Released 22 November 1968 Length 2:43 Writer(s) Lennon–McCartney | Genre Rock Label Apple Records | |
Recorded 23–26 September 1968,
EMI Studios, London | ||
"Happiness Is a Warm Gun" is a song by the Beatles, featured on the eponymous double-disc album The Beatles (also known as the "White Album"), which was released on 22 November 1968. Although credited to Lennon–McCartney, it was written by John Lennon.
Contents
Writing and inspiration
According to Lennon, the title came from a magazine cover 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." The title is also one of many 1960s riffs on Charles M. Schulz's axiom that "happiness is a warm puppy,' which began in the Peanuts comic strip and became the title of a related book.
Composition
Lennon said he "put together three sections of different songs ... it seemed to run through all the different kinds of rock music." This results in a three-part through-composed structure. The song begins with surreal imagery allegedly taken from an acid trip that Lennon and Derek Taylor experienced, with Taylor contributing the opening lines.
In the studio
"Happiness Is a Warm Gun" reportedly is Paul McCartney's and was George Harrison's favourite song on the White Album. Although tensions were high among the band during the album's recording sessions, they reportedly collaborated as a close unit to work out the song's challenging rhythmic and metre issues. Recording of the song began at 7 pm in Studio Two at EMI Studios in London on 23 September 1968, continued over the following two nights, with daytime breaks, and was completed at 5 am on 26 September. Piano, electronic organ and tuba parts in this recording are unattributed; the tuba was all but removed through mixing. George Martin was on holiday while this song was recorded, and had left a note asking Chris Thomas to take over as producer.
Personnel
While officially uncredited, Chris Thomas (the track's producer) has stated that he provided the keyboards for the track.
Interpretations
Many different interpretations of the song have been offered. Some writers have suggested that, in addition to the Peanuts reference, the "warm gun" could refer to Lennon's sexual desire for Yoko Ono. In his 1980 Playboy interview Lennon admitted to the double meaning of guns and sexuality but denied that the song had anything to do with drugs: "that was the beginning of my relationship with Yoko and I was very sexually oriented then." American and British censors were unhappy with the song, and it was banned by the BBC.