Happiness Is a Warm Gun
| "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" | |
|---|---|
| Song by the Beatles from the album The Beatles | |
| Released | 22 November 1968 |
| Recorded | 23–26 September 1968, EMI Studios, London |
| Genre | Rock |
| Length | 2:43 |
| Label | Apple Records |
| Writer(s) | Lennon–McCartney |
| Producer(s) | Chris Thomas |
"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.
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.
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.
"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.
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