Happiness Is a Warm Gun

• Performances
• History
• Artist
  • Phish
  • Fish
  • Mike
  • Page
  • Trey
  • All

Originally Performed By	The Beatles
Original Album	The Beatles (a.k.a. The White Album) (1968)
Appears On
Music/Lyrics	Lennon/McCartney
Vocals	Trey (lead), Mike, Page (backing)
Historian	Dan Mielcarz (ColForbin)
Last Update	2012-07-04

History

The final tune from side one of the first record of the White Album, this Lennon/McCartney composition was first covered by Phish as part of their 1994 Halloween set. John Lennon has been quoted as saying that in writing “Happiness...” he “put together three sections of different songs... it seemed to run through all the different kinds of rock music.” The surreal lyrics of this relatively compact song cover a wide range of topics – from sex to drugs to violence – and are said to have been inspired by an acid trip taken by Lennon. Many people – including Sir Paul McCartney himself – consider it their favorite White Album tune.

The Beatles, “Happiness Is a Warm Gun”

Phish’s cover version plays it straight, with Trey taking lead vocals and playing the iconic guitar riffs admirably. Unlike “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” – which became a standard part of the band’s repertoire following the 1994 Halloween show – “Happiness is a Warm Gun” was thought by most fans to be a one-timer. However, on 7/3/12, in a show that opened with another long-shelved cover (Little Feat’s “Skin It Back”), “Happiness...” reemerged to an astonished crowd after a gap of 658 shows. While not played quite as perfectly as in the Halloween show, it was a thrilling example of how Phish continues to bring something unexpected nearly every night.

Phish, "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" – 10/31/94, Glens Falls, NY

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