nights causing teenage blues
Get down ladies, you've got nothin' to lose
Hello, daddy, hello, mom
I'm your ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb
Hello world I'm your wild girl
I'm your ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb
Hello, daddy, hello, mom
I'm your ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb
Hello world I'm your wild girl
I'm your ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb
Hey, street boy, want some style?
Your dead end dreams don't make you smile
I'll give you something to live for
Have you and grab you until you're sore
Hello, daddy, hello, mom
I'm your ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb
Hello world I'm your wild girl
I'm your ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb
Cherry bomb
Cherry bomb
Cherry bomb
Cherry bomb
Cherry Bomb