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Although John was famous as the
married Beatle he was not happily married. Nor was he
faithful. He took advantage of backstage groupies, admitted
to having been photographed on his hands and knees outside a
Dutch brothel, and told his wife Cynthia in 1968 that he had
had affairs. 'Norwegian Wood' was about one such
entanglement. In language John later described as
'goobledygook', the song details a seduction scene where
again the woman appears to be the one in control.
The lyrics open with a boast about
a girl John has 'had', but he quickly corrects himself by
saying that it was she who 'had' him. She takes him back to
her apartment and asks him to admire the furnishings which
are made out of then-fashionable Norwegian pine. After
talking and drinking until two in the morning, she says it's
time for bed. In the song, he makes his excuses and leaves
for a night in the bathroom, but in reality the story
obviously had a different ending because he said it had been
written about an act of unfaithfulness, "without letting my
wife know I was writing about an affair". John's friend Pete
Shotton has said that it was about a female journalist that
John was close to.
John wrote 'Norwegian Wood' in
February 1965 while on a skiing holiday in St. Moritz,
Switzerland, with Cynthia, George Martino and George's
future wife, Judy. He later asked Paul for help with the
ending and Paul suggested that he add some lines about the
apartment burning down. Pete Shotton thought this could have
referred to John's habit of burning furniture in the
fireplace at Gambier Terrace in Liverpool. While he was
there, John would sometimes ask guests to sleep in the bath,
the memory of which may have prompted the line in 'Norwegian
Wood' about sleeping in the bath.
The track stood out on Rubber Soul
for its use of sitar . it was the first time the Indian
instrument had been used on a pop record. George Harrison
had become fascinated with the sitar after coming across one
while filming Help! in the Bahamas, and would later study
under the Indian master, Ravi Shankar.
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