El… Read Full Bio ↴Kurt Elling (born November 2, 1967) is an American jazz vocalist.
Elling graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota in 1989. He then enrolled in The University of Chicago's Divinity School and remained a student there until January 1992, when he left school one credit short of graduation.
In the last decade, Elling has released seven albums for the Blue Note label. He has also performed and recorded with many musicians, including David Amram, Bob Belden, Joanne Brackeen, Oscar Brown, Jr., Billy Corgan, Orbert Davis, George Freeman, Buddy Guy, Jon Hendricks, Charlie Hunter and Rex Richardson.
As of late 2005, Elling's current band includes Rob Amster on bass, Laurence Hobgood on piano, and Kobe Watkins on drums. He is regularly featured at the Green Mill Cocktail Lounge at 4802 N. Broadway in Chicago.
Elling has won the Down Beat and JazzTimes critics’ polls three years in a row in the Best Male Singer category. He is also Vice Chair of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the 17,000-member service organization that produces the annual Grammy Awards.
Norwegian Wood
Kurt Elling Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Or should I say she once had me
She showed me her room
Isn't it good Norwegian wood?
She asked me to stay
And she told me sit anywhere
So I looked around
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 then she started to laugh
I told her I didn't and I crawled off to sleep
[Incomprehensible] in the bath
She told me she worked in the morning
And then she started to laugh
I told her I didn't and I crawled off to sleep
In the bath
And when I awoke
I was alone, this bird has flown
So I lit a fire
Isn't it good Norwegian wood?
Wegian wood
Norwegian wood
The song Norwegian Wood by Kurt Elling is a cover of The Beatles' classic of the same name. The lyrics describe a love affair that seems to have taken place in a girl's apartment. The singer tells us that he once had a girl, or rather she once had him, and she showed him her room, which he refers to as Norwegian Wood. She asks him to stay and tells him to sit anywhere, but when he looks around, he notices that there is no chair. He sits on a rug and they talk until two in the morning before she tells him it's time for bed. She laughs and tells him she has to work in the morning, but he tells her he doesn't and crawls off to sleep in the bathtub.
The singer wakes up to find himself alone and the girl gone, saying that "this bird has flown." He lights a fire and, even though the girl is gone, he still thinks fondly of the time he spent with her, saying that it's good Norwegian Wood. The true meaning of the lyrics is somewhat ambiguous, as is typical of many Beatles songs, but it seems to be about a romantic encounter that was fleeting and left an impression on the singer.
Line by Line Meaning
I once had a girl
I used to be in a relationship with a woman
Or should I say she once had me
Or rather, I was under her spell and did what she wanted
She showed me her room
She took me to her bedroom to spend time together
Isn't it good Norwegian wood?
The room was furnished with beautiful 'Norwegian Wood' furniture
She asked me to stay
She invited me to stay the night with her
And she told me sit anywhere
She told me to sit wherever I wanted
So I looked around
I scoped around the room
And I noticed there wasn't a chair
I realized there wasn't any chair to sit on
I sat on a rug
I instead had to sit down on the rug on the floor
Biding my time, drinking her wine
I waited patiently with a drink of her wine in my hand
We talked until two
We chatted continuously for hours until it was two in the morning
And then she said, "It's time for bed"
Finally, she told me it was time to go to sleep
She told me she worked in the morning
She informed me that she had to go back to work early the next day
And then she started to laugh
Then, she began laughing about something
I told her I didn't and I crawled off to sleep
I said I didn't have to get up early and went to bed
[Incomprehensible] in the bath
Unclear/indiscernible lyrics (skipped)
And when I awoke
When I woke up
I was alone, this bird has flown
I found out that she left/abandoned me
So I lit a fire
To fend off the cold and loneliness, I started a fire
Isn't it good Norwegian wood?
Again, referring to the quality of the furniture in the room (possibly used as a kind of coping mechanism)
Wegian wood
Unclear/indiscernible lyrics (skipped)
Norwegian wood
Referring to the furniture in the room once again
Writer(s): Paul Mccartney, John Lennon Copyright: Sony/ATV Tunes LLC
Contributed by Kaelyn E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.