HAPPINESS IS A WARM GUN
(Lennon/McCartney)
The Beatles
The White Album (1968)
Note on fingerpicking part in beginning of the song: the bottom three
strings (low E, A, and D) are only struck by the thumb. Your thumb
should have a steady motion and strike on each downbeat: strike the
A string then the D string then the E string then the D string--thats
four count--then start over again. So the key to knocking this is
getting comfortable with the thumb motion. Once you get that, add in
the remaining strings using your other fingers. By the way, this is
the same pattern John uses on Dear Prudence! Oh, when the Dm comes, the
thumb just moves up a string so that it plucks the A, D, and G strings;
other than that the pattern is the same. Have fun!
Fingerpicking pattern:
Am7 Am6 Em9 Em
|-3---------------|-2---------------|-2---------------|-0---------------|
|-----------1-----|-----------1-----|-----------0-----|-----------0-----|
|-------2---------|-------2---------|-------0---------|-------0---------|
|-----2-------2---|-----2-------2---|-----2-------2---|-----2-------2---|
|-0---------------|-0---------------|-2---------------|-2---------------|
|---------0-------|---------0-------|---------0-------|---------0-------|
She's not a girl who misses much...
Dm Dm Asus2 Asus2
|-1----------1----|-1----------1----|-0---------------|-0---------------|
|-------3---------|-------3---------|-----------0-----|-----------0-----|
|-----2-------2---|-----2-------2---|-------2---------|-------2---------|
|-0---------------|-0---------------|-----2-------2---|-----2-------2---|
|---------0-------|---------0-------|-0---------------|-0---------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|---------0-------|---------0-------|
She's well aquainted... [note that this section is irregular: sometimes
John hold out the Dm for 3 measures and other
times for 2 measures. Gotta know the lyrics!]
Am7 Am6 Em9 Em
She's not a girl who misses much
Am7 Am6 Em9 Em
Doo doo doo doo doo doo Oh yeah
Dm (guitar 2 plays Dm 7: see below) Asus2
She's well acquainted with the touch of the velvet hand like a lizard on a window pane.
Dm Asus2
The man in the crowd with the multicolored mirrors on his hobnail boots.
Dm Asus2
Lying with his eyes while his hands are busy working overtime
Dm Asus2
A soap impression of his wife which he ate and donated to the national trust
[switch into 3/4 time]
A7 C Am (with riff 1: see below)
A7
I need a fix 'cause I'm goin' down,
Down to the bits that I left up town
C Am
I need a fix 'cause I'm goin' down.
Am C
Mother Superior jump the gun,
Am G
Mother Superior jump the gun.
Am C
Mother Superior jump the gun,
Am G
Mother Superior jump the gun.
Am C
Mother Superior jump the gun,
Am G
Mother Superior jump the gun.
[Back to 4/4 time]
C Am F G7
Happiness is a warm gun.
(Happiness bang bang shoot)
C Am F G7
Happiness is a warm gun, mama.
(shoot, Happiness bang bang shoot)
[begin cut time: all chords get half the value as above]
C Am F G
When I hold you in my arms,
(shooo ooo ooo oh)
C Am F G
And I feel my finger on your trigger,
(yea, ooo ooo oh)
C Am F G
I know nobody can do me no harm,
(yea, ooo ooo oh)
[back to normal 4/4 time]
C Am F G
Because, Happiness is a warm gun mama.
(yea, Happiness bang bang shoot)
C Am F G
Happiness is a warm gun, yes it is.
(shoot, Happiness bang bang shoot)
Fm7
Happiness is a warm, yes it is,
(shoot)
C Am F G
Gun! Don't you know that
(Happiness bang bang shoot)
C Am F G
Happiness is a warm gun mama.
C Am F G C
Happiness is a warm gun, mama
(shoot, Happiness is a warm gun yea)
-----------------------------------------------------------
here's what guitar 2 plays when the Dm-Am section begins:
Dm7 Incidently, this guitar plays a bar chord
-7- on the 3rd count of each measure in this section.
-6- They're straight bar chords, only the first Dm
-7- has the 7th added.
---
---
---
riff 1: note that this uses a tremelo bar, so all bends will
refer to usin' that whammy.
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-5/7-b(10)7---3----3---5-b(7)---3-----7-b(10)7--3----3--5/7b(10)-7b(10)-|
|----------------5-----------------5---------------5---------------------|
|-------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------|
|-5/7-b(10)7---3----3----5-b(7)---3---|
|----------------5------------------5-|
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Am7 Am6 Em9 Asus2
-3- -2- -2- -0-
-1- -1- -0- -0-
-2- -2- -0- -2-
-2- -2- -2- -2-
-0- -0- -2- -2-
--- --- -0- ---
transcribed by Chris Sears
cts@mail.utexas.edu (
geocities.com/mofli)