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Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)

John Lennon: Vocals, acoustic guitar
Paul McCartney: Bass guitar, vocals
George Harrison: Sitar, acoustic guitar
Ringo Starr: Tambourine, maracas, finger cymbals

Recorded October 21 1965.

Available on:
Rubber Soul
The Beatles 1962-1966 (Red Album)
Anthology 2

John wrote most of Norwegian Wood in February 1965 while on skiing holiday in St Moritz, Switzerland, with his wife Cynthia, producer George Martin and George's future wife, Judy.

Lennon later said that Norwegian Wood is about an affair he had, apparently with a female journalist. He later admitted that he had several affairs with other women during his marriage with Cynthia.

Although it was Lennon who wrote most of Norwegian Wood, it was Paul who wrote the middle bridges. He also helped out with the lyrics.

The lyrics are in fact quite surreal, and the finishing line "So I lit a fire, isn't it good, Norwegian Wood?" may be a reference to marijuana. It could also mean that the apartment is set on fire. McCartney later said that the title Norwegian Wood was inspired by record producer and artist Pete Asher's childhood bedroom, which was made of "cheap Norwegian pinewood" - something that was quite fashionable at the time.

What makes Norwegian Wood so special is the introduction of the Indian sitar. This was in fact the first time that a sitar was used on a Western pop record. George Harrison first became fascinated with the instrument during the filming of Help! in Bahamas, where some Indian musicians featured in a scene.

Apparently Harrison decided to order a sitar from India after a long night's partying with David Crosby and Roger McGuinn from The Byrds.

But the introduction of the Indian sitar brought new challenges to the recording studio. Engineer Norman Smith later said that it was difficult to record the sitar.

"It is very hard to record because it has lots of nasty peaks and a very complex wave form. My meter would be going right over into the red, into distortion, without us getting audible value for money. I could have used a limiter, but that would have meant losing the sonorous quality," he said in Mark Lewisohn's book The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions.

But the recording difficulties didn't stop Harrison from playing the sitar again on the Beatles' next album, Revolver. Harrison also later studied the sitar under the Indian master, Ravi Shankar.

When listening to Norwegian Wood, it is not difficult to hear that Lennon is influenced by Bob Dylan, like he was on You've Got To Hide Your Love Away and I'm A Loser. On the track 4th Time Around from his 1966-album Blonde On Blonde, Dylan sings:

"Everybody must give something back from what they get", and "I never took much, I never asked for your crutch, now don't ask for mine". Some have suggested that this could be a direct message to Lennon.

Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)

She asked me to stay
And she told me to sit anywhere
So I looked around
And I noticed there wasn't a chair

I sat on a rug biding my time
drinking her wine
We talked until two and then she said
"it's time for bed"

She told me she worked
in the morning and started to laugh
I told her I didn't
and crawled off to sleep in the bath

And when I awoke I was alone
This bird had flown
So I lit a fire
Isn't it good Norwegian wood?