She's not a girl who misses much
Do do do do do do, oh yeah
She's well-acquainted with the touch of the velvet hand
Like a lizard on a window pane
The man in the crowd with the multicolored mirrors
On his hobnail boots
Lying with his eyes while his hands are busy
Working overtime
A soap impression of his wife which he ate
And donated to the National Trust

I need a fix 'cause I'm going down
Down to the pits that I left uptown
I need a fix 'cause I'm going down

Mother Superior jumped the gun
Mother Superior jumped the gun
Mother Superior jumped the gun
Mother Superior jumped the gun
Mother Superior jumped the gun
Mother Superior jumped the gun

Happiness is a warm gun (bang, bang, shoot, shoot)
Happiness is a warm gun, momma (bang, bang, shoot, shoot)

When I hold you in my arms (ooh, oh, yeah)
And I feel my finger on your trigger (ooh, oh, yeah)
I know nobody can do me no harm (ooh, oh, yeah)
Because

(Happiness) is a warm gun momma (bang, bang, shoot, shoot)
Happiness is a warm gun, yes it is (bang, bang, shoot, shoot)
Happiness is a warm, yes it is, gun (happiness, bang, bang, shoot, shoot)
Well, don't you know that happiness is a warm gun momma?
(Happiness is a warm gun, yeah)


Lyrics submitted by Ice, edited by MBriscoe, LivieP

Happiness Is A Warm Gun Lyrics as written by Paul Mccartney John Lennon

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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Happiness Is a Warm Gun song meanings
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192 Comments

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  • +11
    General Comment

    This is the MOST CLEVER pop song ever and you're all wrong on its meaning. The song is about a woman who learns her man is cheating on her and decides to shoot him (Happiness is getting revenge on your cheating husband by shooting him). The song begins: "She’s not a girl who misses much. Do do do do do do do do She’s well acquainted with the touch of the velvet hand Like a lizard on a window pane." She's observant and when someone tries to conceal something she notices (You would wear velvet gloves to prevent stains and therefore prevent someone from detecting you). The next lines follow: Lying with his eyes while his hands are busy Working overtime A soap impression of his wife which he ate And donated to the National Trust. Lying with your eyes indicates infidelity while his eyes desperately try to conceal the truth, the soap impression means that he didn't have high regard for his wifes intelligence, he figured he could commit sexual infidelity and she'd never notice because she trusts him too much. Mother Superior jump the gun simply means Mother Superior (a nickname for the lady) pulled the trigger and shot him. Then comes the brilliant twist, happiness is getting back at the unfaithful man.

    DirtyDanon June 18, 2003   Link
  • +10
    General Comment

    I believe this song is about heroin addiction. "she’s not a girl who misses much." describes the attitude of a heroin user who is relatively content with her new lifestyle. "She's well acquainted with the touch of the velvet hand" is saying she is familiar with the high heroin produces, comparing the calming feel of the drug with being rubbed by a velvet hand. "like a lizard on a window pane" If you think about what is taking place when a lizard is on a window pane it is not hard to connect it again with opiates. Just think of an animal blocked from the natural world by a window, the outside world is visible but the animal (or heroin user) is disconnected to it. "the man in the crowd with the multicolored mirrors on his hobnail boots." describes a person who could possibly go undetected amongst a crowd but upon closer inspect would obviously be considered odd, someone who is different, a heroin addict. "lying with his eyes while his hands are busy working overtime" says that this addict is trying to conceal his drug habits while he is busy pursuing them. "a soap impression of his wife which ate and donate to the National Trust" refers to the corruption of his once clean lover who he consumed (turned her into an addict) and changed into something disgusting (turn her into trash and flushed her down the toilet: donating to the National trust) "I need a fix cause I'm going down, down to the bits I left uptown. I need a fix cause I'm going down" is saying: I need to use heroin because I'm coming down, and going through withdrawals, the lack of drugs is ripping him apart, and the uptown reference could be referring to a particular spot in which drugs are purchased, saying, I need some more heroin because I'm hurting from withdrawals, so I need to go uptown, the place I always go to get heroin. The next set of lyrics uses “gun” to represent a needle. "Mother superior's jump the gun" is talking about a woman preparing a shot of heroin.

    "happiness is a warm gun" A needle+Heroin(which is usually heated prior to use) = happiness. The next line could be about a heroin addict singing to the needle "when I hold you in my arms" can be interpreted as when I've got the needle in my arm, "and I feel my finger on your trigger" and I feel my finger on the plunger (the part of the needle you need to push to inject the heroin) "I know nobody can do me no harm because happiness is a warm gun" the drug user knows that he's about to get high and therefore won't care about anybody or anything else. “Bang, Bang shoot, shoot” are slang terms for shooting heroin.

    And of course this is just my opinion, so, obviously it’s 100% accurate and everyone else is totally wrong….

    kopaarwes09on October 02, 2009   Link
  • +6
    Song Meaning

    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."[1] The reference, whether or not intermediately from the magazine, was one of many 1960s riffs on Charles M. Schulz's culturally popular saying, Happiness is a Warm Puppy, which began in the Peanuts comic strip and became a widely sold book.

    lolguy23on May 14, 2012   Link
  • +4
    General Comment

    Definite sexual innuendo.

    chelzadoron June 05, 2002   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    the whole song is a metaphor for drug use. "when i hold you in my arms and feel my finger on your trigger" is a reference to shooting heroin.

    spinningmisfiton July 09, 2002   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    Hey, is it always just about sex and drugs? Come on, give the Beatles more credit. Their songs became ever more philosophical. I know their stuff can be interpreted in many different ways - part of what makes them great - but I think this song has a philosophical slant. It's a parody of typical love songs (i.e. "when i hold you in my arms") and it refers to the pleasure some people take in violence ("happiness is a warm gun"). The message here is about human nature and the disturbing way that we embrace violence rather than peace.

    But I admit he "I need a fix 'cause I'm going down" line sounds like drugs, haha.

    graphicnovelon November 16, 2010   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    First, John's the one who screams. Second, the title was the title of an article on a gun magazine John saw. Look for a great book called "Beatlesongs" by William J. Dolwdling. It has EVERYTHING!

    Bite Meon May 09, 2002   Link
  • +2
    My Interpretation

    It's funny because everyone seem to have a very elaborate interpretation of these lyrics, whether it involves drugs, sex, guns/war or all three of them. Mine is actually much simpler, although maybe not as good. Listening to this song, especially with the line "Happiness is a warm gun", I felt it was about how you always seem to hurt someone when you're happy. Humans suffer so others can be happy and when it's their turn to be happy, they often make someone else suffer. The girl who doesn't miss much is waiting to be happy, the reference to masturbation could indicate she's a teenager who wants to fall in love. The man in the crowd is probably happy but it's obvious his wife suffers. The mother superior (if it is a nun and not Yoko or a dealer) is going crazy because she has spent her life working on behalf of others, so they could be happy, and she has missed much. The narrator (John?) is unhappy because he's going down (as opposed to being high) and needs a fix (a shot of heroin), for him too happiness involves suffering, actually his own.

    Lyswanon June 20, 2011   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    The title of this song comes word for word from an advertisement John Lennon saw in a local paper. It's a little ironic that he wrote this song given the circumstances of his death. By the way, can anyone tell me what the line "A soap impression of his wife which he ate And donated to the National Trust. " means?

    Ferthukoon January 28, 2002   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I thought it was Lennons voice... what are they talkin' about?

    SVon June 09, 2002   Link

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