Happiness Is a Warm Gun
| "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" | |
|---|---|
| Song |
"Happiness Is a Warm Gun" is a song by The Beatles featured on the double-disc album The Beatles (also known as The White Album). It is primarily a John Lennon composition, credited to Lennon/McCartney. The original, working title of the song was "Happiness Is a Warm Gun in Your Hand," which was inspired by a magazine cover containing the phrase. In 1962, Charles Schulz wrote a small, square Peanuts book titled "Happiness is a Warm Puppy," which inspired the variation. Some people think that the song title refers to a needle for injecting heroin. Lennon denied this.[1]
Overview
Lennon once claimed the song was "sort of a history of rock and roll," as it features five different sections but is less than three minutes long. The song begins with a brief lilting section ("She's not a girl who misses much..."). Drums, bass and distorted guitar are introduced as this portion of the song proceeds. The surreal imagery from this section is allegedly taken from an acid trip that Lennon experienced.[citation needed] After this, the song transitions into a Lennon song fragment called "I Need a Fix," built around an ominous-sounding guitar riff. Lennon's plea "I need a fix/cause I'm going down" in this section forms the basis for speculation that the song is about heroin addiction (indeed, sources have claimed that Lennon was addicted to heroin at this time; Lennon's heroin addiction was referenced famously in "Cold Turkey"). The final section is a doo-wop send up, with the back-up of vocals of "bang, bang, shoot shoot." The song's multiple sections would inspire Radiohead's three part Paranoid Android on OK Computer.[2]
One of the most radical musical accomplishments of the song is its frequent shifts in meter. Beginning in 4/4 time, the song shifts to a 3/4 time for the guitar solo and the "I need a fix..." section. This gives way to 6/8, 3/4, and 4/4 measures in the "Mother Superior..." section before returning to 4/4 for the doo-wop style ending. During Lennon's spoken-word interlude, the instruments return to 3/4 except for the drums which remain in 4/4. This is one of the very few instances of polyrhythm in a Beatles song.
According to Lennon, the title came from the cover of a gun magazine that producer George Martin showed him: "I think he showed me a cover of a magazine that said 'Happiness Is a Warm Gun.' It was a gun magazine. I just thought it was a fantastic, insane thing to say. A warm gun means you just shot something."[3]
Credits
- John Lennon - lead vocals, electric guitar, piano
- George Harrison - lead guitar, backing vocals
- Paul McCartney - bass, backing vocals
- Ringo Starr - drums
Cover versions
- Tori Amos, on the album Strange Little Girls
- Gilby Clarke, on the album The Hangover
- The Breeders, on the album Pod
- World Party, on the album Thank You World
- Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, on the album The Sameness of Difference
- Anders Osborne, on the album The blues White album
- Phish, on the album Live Phish Volume 13
- Marc Ribot, on the album Saints
- U2, as a B-side of the single "Last Night on Earth"
- Jay-Z and Danger Mouse, as a mashup on The Grey Album
- Alanis Morissette, during the 1995-1996 Can't Not Tour
- Hajime Chitose, of the single Kataritsugu Koto
- Sexy Sadie (band), on the album Dream Covers
- Joe Anderson with Salma Hayek, for the sound track of Across the Universe
- Guns N' Roses on the Use Your Illusion Tour.
- Psychic TV heavily samples the song on Jump Thee Gun, a track from Jack The Tab/Tekno Acid Beat.
Notes
- ^ "The White Album". The Beatles Interview Database. Retrieved 2007-03-14.
- ^ "Paranoid Android". Retrieved 2007-09-21.
- ^ Wenner, Jann S (2000). Lennon Remembers (Full interview from Lennon's 1970 interview in Rolling Stone magazine). London: Verso. pp. 114–115. ISBN 1-85984-600-9.
