‘Happiness is a Warm Gun’

The Beatles classic song (aren’t they all?), “Happiness Is A Warm Gun,” is clearly about guns. Right? Well, maybe. John, Paul and George would write songs about the craziest things. A simple newspaper headline, or a Ringo malapropism, or the witticism of a cab driver could often turn into a song.

“A Hard Days Night”, “Eight Days A Week” and today’s column, “Happiness Is A Warm Gun” are just a few examples of the Beatles’ brilliance.

John Lennon came up with the song “Happiness Is A Warm Gun” and was quoted as saying: “I think he (George Martin) showed me a cover of a (NRA) 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.” So off to write went Lennon.

The problem that Lennon had at the time is that he was addicted to two things, drugs and sex. So “Happiness” is maybe about a gun, maybe about drugs and maybe about sex. Depends on who you ask.

Like most great songwriters, Lennon was never really clear on the meaning.

The opening salvo: “She’s not a girl who misses much, Do do do do do do do do, oh yeah, She’s well acquainted with the touch of the velvet hand.”

Maybe John meant she doesn’t miss her target when shooting.

According to Derek Taylor, a press writer for the Beatles, the second line came from a guy in hotel bar who said, “I like wearing moleskin gloves you know. It gives me a little bit of an unusual sensation when I’m out with my girlfriend. I don’t want to go into details.”

I’m not sure I understand what moleskin gloves do for the situation, but apparently he liked it.

The song continued: “The man in the crowd with the multicoloured mirrors, On his hobnail boots.” was a reference to a newspaper report about a soccer fan who had been arrested after inserting mirrors into his footwear in order to see up the skirts of women during matches.

Georgia has now made that conduct illegal in OCGA 16-11-62(2), which provides that it is illegal to use any “device” to look into a “private place” without permission.

The line about “donating to the National Trust” was a reference to people who would basically use the bathroom behind bomb shelters maintained by the National Trust.

In Georgia, cops charge “public indecency” all the time for public urination or defecation, but it doesn’t really apply unless there is “lewdness” involved. Sometimes you just gotta go, and there is no sexual intent at all.

I can’t find a Georgia code section that prohibits the call of nature taking control in public, but John Lennon’s reference to the National Trust now makes sense.

The chorus of the song goes “I need a fix cus I’m going down, Down to the bits that I left uptown. I need a fix cus I’m going down, Mother Superior jump the gun (repeat).”

Most observers and people knowledgeable about John’s writing believed this to be about his use of heroin, but he contended it was a reference to sexual feelings for Yoko and had nothing to do with drugs. “Jumping the gun” means, well, you know what it means.

“When I hold you in my arms (Oo-oo oh yeah), And I feel my finger on your trigger (Oo-oo oh yeah), I know no one can do me no harm (Oo-oo oh yeah), Because happiness is a warm gun, mama (Happiness bang, bang, shoot, shoot).”

It doesn’t take much imagination to understand that John’s not really talking about shooting a handgun or rifle. John would give interviews over the years where he would say different things about his songs, so it was hard to pin him down on any meaning, so

I think “Happiness” is in the eyes of the beholder.

And so goes the story of “Happiness Is A Warm Gun.” The song concludes with “Well, don’t you know happiness is a warm gun, mama? (Happiness is a warm gun, yeah).” The song was Paul’s favorite on the White Album and one of John’s favorites as well. John called it his “history of rock ’n roll.”

The song was banned by the BBC for it’s sexual imagery, but songs with double meanings were often used to get around the censors of the day.

The NRA probably still believes happiness is a warm gun. I know I do.

Kelly Burke, former district attorney and magistrate judge, is engaged in private practice where he focuses on personal injury cases. These articles are not designed to give legal advice, but are designed to inform the public about how the law affects their daily lives. Contact Kelly at kelly@burkelasseterllc.com to comment on this article or suggest articles about the law that you’d like to see.

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