'Genius' Beatles song was banned but John Lennon thought it was 'crazy'
It is considered one of The Beatles' finest tracks
The Beatles were never afraid to cause controversy. John Lennon infamously declared in 1966 that the band were "more popular than Jesus", which was met with outcry by American Christians and played a part in The Beatles' retirement from touring at the end of that year.
They also had a number of songs banned by various radio stations. Among them were 'A Day in the Life', which was banned by the BBC for its supposed references to drugs, and 'The Ballad of John and Yoko', which was banned by some radio stations in the United States due to its references to Christ.
That did not stop once John, Paul , George Harrison and Ringo Starr went their separate ways in 1970 either. The ECHO recently looked at how the Paul McCartney & Wings track 'Hi, Hi, Hi' was banned by the BBC, which believed its lyrics made reference to sex and drugs.
One of John's most famous Beatles songs received the same treatment. 'Happiness Is a Warm Gun' was written by John in 1968 and credited to Lennon-McCartney, like all of his and Paul's compositions for the band.
The song began with the title, which John had seen in the May 1968 edition of American Rifleman magazine. It was the headline of an article by Warren W. Herlihy about teaching his son to shoot.
About his initial reaction to it, John said: "I just thought it was a fantastic, insane thing to say. A warm gun means you just shot something."
The song featured on the November 1968 'White Album', the sessions for which were notoriously tempestuous as artistic differences developed between the band. However, they all worked together to put the complex track together.
When writing it, John said he combined "three sections of different songs", covering a range of themes. Parts of the finished product were perceived to be about drugs and sex when 'The White Album' was released - the titular 'warm gun' was seen to represent John's sexual desire for Yoko Ono and it was banned by the BBC and other commercial radio stations as a result.
Source: liverpoolecho.co.uk/Dan Haygarth
