Happiness Is a Warm Gun
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225902650
2008-07-15T22:59:59Z
Wolfammo
7482650
/* Cover versions */
{{Song infobox|
| Name = Happiness Is a Warm Gun
| Artist = [[The Beatles]]
| Album = [[The Beatles (album)|The Beatles]]
| Cover = The White Album.svg
| Released = [[22 November]] [[1968]]
| track_no = 8 of disc 1
| Recorded = [[Abbey Road Studios]] <br> [[24 September|24]]–[[25 September]] [[1968]]
| Genre = [[Hard rock]], [[doo wop]]
| Length = 2:43
| Writer = [[Lennon/McCartney]]
| Label = [[Apple Records]]
| Producer = [[George Martin]]
| Tracks =
'''Side one'''
#"[[Back in the U.S.S.R.]]"
#"[[Dear Prudence]]"
#"[[Glass Onion]]"
#"[[Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da]]"
#"[[Wild Honey Pie]]"
#"[[The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill]]"
#"[[While My Guitar Gently Weeps]]"
#"[[Happiness Is a Warm Gun]]"
'''Side two'''
#<li value=9>"[[Martha My Dear]]"
#"[[I'm So Tired]]"
#"[[Blackbird (song)|Blackbird]]"
#"[[Piggies]]"
#"[[Rocky Raccoon]]"
#"[[Don't Pass Me By]]"
#"[[Why Don't We Do It in the Road?]]"
#"[[I Will (The Beatles song)|I Will]]"
#"[[Julia (The Beatles song)|Julia]]"
'''Side three'''
#"[[Birthday (The Beatles song)|Birthday]]"
#"[[Yer Blues]]"
#"[[Mother Nature's Son]]"
#"[[Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey]]"
#"[[Sexy Sadie (song)|Sexy Sadie]]"
#"[[Helter Skelter (song)|Helter Skelter]]"
#"[[Long, Long, Long]]"
'''Side four'''
#<li value=8>"[[Revolution (song)#Revolution 1|Revolution 1]]"
#"[[Honey Pie]]"
#"[[Savoy Truffle]]"
#"[[Cry Baby Cry]]"
#"[[Revolution 9]]"
#"[[Good Night (song)|Good Night]]"
}}
"'''Happiness Is a Warm Gun'''" is a song by [[The Beatles]] featured on the eponymous double-disc album ''[[The Beatles (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 containing the phrase, which in turn parodied "Happiness is a Warm Puppy," a [[Peanuts]] book written by [[Charles Schulz]] in 1962.
==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 [[LSD|acid]] trip that Lennon and Derek Taylor experienced, with Taylor contributing the opening lines.<ref>Hertsgaard, Mark (1995). "A Day in the Life: The Music and Artistry of the Beatles". New York, New York: Delacorte Press. pg. 257</ref> 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." The song's multiple sections would inspire [[Radiohead]]'s three part "[[Paranoid Android]]" on ''[[OK Computer]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.greenplastic.com/lyrics/paranoidandroid.php |title=Paranoid Android |accessdate=2007-09-21}}</ref>
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.' It was a gun magazine. I just thought it was a fantastic, insane thing to say. A warm gun means you just shot something."<ref name="wenner1p114-115">{{cite book |first=Jann S |last=Wenner |title=Lennon Remembers (Full interview from Lennon's 1970 interview in [[Rolling Stone]] magazine) |year=2000 |pages=114-115 |publisher=Verso |location=London |isbn=1-85984-600-9}}</ref>
"Happiness Is a Warm Gun" is Paul McCartney's favorite song on the White Album.
It was featured in the Michael Moore documentary ''[[Bowling for Columbine]]'' in a montage sequence and in the film ''[[Across the Universe (film)|Across the Universe]]'' in which Maxwell is being injected with medicine.
==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]]''
* [[Phish]], on the album ''[[Live Phish Volume 13]]''
* [[U2]], as a B-side of the single "[[Last Night on Earth]]"
* [[Jay-Z]] and [[Danger Mouse]], as a [[Mashup (music)|mashup]] on ''[[The Grey Album]]''
* [[Alanis Morissette]], during the 1995-1996 Can't Not Tour
* [[Joe Anderson]] with [[Salma Hayek]], for the soundtrack of ''[[Across the Universe (film)|Across the Universe]]''
* [[Guns N' Roses]] on the [[Use Your Illusion Tour]].
* [[The Breeders]], on the album [[Pod_(album) | Pod]]
==Notes==
<references/>
==External links==
*[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0445922/soundtrack Joe Anderson in Across the Universe]
{{The Beatles}}
[[Category:The Beatles songs]]
[[Category:1968 songs]]
[[Category:Songs produced by George Martin]]
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