Happiness is a Warm Gun

I’ve recently rediscovered The Beatles and have fallen in love with this song. Of course I’d heard it a number of times before, but this band never ceases to surprise me. I don’t know if others of my generation have found this to be the case with them, but it’s not the first time I’ve found something new in something old.

What I love about this song and about The Beatles in general, is the complex hidden inside the seemingly simple. Many of the Beatles songs are just so simple it’s almost frustrating. My Mom once told me (who was fortunate enough to see them in concert once) that the boys could have written a song w/ lyrics that went “poo, poo, poo, poo, and more poo” and it would have been a hit. Ironically, my point here is that they didn’t do that. Yes, some of the tunes we’re downright insulting, but mixed with sophisticated and thought provoking words, The Beatles left their indelible mark, on me at least.

I bring this up because of this song in particular. I just love the visual here; “Happiness is a Warm Gun”. On the surface if you fear violence then happiness is a warm gun. But if you have more faith then it’s a false hope. Everyone wants the protection and care of something warm; everyone can identify with the powerful image. In the end, this song leaves me deep in thought; I love that.

Content provided by Pitashi, Jeff Solomon’s Guide to Everything.