Friday, February 13, 2009

Beatles Songs: Norwegian Wood

"Norwegian Wood" is associated with some great Beatles facts. The song, issued on Rubber Soul in both the UK and U.S., was a Lennon composition about an affair he was having. Most biographers agree that the affair was with Maureen Cleaves, the journalist who also wrote the infamous story about Lennon's belief that the group was bigger than Christianity, which he said was dying.

Harrison used the sitar for the first time on this track, although it took many takes to satisfy Lennon that Harrison's contribution fit the song. Harrison, it is said, was still learning the instrument. There is an early take on Anthology that demonstrates the different sitar backing, and the song, with slightly reversed lyrics in one spot, is sung more slowly. Harrison's interest in the sitar began after he heard it on the set of Help! Later, he would become more interested after listening to a Ravi Shankar record.

Bob Dylan did a parody of the song, called "4th Time Around" from his Blonde on Blonde LP.

Lennon sang lead, and McCartney sang harmony. Lennon played acoustic guitar (his Gibson 160E), McCartney bass, and Starr tambourine.

No comments:

Post a Comment