"Norwegian Wood" was one of several songs on Rubber Soul in which the singer faces an antagonistic relationship with a woman. In direct contrast to earlier Beatles songs such as "She Loves You" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand", the songs on Rubber Soul were considerably darker in their outlook towards romantic relationships.
The exotic instrumentation and oblique lyric represented one of the first indications to fans of the expanding musical vocabulary and experimental approach that the group was rapidly adopting.
Norwegian Wood
The Beatles 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 to 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 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?
The lyrics of Norwegian Wood tell the story of a romantic encounter between the singer and a woman. The opening lines are interesting because of their ambiguity. The singer says "I once had a girl, or should I say she once had me." It is not clear who the dominant party is in this relationship. This is followed by the line "She showed me her room, isn't it good Norwegian wood?" which has been interpreted in different ways. Some have suggested that the woman is inviting the man to see her interior decoration skills while others say that the Norwegian wood may be a metaphor for a part of the woman's anatomy.
In the next few lines, the woman offers the singer a seat anywhere in the room, but he notices there are no chairs. He sits on a rug, drinks her wine and they talk until two in the morning. She tells him it's time for bed and the singer goes to sleep in the bath. When he wakes up, she has left, and he sets the house on fire, possibly as a way to get revenge, as suggested by some interpretations.
The song's ambiguity and the unexpected twist in the story have made it a classic among Beatles fans. The use of the sitar, played by George Harrison, also adds to the exotic, mysterious quality of the song.
Line by Line Meaning
I once had a girl
Once upon a time, there was a girl I was involved with
Or should I say she once had me
Perhaps it was the other way around, and I was the one caught up in her web
She showed me her room
I was given the grand tour of her quarters
Isn't it good Norwegian wood?
The interior decor is simply splendid, don't you agree?
She asked me to stay
She wanted me to spend the night with her
And she told me to sit anywhere
I was given the freedom to choose where to sit
So I looked around
I surveyed the space I was occupying
And I noticed there wasn't a chair
To my surprise, there was no place for me to sit
I sat on a rug biding my time
I made do with sitting on the floor, waiting for events to unfold
Drinking her wine
I partook of the wine that was offered to me
We talked until two and then she said
We conversed until the early hours of the morning, at which point she declared it was time for bed
"It's time for bed"
The hour is growing late, and it's time for us to retire for the evening
She told me she worked
She informed me of her occupation
In the morning and started to laugh
She was tickled by something, maybe her own joke, while discussing her work schedule
I told her I didn't
I said I had no work to attend to the next day
And crawled off to sleep in the bath
I decided to spend the night sleeping in the tub
And when I awoke I was alone
The next morning, I woke up to find that she had already gone out
This bird had flown
She had left the premises
So I lit a fire
I made a fire to keep warm
Isn't it good Norwegian wood?
The wood I used to start the fire is of excellent quality, wouldn't you agree?
Lyrics © TuneCore Inc., Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: John Lennon, Paul McCartney
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Philip Kassabian
Honestly The Beatles can't stop producing good songs.