Happiness Is A Warm Gun

Writer(s): John Lennon, Paul Mccartney
Copyright: Sony/ATV Tunes LLC

Lyrics here: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/beatles/happinessisawarmgun.html

early beatles

Source: www.gradywilliamkerr.com

Although many people associate the Beatles with four “mop-tops” in suits singing cutesy love songs, the image that comes to mind for me is of four long-haired men creating poetic, poignant, and provocative music. The song I am discussing here is: “Happiness Is A Warm Gun” off of The Beatles (White Album). There are many theories as to what this song is actually about, but here are three ideas I believe are possible.

1)  John Lennon, George Harrison, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr became deeply involved in the counterculture movement of the 1960’s. Many of their songs off their later albums have political undertones or blatant criticisms. “Happiness Is A Warm Gun” could be a political message about America’s over-eagerness to involve itself in the Vietnam War. The phrase “Mother Superior” refers to a leader of a religious organization. Lennon and McCartney could be sarcastically labeling the U.S. as an almighty guide which every country follows faithfully. When they say “Mother Superior jumped the gun,” they mean America jumped into war too quickly. The chorus includes the lyrics: “When I hold you in my arms/ And I feel my finger on your trigger/ Don’t you know nobody can do me no harm/ Because happiness is a warm gun.” This section symbolizes humans’ obsession with fighting. We kill people and demolish countries in war and yet somehow we still associate war with glory. In the chorus, Lennon and McCartney deride our misguided sense of comfort and contentment we derive from war. 

2) The second way “Happiness Is A Warm Gun” could be interpreted is as a metaphor for John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s sexual relations. I think I will refrain from describing what exactly John meant by “She’s well acquainted with the touch of the velvet hand/
Like a lizard on a window pane,” or “I need a fix ’cause I’m going down,” but suffice it to say that this song is overflowing with sexual innuendos.

3) The last theory for this song is that “a warm gun” is a metaphor for a heroine-filled syringe. The line “I need a fix ’cause I’m going down” symbolizes a heroine user’s addiction to the drug. The lines “When I hold you in my arms/ And I feel my finger on your trigger/ Don’t you know nobody can do me no harm/ Because happiness is a warm gun” expresses the euphoric state of mind that heroine induces. The first verse is the equivalent of drug trip and the echoes of “Bang, bang, shoot, shoot” allude to the act of injecting heroine with a needle.

late beatles

Source: webspace.webring.com

 

 

3 thoughts on “Happiness Is A Warm Gun

  1. jpk5338

    Although I listen to nearly every type of music, I never found myself to be a fan of the beatles, often dismissing them as a “60s pop group”. I think it’s very interesting how your analysis of these songs show that much more thought was put into these songs than it appears.

  2. Kaylie Maines

    I am a huge Beatles fan! Though I typically listen to more of their “mop-top” era music. However, this analysis has intrigued me. I’ll definitely have to give some of their later stuff a listen. It’s fairly common knowledge that John Lennon was an avid oppose of America’s involvement in the Vietnam War, but I’ve never heard anyone interpret his opposition through his song lyrics. Again though, I mainly listen to their older music.

  3. bzb5267

    I positively love The Beatles and their later work is so amazing. There’s no shortage of great stuff on The White Album, and “Happiness Is a Warm Gun” certainly isn’t an exception. Great analysis of the song, awesome insight concerning The Beatles’ views of the American role in Vietnam. If I may add, though, “She’s well acquainted with the touch of the velvet hand” is actually a reference to a fellow musician the band met (the man’s name escapes me at this moment) who found some strange thrill out of wearing moleskin gloves when engaging in sexual acts with his girlfriend. Yeah… Odd… “I am the eggman” in “I Am the Walrus” actually comes from extremely similar origins. I’ll let your imagination wander on that, but I digress. Point being, great post! I look forward to reading more from this!

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