# Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) - The Beatles

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-wood-this-bird-has-flown-the-beatles/1006922>\
**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:** 5\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\
**Post date:** [October 5, 2024, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-wood-this-bird-has-flown-the-beatles/1006922/41 "2024-10-05T22:25:25Z")

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In his hatchet job _The Lives of John Lennon_, Albert Goldman claimed that Lennon had to cut out the reference to actually sleeping with the girl because the prudish record label chairman [Joseph Lockwood](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Lockwood) would never have allowed it. That’s why Lennon slept in the bath.

As for the “isn’t it good”, Goldman claimed that Lennon was expressing his comfort with the changing world where women had more self-determination. A few years later, he would marry one with _too much_ self-determination.

No arson.

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**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\
**Post date:** [October 5, 2024, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-wood-this-bird-has-flown-the-beatles/1006922/42 "2024-10-05T22:37:13Z")

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> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#):
>
> But why would you burn down a stranger’s flat

John threatened to shoot his little girl for cheating and used to beat another girlfriend and kept her away from the things that she loved. Arson seems relatively tame.

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\
**Post date:** [October 5, 2024, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-wood-this-bird-has-flown-the-beatles/1006922/43 "2024-10-05T23:40:37Z")

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Is it possible that “Norwegian wood” was just used to pad out the rhyme much like “Scrambled Eggs”(Yesterday) and they ended up liking it better than anything else they came up with?

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**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2024, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-wood-this-bird-has-flown-the-beatles/1006922/44 "2024-10-06T01:30:36Z")

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I feel dirty quoting Albert Goldman again, but he claimed that “Norwegian Wood” was a decorating style, like “Danish Modern”.

_Do you like it?_, the girl asked. _Isn’t it good? Norwegian Wood?_

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**Author:** ![Hermione1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d07c76/32.png) [@Hermione1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermione1)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2024, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-wood-this-bird-has-flown-the-beatles/1006922/45 "2024-10-06T03:41:10Z")

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Some commentators have read a subtle pun in the title… “knowing she would.”

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