Happiness Is a Warm Gun (2:43)
1,359,301 plays (259,938 listeners)
John 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 and Derek Taylor experienced, with Taylor contributing the opening lines. After this, the song transitions into a Lennon song fragment called “I Need a Fix,” built around an ominous-sounding guitar riff. This section drifts into the next section, a chorus of “Mother Superior jumped the gun”.
The final section is a doo-wop send up, with the back-up of vocals of “bang, bang, shoot shoot.”
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 in 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 majority of the doo-wop style ending. During Lennon’s spoken-word interlude, the song briefly switches into 6/4. The spoken word section has its roots in the song later on the album “I’m So Tired” because, exhibited in the song’s home demo, is a spoken word section in 6/4 time that is almost exactly like the one in “Happiness is a Warm Gun.”
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.
The final section is a doo-wop send up, with the back-up of vocals of “bang, bang, shoot shoot.”
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 in 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 majority of the doo-wop style ending. During Lennon’s spoken-word interlude, the song briefly switches into 6/4. The spoken word section has its roots in the song later on the album “I’m So Tired” because, exhibited in the song’s home demo, is a spoken word section in 6/4 time that is almost exactly like the one in “Happiness is a Warm Gun.”
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.
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A Cover of Happiness Is A Warm Gun by the Beatles
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Albums featuring this track
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The White Album
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The Beatles (The White Album)
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The Beatles (The White Album) (disc 1)
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Anthology 3 (disc 1)
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Shouts
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Nevermoreraven wrote:
Maybe their best.
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intoXicated0 wrote:
i need a fix
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Longinglolwut wrote:
Fav Beatles song of all time.
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Soyerz wrote:
Yup, White Album has so many unique and cretive songs that a band of today could never have anything like this.
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TheFeldster wrote:
Lennon at a creative peak, great song. The White Album rocks!
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Minueto wrote:
Bang, Bang, Shoot, Shoot!!
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nicchecker wrote:
possibly the best song ever written...
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jvandyke_86 wrote:
anthology 3!
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dominic_john wrote:
i love this song but only from 1.44 onwards!
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Sicamnesiac wrote:
BEST.
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neantibi wrote:
bang bang, shoot shoot.
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DynatiaCydonia wrote:
Even though I always have disgusting images of yoko ono in my mind (because of the sexual allusions) when I listen to this song, I can't help but love it
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outsidethenorm wrote:
She's well-acquainted to the touch of the velvet hand like a lizard on a window pane. These lyrics make no sense, but that's why they're amazing.
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drenyelle wrote:
OMFG, the guitar at 00:44 is pure sex. So slinky and raw.
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calmal186 wrote:
i love this song soo much its just one of them songs that has evrything [=
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reeldubfan wrote:
Love the doo wop part, the namesake!
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timmypod wrote:
fantastic description of a user's feelings for heroin. I know no one can do me no harm.
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PeterTheDJ wrote:
I need a fix 'cause I'm going down, too.
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fuckoffserver wrote:
OH DONTCHA KNOW THAT A PENNNISSS IS A WARM GUN, YES IT IS
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Halo07 wrote:
the remastered version is like... wow!
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Recent Activity
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neos_darkscythe, sdenholm, kauldplai and 10 other people loved The Beatles – Happiness Is a Warm Gun. 10 minutes ago
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TheDarthEgg tagged The Beatles – Happiness Is a Warm Gun with blues-rock, the beatles, hard rock and one other tag. yesterday morning
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reislander and beatallica83 loved The Beatles – Happiness Is a Warm Gun. Monday evening
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