# Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) - The Beatles **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [September 7, 2024, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-wood-this-bird-has-flown-the-beatles/1006922 "2024-09-07T19:48:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-wood-this-bird-has-flown-the-beatles/1006922/1 "2024-09-07T19:48:34Z")
There has been some debate about this song from The Beatles “Rubber Soul” ii my OP [Jerkish characters (beginning with The Beatles) in songs](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerkish-characters-beginning-with-the-beatles-in-songs/1006330) Firstly, I believe this is the first time George plays the Sitar. Let us then review the lyrics: > I once had a girl > Or should I say she once had me Okay so far. Interesting twist of lyrics. I doubt he’s trying to out-do Paul so on we go… > She showed me her room > Isn’t it good Norwegian wood? Uh yeah, rooms and Scandinavian wood is fascinating. > She asked me to stay > And she told me to sit anywhere > So I looked around > And I noticed there wasn’t a chair Glad she asked him to stay, rather than offer him a drink and a chair. This song is getting weird. > I sat on a rug biding my time > Drinking her wine > We talked until two and then she said > “It’s time for bed” Okay! Paul did contribute to the lyrics so we know where this is going. > 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 Unexpected. > And when I awoke I was alone > This bird had flown She had to work. Maybe she’d be okay if John Lennon hung around. > So I lit a fire > Isn’t it good Norwegian wood? I have always heard this as John Lennon (or his character) is hanging for the day. Maybe drinking her wine. I dunno - this ain’t the 50’s - why does he sleep in the bath? ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-wood-this-bird-has-flown-the-beatles/1006922/2 "2024-09-07T19:56:03Z")
This is one of those songs I’m convinced the lyrics don’t really mean anything. They were just chosen because they sound kind of cool when sung. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-wood-this-bird-has-flown-the-beatles/1006922/3 "2024-09-07T19:56:06Z")
I’ve said this before but I read somewhere (can’t remember when or where) that the original lyric was “….isn’t it good? _Knowing she would._” but Lennon kind of garbled the words and it came out sounded more like “Norwegian wood” and the Fabs thought it sounded nice and mysterious so they kept it. No clue if it’s true. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-wood-this-bird-has-flown-the-beatles/1006922/4 "2024-09-07T19:59:12Z")
> [@Coriolanus](#): > > I have always heard this as John Lennon (or his character) is hanging for the day. Maybe drinking her wine. I dunno - this ain’t the 50’s - why does he sleep in the bath? That’s your question? I thought this was going to be about whether the narrator burned down her house or not (he did). I assume he sleeps in the bath because he’s not been invited to her bed; he’s an arsonist, not a rapist 😉 Also, it was after two in the morning. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-wood-this-bird-has-flown-the-beatles/1006922/5 "2024-09-07T20:01:58Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > I’ve said this before but I read somewhere (can’t remember when or where) that the original lyric was “….isn’t it good? _Knowing she would._” but Lennon kind of garbled the words and it came out sounded more like “Norwegian wood” and the Fabs thought it sounded nice and mysterious so they kept it. > > No clue if it’s true. I heard that ‘Norwegian Wood’ refers to cheap wood paneling that was popular in the day or some such. ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-wood-this-bird-has-flown-the-beatles/1006922/6 "2024-09-07T20:17:52Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](#): > > > [@Coriolanus](#): > > > > why does he sleep in the bath? > > That’s your question? I thought this was going to be about whether the narrator burned down her house or not (he did). I can only think that it’d be explicit if he burned her house down (and others quoted Paul saying he did) i was joking when I posted this on the other thread: > [@Jerkish characters (beginning with The Beatles) in songs](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerkish-characters-beginning-with-the-beatles-in-songs/1006330/82): > > So I lit a fire and spread it and torched the bitches house to to ground. Isn’t it good, Norwegian Wood? ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-wood-this-bird-has-flown-the-beatles/1006922/7 "2024-09-07T20:19:43Z")
Explicit? In a Beatles song? ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-wood-this-bird-has-flown-the-beatles/1006922/8 "2024-09-07T20:21:58Z")
> I’m fixing a hole where the rain gets in, and stops my mind from wandering ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-wood-this-bird-has-flown-the-beatles/1006922/9 "2024-09-07T20:26:50Z")
I always heard it as a sweet little poetic song sung by a guy who didn’t get laid when he thought he was going to and is feeling pissy about it. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-wood-this-bird-has-flown-the-beatles/1006922/10 "2024-09-07T20:34:30Z")
What Ulfreida said. That’s what makes the main character jerkish to me. When I first heard it I thought he burned her furniture or something but I don’t see a little ambiguity as a bad thing. Explicitness is overrated. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-wood-this-bird-has-flown-the-beatles/1006922/11 "2024-09-07T20:53:23Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > I’ve said this before but I read somewhere (can’t remember when or where) that the original lyric was “….isn’t it good? _Knowing she would._” but Lennon kind of garbled the words and it came out sounded more like “Norwegian wood” I read that they replaced “knowing she would” because it was too racy. “Norwegian wood” happened to fit. Your version seems a bit more likely. ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-wood-this-bird-has-flown-the-beatles/1006922/12 "2024-09-07T21:01:11Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > I always heard it as a sweet little poetic song sung by a guy who didn’t get laid when he thought he was going to and is feeling pissy about it. Thant’s how I always thought about it, Most (early like Rubber Soul or Revolver) Beatle songs the singer or protagonist is basically Paul-ish or John-ish. I’d reckon George is always George. So she chats with a more-or-less John Lennon (who was IRL married and had a house) but it’s. “yeah you can crash here but I’ve got a job”. I’ve not slept in a bath so the rug would have done me fine if I had no place else to go. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-wood-this-bird-has-flown-the-beatles/1006922/13 "2024-09-07T21:33:38Z")
Huh. My take at the time had been being playful with the names of pot strains in that era, like “Acapulco Gold” as the one I remember. Her having a fit of giggles, and the “lit a fire” just firing up a bong hit. I never even considered any other images in my head! ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-wood-this-bird-has-flown-the-beatles/1006922/14 "2024-09-07T22:01:22Z")
The narrator isn’t a jerk; just a loser. He had until 2am to seal the deal and he muffed it. She’s not a tease; he’s just an insecure male who was waiting for her to make the first move. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-wood-this-bird-has-flown-the-beatles/1006922/15 "2024-09-07T22:04:31Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > the “lit a fire” just firing up a bong hit. Yeah, that was my assumption too. Norwegian Wood was my fave Beatles tune back in Junior High. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-wood-this-bird-has-flown-the-beatles/1006922/16 "2024-09-07T23:12:33Z")
I had heard it was about a lesbian, but that doesn’t make sense at all. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-wood-this-bird-has-flown-the-beatles/1006922/17 "2024-09-07T23:28:41Z")
My very favorite. - Yes, _lit a fire_ was smoking a joint(or whatever them meddling kids called it). And he was staring at the woodwork (or his belly button) You know, he was high. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-wood-this-bird-has-flown-the-beatles/1006922/18 "2024-09-08T00:20:52Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > I always heard it as a sweet little poetic song sung by a guy who didn’t get laid when he thought he was going to and is feeling pissy about it. Hence the wordplay on “had” in the opening lines: > I once **had** a girl [= picked up as a romantic prospect] > or, should I say, she once **had** me [= deceived] with a third meaning (“engaged in sexual relations with”) implied but never actually occurring. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-wood-this-bird-has-flown-the-beatles/1006922/19 "2024-09-08T14:38:40Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > I read somewhere (can’t remember when or where) that the original lyric was “….isn’t it good? _Knowing she would._” but Lennon kind of garbled the words and it came out sounded more like “Norwegian wood” I first encountered this theory (or something close to it—that it was deliberate Lennon wordplay) in a story by SF writer Spider Robinson, but I don’t know whether it originated with him. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-wood-this-bird-has-flown-the-beatles/1006922/20 "2024-09-08T15:09:05Z")
Everybody’s mentioning a _house_. The song specifically refers to her _room_. I’ve always envisioned her as living in a 1BR apartment (or _flat_, if you prefer). Possibly even just a studio apartment, and a poorly furnished one, at that. And I’m pretty much convinced that he torched the place. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-wood-this-bird-has-flown-the-beatles/1006922.md?page=2)