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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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