# What does the lyric Happiness is a Warm Gun mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 3, 2001, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-lyric-happiness-is-a-warm-gun-mean/96554 "2001-12-03T03:22:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dalovindj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/65b543/32.png) [@dalovindj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalovindj)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2001, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-lyric-happiness-is-a-warm-gun-mean/96554/1 "2001-12-03T03:22:43Z")
From the Beatles song. I’m thinkning that a gun that’s just been fired is warm. If a gun is warm someone nearby did something wrong - So, if someone is happy, it’s usually because they’ve done something wrong. What do you think? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2001, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-lyric-happiness-is-a-warm-gun-mean/96554/2 "2001-12-03T03:25:28Z")
Supposedly, John saw an article in a gun enthusiasts magazine with the same title and thought it would make an interesting song title. ---
**Author:** ![Tedster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@Tedster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tedster)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2001, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-lyric-happiness-is-a-warm-gun-mean/96554/3 "2001-12-03T03:29:24Z")
A warm gun doesn’t necessarily mean someone has ‘done something wrong’; not that I can fathom, although he was shot to death by a psychopath. I suspect Mr. Lennon was using this phrase as sexual inneundo. Or just his wacky sense of humor. ---
**Author:** ![warmgun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecccb3/32.png) [@warmgun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/warmgun)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2001, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-lyric-happiness-is-a-warm-gun-mean/96554/4 "2001-12-03T03:51:14Z")
John saw it as a gun mag article title. Saw the sexual implications. Ran with it. Nothing bad. Check out the book ‘Hard Days Write’. It explans the story behind all the Beatle songs. A must-read for fans. ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2001, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-lyric-happiness-is-a-warm-gun-mean/96554/5 "2001-12-03T04:16:01Z")
The beginning part about “_She’s not a girl who misses much…_”, that is about Yoko. I don’t know what the "_Mother Superior jumped the gun…_ part is about. Probably Drugs. The end part "_Happiness is a warm gun…_ is about a gun article John saw. It is also a take off of “Happiness is a warm blanket” from the Peanuts comics. ---
**Author:** ![pesch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pesch/32/4925_2.png) [@pesch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pesch)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2001, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-lyric-happiness-is-a-warm-gun-mean/96554/6 "2001-12-03T04:18:03Z")
Peanuts ran with this “Happiness” thing for awhile. I think Schultz put out a book that consisted of cartoons with nothing but variations on the phrase. ---
**Author:** ![dalovindj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/65b543/32.png) [@dalovindj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalovindj)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2001, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-lyric-happiness-is-a-warm-gun-mean/96554/7 "2001-12-03T04:30:04Z")
So what would the phrase mean in the context of the gun article. Happiness is having shot something? ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2001, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-lyric-happiness-is-a-warm-gun-mean/96554/8 "2001-12-03T05:15:58Z")
Well, a gun barrel **does** get hot when it’s fired. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2001, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-lyric-happiness-is-a-warm-gun-mean/96554/9 "2001-12-03T05:17:46Z")
pesch wrote: > [@](#): > > Peanuts ran with this “Happiness” thing for awhile. I think Schultz put out a book that consisted of cartoons with nothing but variations on the phrase. In particular, the one “Happiness” phrase that caught on more than any other was: _Happiness is a warm puppy._ I’m guessing the gun magazine ad was parodying this specific “Happiness Is…” quote. ---
**Author:** ![ignatzmouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b2d939/32.png) [@ignatzmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ignatzmouse)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2001, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-lyric-happiness-is-a-warm-gun-mean/96554/10 "2001-12-03T05:20:55Z")
I’m not sure if this is just so obvious to everyone else that they didn’t feel the need to mention it, but the phrase “Happiness is a Warm Puppy” was popularized by Charles Schultz in the late fifties or early sixties. I have always assumed that the title was a play on this. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2001, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-lyric-happiness-is-a-warm-gun-mean/96554/11 "2001-12-03T05:44:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mudshark \* > \*\* > I don’t know what the "_Mother Superior jumped the gun…_ part is about. Probably Drugs. > > \*\* Wasn’t John’s pet name for Yoko “Mother”? Mother superior is sexual innuendo for the female on top position, I would imagine. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2001, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-lyric-happiness-is-a-warm-gun-mean/96554/12 "2001-12-03T05:46:41Z")
… and “jump the gun” is, well, _you know_ 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2001, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-lyric-happiness-is-a-warm-gun-mean/96554/13 "2001-12-03T06:37:55Z")
From: _The Ultimate Beatles Encyclopedia_, and I paraphrase: George Martin found an American gun magazine which he showed to John. On the cover was the caption _Happiness Is A Warm Gun In your Hand_. John thought this was outrageous on the basis that if you have a warm gun you have just shot something. The song was assembled from 3 other numbers John had part written. It was banned by the BBC because of suspected sexual symbolism. Some people in the media speculated that Happiness in this context stood for heroin, an assertion which John denied. Barry Miles in _Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now_ contends that John found the magazine and that there was a picture of a smoking gun on the cover. The _Happiness Is A Warm Gun In Your Hand_ caption appeared above the magazine’s leading article. John thought it was a fantastic, insane thing to say. Paul likened the song to _Bungalow Bill_ as a ‘piss-take’ pf people who really agreed with the statement. Both Paul and George were reported as choosing _Happiness Is A Warm Gun_ as their favourite track on the _White Album_. John also liked it a lot and considered it one of his best. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2001, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-lyric-happiness-is-a-warm-gun-mean/96554/14 "2001-12-03T23:06:28Z")
“When I hold you in my arms and feel my finger on your trigger…” Man, I love that line. And yeah, John did refer to Yoko as “Mother”. ---
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2001, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-lyric-happiness-is-a-warm-gun-mean/96554/15 "2001-12-03T23:56:52Z")
It’s a fine , bold, lyrical stance. The piss poor part is that some deranged fool decided to accentuate his problems with the upward life of another. If understanding can happen in retrospect, I hope that a warm gun/trigger finger realized/ will teach us how to avoid calamity. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2001, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-lyric-happiness-is-a-warm-gun-mean/96554/16 "2001-12-04T00:58:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ignatzmouse \* > \*\*I’m not sure if this is just so obvious to everyone else that they didn’t feel the need to mention it, but the phrase “Happiness is a Warm Puppy” was popularized by Charles Schultz in the late fifties or early sixties. I have always assumed that the title was a play on this. \*\* Either directly or indirectly, yes. The “happiness is a warm puppy” schlock from Schultz generated a lot of calendars, posters, etc. I think it was also the title of one of his best-selling “Peanuts” collections. If he pulled it from a gun magazine, THEY were making a play on the “warm puppy” thing. FWIW, I always heard it as a drug reference - it also contains the lyric: > [@](#): > > I need a fix’cause I’m going down, down to the bits that I left up tow-hown > I need a fix’cause I’m going down That and the “hold you in my arms and feel my finger on your trigger” line. ---
**Author:** ![HoldenCaulfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/22d042/32.png) [@HoldenCaulfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoldenCaulfield)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2001, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-lyric-happiness-is-a-warm-gun-mean/96554/17 "2001-12-04T01:09:15Z")
Whatever way you interpret it…it has some pretty cool, weird-as-hell lyrics: “The man in the crowd with the multicolored mirrors on his hobnail boots.” “A soap impression of his wife which he ate and donated to the National Trust.” Not to mention the good music that goes along with it. The crazy feel change when John goes into his “feel my finger on your trigger…” part blows my mind. And I love the slide that seems to go too long, but ends at just the right time in between parts earlier in the song. Its one of my favorite White Album tunes as well. ---
**Author:** ![Kamandi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5daacb/32.png) [@Kamandi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamandi)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2001, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-lyric-happiness-is-a-warm-gun-mean/96554/18 "2001-12-04T01:21:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by yabob \* > [BFWIW, I always heard it as a drug reference - it also contains the lyric: > > > [@](#): > > > > I need a fix’cause I’m going down, down to the bits that I left up tow-hown > > > > I need a fix’cause I’m going down > > That and the “hold you in my arms and feel my finger on your trigger” line. \*\* To me, “hold you in my arms and feel my finger on your trigger” is pretty clearly a sexual reference. How could it be a drug reference? Is “you” supposed to be a syringe? I guess it could, but then “hold you in my arms” doesn’t really work in reference to a syringe - how would you hold such a tiny object in your arms? ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2001, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-lyric-happiness-is-a-warm-gun-mean/96554/19 "2001-12-04T01:39:12Z")
Because heard it as “arm” - singular, probably set up by the rest of the lyrics. The song conjured up images of somebody shooting up, as far as I was concerned. And I know other people thought of it this way, too. Probably smirking to ourselves as kids because the adults let that one slide, when they objected to Steppenwolf’s “The Pusher”. ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2001, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-lyric-happiness-is-a-warm-gun-mean/96554/20 "2001-12-04T04:34:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by K364 \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Mudshark \* > > \*\* > > I don’t know what the "_Mother Superior jumped the gun…_ part is about. Probably Drugs. > > > > \*\* > > Wasn’t John’s pet name for Yoko “Mother”? > > \*\* Yes, it was. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-lyric-happiness-is-a-warm-gun-mean/96554.md?page=2)