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About

Genius Annotation

A dry-witted story of a man who failed to charm his love interest into bed, and how he got his revenge in an extreme (and sociopathic) way.

Norwegian Wood is my song completely. It was about an affair I was having. I was very careful and paranoid because I didn’t want my wife, Cyn, to know that there really was something going on outside of the household. I’d always had some kind of affairs going, so I was trying to be sophisticated in writing about an affair, but in such a smoke-screen way that you couldn’t tell. But I can’t remember any specific woman it had to do with.
John Lennon, interview with David Sheff

The song is known for its Indian influences. Hindu culture was very popular in the sixties, especially sitar music. This is the first recording of sitar in a Beatles record. George Harrison found an old sitar in a closet in Abbey Road studios and the band decided to use it for the song. Harrison would continue to play sitar for the next few years, even studying for a time with famed maestro Ravi Shankar.

Haruki Murakami, one of the most influential Japanese authors of our time, wrote a book inspired by this song and named it “Norwegian Wood.”

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

What did The Beatles say about "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)"?
Genius Answer

“I was trying to write about an affair without letting me wife know I was writing about an affair, so it was very gobbledegook. I was sort of writing from my experiences, girls’ flats, things like that.”
John Lennon

How was the song put together?
Genius Answer

I wrote it at Kenwood. Either one of us would have an idea for a start and we’d finish. John [Lennon] would often have the first couple of lines, like in “Norwegian Wood,” and I’d say, “That’s good,” and we’d carry on and finish it all up. We used to sit down and write like this for three hours usually until we got very bored and we wanted to go home.
- Via Beatles Ebooks

Credits
Produced By
Background Vocals
Acoustic Guitar
Percussion
Recorded At
Abbey Road Studios
Release Date
December 3, 1965
View Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) samples
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