Norwegian Wood? What Wood?
ABCXYZ
English speakers, however, those can be very controversial issues.
First, I'd like to ask what the *wood* in "Norwegian Wood" means. Does
it mean (1) Firewood/Timber/Furniture or (2) Forest or (3) anything
else?
Second, I wonder what's the story behind the lyric of "Norwegian Wood".
What the heck was going on between John and that girl? How come had
the word "Norwegian Wood" born inside John's head?
Please reply these burning questions. It'll be very appreciated.
Thank you.
JNugent231
>From: ABCXYZ <hani...@hanimail.com>
>First, I'd like to ask what the *wood* in "Norwegian Wood" means. Does
>it mean (1) Firewood/Timber/Furniture or (2) Forest or (3) anything
>else?
>
According to the lyrics: (1) the wood of which the furniture (perhaps some
other feature of the "room") was made.
In the 60s, there was a craze for new-style wooden furniture among the UK
middle classes - principally teak (which really took off) but others too. I
think John was satirising that in the lyric.
"Norwegian wood" is unlikely to be a representation of a real furniture wood -
just a form of words which fitted nicely. And acting as a representation of the
"sort of things MC people would say". John himself was (arguably) middle-class,
but seems to have preferred to affect working-class attitudes.
The story of the lyrics is usually interpreted to be John's public (but veiled)
acknowledgement of his many infidelities to Cynthia.
I'm sure others will expand this further.
Fernando Luna
JNugent231 (jnuge...@aol.com) wrote:
: >From: ABCXYZ <hani...@hanimail.com>
I've heard that John Lennon and Stuart Sutcliffe had shared an apartment
together in Liverpool during their art college days and were so poor that
they finally took to burning the furniture for hear... Perhaps the lyric
of this song is an allusion to that time...
--
=========================================================
Fernando Luna E-mail: fe...@aa.net
Kent, WA HomePage: http://www.aa.net/~fern/
"The Internet Beatles Recording Index" http://www.aa.net/~fern/beatles/
=========================================================
Paul Gunberg
Gail
ABCXYZ wrote:
> I know these questions are pretty obvious to you. To non-native
> English speakers, however, those can be very controversial issues.
>
> First, I'd like to ask what the *wood* in "Norwegian Wood" means. Does
> it mean (1) Firewood/Timber/Furniture or (2) Forest or (3) anything
> else?
>
Jeff
admitted they didn't always know what their
songs were about and it's what ever the
public wants to write into it is whatever it's
about. Lennon tried to explain his meaning
of "Hapiness is a warm gun" yet it kept
getting taken out of context by the public
which seemed to frustrate him since this song
was one of the songs he cared to even comment on.
JSeraf7064
>I've heard that John Lennon and Stuart Sutcliffe had shared an
apartment together in Liverpool during their art college days and were so poor
Legend has it that Paul came up with the idea to light the fire, so this notion
is likely untrue.
The part about the wood being a fad for the time is true.
-JS
Trevor Terry
at home with Mimi for the entire period of his time at Art College.
The bit about starting a fire is also a bit back to front. The fire was
started by Paul in a disused cinema that the boys were squatting in in
Hamburg. It was due to the commotion caused that they were deported for
the first time.
TonyMyers1
>The bit about starting a fire is also a bit back to front. The fire was
>started by Paul in a disused cinema that the boys were squatting in in
>Hamburg. It was due to the commotion caused that they were deported for
>the first time.
ok, this ones going to call for capital letters, for those people who get
disturbed by big letters just pretend i'm doing an impression of owen meany:
IN THE SONG. IT WAS PAUL'S IDEA TO ADD THE FIRE LINE TO THE SONG. IT HAS
NOTHING TO DO WITH HAMBURG. SONGS AREN'T NON-FICTION.
there
World War III can be adverted by adherence to a strictly enforced dress code.
http://members.aol.com/TonyMyers1/basement.html
Ken & Michelle Smith
ABCXYZ wrote:
> First, I'd like to ask what the *wood* in "Norwegian Wood" means. Does
> it mean (1) Firewood/Timber/Furniture or (2) Forest or (3) anything
> else?
This being America, many people are not conversant with British slang. "Norwegian Wood" in
England refers to "getting some on the side". Shall I elucidate?
JNugent231
>From: Ken & Michelle Smith <bea...@tdo.infi.net>
>ABCXYZ wrote:
>
>> First, I'd like to ask what the *wood* in "Norwegian Wood" means.
>This being America, many people are not conversant with British slang.
>"Norwegian Wood" in
>England refers to "getting some on the side". Shall I elucidate?
Please do. I am English (in fact, I am from Liverpool) and have *never* heard
the expression outside the song quoted. What does it mean, then? :-)
Ken & Michelle Smith
JNugent231 wrote:
That being England, many people are not conversant with British slang, depending on which part
of the country they live in. It is rumored (rumoured?) that you can drive to the next town and
the dialect and accent will have changed. So the terms used in one district may not be used in
another. "Norwegian Wood" is still, to the best of my knowledge, and as written in several
Beatles books (don't ask, I must have read 300 of them), *regional* British slang for "getting
some on the side" (nudge, nudge, wink, wink). And this is exactly what John had been doing for
quite some time. He had stated much later that he was writing in gobbledygook about an affair,
so Cynthia wouldn't know it was personal. It was Paul's idea to throw in the bit about setting
the place on fire. I just read that last week. I'll get the source and page number, if you like.
:)
ABCXYZ
understand about the lyric.
A Japanese novelist (Haruki Murakami) used the word "Norwegian Wood"
as the title of his novel and the lyric as the material of the novel.
The English title of that novel is, of course, "Norwegian Wood", but the
original japanese title of it is "Norwegian *forest*". There's a little
controversy if the author misinterpreted the word "wood" as a forest
(due to a literary intention or linguistic illiteracy).
I read all the following postings and nobody has suggested the meaning of
"Wood" as a forest. It seems that the author didn't have good English
knowledge, doesn't it?
Please let me ask one more question and make it sure. As native English
speakers say the word "Wood", it rarely means a forest. Is that correct?
Thanks in advance.
Jeff
Jeff
TonyMyers1
>Please let me ask one more question and make it sure. As native English
>speakers
>say the word "Wood", it rarely means a forest. Is that correct?
When we mean a forest, we make it pulural. If you meant a forest in Norway, you
probably would say Norwegian woods.
Tom
>I read all the following postings and nobody has suggested the meaning of
>"Wood"
>as a forest. It seems that the author didn't have good English knowledge.
>
>Please let me ask one more question and make it sure. As native English
>speakers
>say the word "Wood", it rarely means a forest. Is that correct?
>
Occasionally, it does. For instance, Jethro Tull's "Songs From The Wood."
More commonly, "Woods" is used for forest.
RAWalker
>
>Occasionally, it does. For instance, Jethro Tull's "Songs From The Wood."
>More commonly, "Woods" is used for forest.
It seems to me that the use of "wood" singlular to mean forest is more common
in British English. In North American English, this is a very rare usage,
except perhaps poetically. The plural "woods" is used to mean forest.
Rob
Robert A. Walker, Ph.D.
Head, Department of Anatomy
New York Chiropractic College
Seneca Falls, New York
JNugent231
>From: rawa...@aol.com (RAWalker)
>>More commonly, "Woods" is used for forest.
>
>It seems to me that the use of "wood" singlular to mean forest is more common
>in British English. In North American English, this is a very rare usage,
>except perhaps poetically. The plural "woods" is used to mean forest.
Well, I can certainly clarify that for you. The fact is that *either* is used
in English English.
A local wooded area might be referred to as either (for instance) "Parson's
Wood" or "Parson's Woods", depending simply upon local tradition.
Similarly, a map, indicated an afforested area might refer to the site as
"wood" or "woods". There isn't a hard and fast rule.
Perhaps this should be cross-posted to alt.usage.english?
Robert Hailman
furniture in england in the 60's. the part about lighting the fire is
basically burning the furniture, or the apartment.
And nothing was going on between John and the girl, the song it based
on collective experiences John had with different women. John did
admit after his divorce that the slept with other women.
The song is basically a hippy 60's song with no important meaning.
On Fri, 25 Sep 1998 16:08:04 -0400, ABCXYZ <hani...@hanimail.com>
wrote:
>I know these questions are pretty obvious to you. To non-native English
>
>speakers, however, those can be very controversial issues.
>
>First, I'd like to ask what the "wood" in Norwegian Wood means. Does
>that mean (1) Firewood/Timber/Furniture or (2) Forest or (3) anything
>else?
>
>Second, I wonder what is the story behind the lyric of Norwegian Wood.
>What the heck was going on between John and that girl? How come had
>the word "Norwegian Wood" born in John's brain?
>
>Please reply these burning questions. I really appreciate it in
>advance.
>
>
--
This has been a paid commercial message from the
friends of Robert Hailman.
remove the [nospam] to send me an email.
CaroJ11
>
>First, I'd like to ask what the "wood" in Norwegian Wood. Does it mean
>Firewood/Timber/Furniture or Forest or anything else?
>
>Second, I wonder what is the story behind the lyric of Norwegian Wood.
>What the heck was going on between John and that girl? How come had
The "wood" in "Norwegian Wood" is a coined term given to a popular furniture
style in England at the time the song was written. The lyrics are deliberately
misleading as John was attempting to write a song about a personal experience
he'd had without giving his wife too much solid information. John didn't invent
the term "Norwegian Wood;" he is here using the girl's furniture style as a
catchall phrase for the experience itself...light, trendy, a bit meaningless.
---CarolJ
Blackburst
ABCXYZ wrote:
>I'd like to ask what the *wood* in "Norwegian Wood" means.
I seem to recall reading many years ago something about "knowing she would."
the...@earthlink.net
over the years) that the expression "Norwegian Wood" was a deliberately
garbled "Knowing she would." --- she showed me her room, isn't it
good, knowing she would....
zoe
>
> ABCXYZ wrote:
> >I'd like to ask what the *wood* in "Norwegian Wood" means.
I always thought it alluded to Gunnar sporting an erection.
cecilia
Robert Hailman wrote in message <360cf60e...@news.tcn.net>...
>Norwegian Wood is Norweigian Pine, a type of wood that was popular in
>furniture in england in the 60's. the part about lighting the fire is
>basically burning the furniture, or the apartment.
>
>And nothing was going on between John and the girl, the song it based
>on collective experiences John had with different women. John did
>admit after his divorce that the slept with other women.
>
>The song is basically a hippy 60's song with no important meaning.
>
>On Fri, 25 Sep 1998 16:08:04 -0400, ABCXYZ <hani...@hanimail.com>
>wrote:
>
>>I know these questions are pretty obvious to you. To non-native English
>>
>>speakers, however, those can be very controversial issues.
>>
>>First, I'd like to ask what the "wood" in Norwegian Wood means. Does
>>else?
>>
>>Second, I wonder what is the story behind the lyric of Norwegian Wood.
>>What the heck was going on between John and that girl? How come had
rifraf
slang for "getting
>some on the side" (nudge, nudge, wink, wink). And this is exactly what John
had been doing for
Excuuuuuuuse me, but I still dont get it....
Getting some WHAT on the side? Sex, drugs, money, what??!!...
DaftChris8
means an affair? The phrase? Why has no one else mentioned this in the many
discussions of this song before?
But that's what the original guy meant..
--
Christine
"You're asking the wrong guy. Would you like a marsmallow?" -Howie Wright
Reply to: Chri...@ufl.edu
nickey davies
are now...
> The "wood" in "Norwegian Wood" is a coined term given to a popular
> furniture style in England at the time the song was written.
Has anyone ever actually seen this furniture? What does it look like? I
only ask because I can't remember it being popular at all.
--
Nickey
diana rigg for queen
my address is: ndaviesa at cix dot co dot uk
CynLennin
>Has anyone ever actually seen this furniture? What does it look like?
Am I mistaken, or isn't it just "natural finish"?
I always thought it was a sort of unstained wood. Like IKEA stuff.
Cyn
"And the head coach wants no sissys....so he reads to us from something called
'Ulysses'"
Joshua Lilly
believe it is slightly scented, expensive, and well-coloured. It is still
considered 'vogue' furniture, I believe; the person I know who had furniture
made of this wood boasted of it being Norwegian wood in the furniture. This
was before I had ever heard of any song by the title 'Norwegian Wood', and I
didn`t listen to The Beatles` music at all (didn`t like it). So, I didn`t
make any sort of connection or think about it until now. Whether the song
refers to furniture is up to question, but that is exactly what I think it
is. 'She showed me her room. "Isn`t it good Norwegian wood?"'. This
person I know showed a friend and I his room, and he said something very
like that I think, when we sat down to talk about C.P.E. Bach`s music. It
was a few years ago and I have no idea just what he said, but I do remember
the furniture being specifically indicated. Maybe she was just asking,
'Isn`t it good Norwegian wood?'. 'Hey, check out my furniture! Isn`t it
great? It`s made from Norwegian wood!'
As for the fire which I have seen referenced, where in the world do people
get the idea that someone burned a house down??? My 'imagery' was of the
guy left behind when she was gone to work lighting a fire in a fireplace!!
The original title of the song was, by the way, 'This Bird Has Flown'
without the 'Norwegian Wood' part preceding it (according to a great book
called 'The Abbey Road Sessions' or some such).
Joshua Lilly
Composers Historical Society
webm...@composers.net
http://www.composers.net
TonyMyers1
>As for the fire which I have seen referenced, where in the world do people
>get the idea that someone burned a house down???
from the lyrics, and from paul talking about the lyrics.
Lizz Holmans
>
>>Has anyone ever actually seen this furniture? What does it look like?
>
>Am I mistaken, or isn't it just "natural finish"?
>I always thought it was a sort of unstained wood. Like IKEA stuff.
It's *exactly* like IKEA furniture.
The exact style was known as 'Swedish modern.' Clean, uncluttered lines;
sparsely stuffed cushions; natural finished wood--it was all a reaction
to the overstuffed, over-ornate furnishings common since the Victorian
era. This was the new, modern fashion for new, modern people. It's
rather passe now, of course.
Am I the only person in this newsgroup that looked at furniture during
the Fifties and Sixties?
Lizz 'She Loves Wood, yeah yeah yeah' Holmans
--
Visit http://www.urbanlegends.com
Alfred Koos
Okay, a guy I used to work with in Michigan came up with this one, but the
more I think about it through the years the better it sounds.
Lennon said in interviews that the song was about 'an affair' that he had
and that he had to mix up the words to hide that fact from his wife,
Cynthia. (I'm almost positive it was he that said that he 'burned the
house down' at the end as well.)
But check this out. Given Lennon's love of word play, simply change
'Norwegian Wood' to 'Knowing She Would'. Suddenly, the whole lyric makes
sense. He went to her room because he 'knew she would', but was
disappointed to find out that she WOULDN'T, which resulted in him crawling
off 'to sleep in the bath'. There is no hard evidence to back up this
theory, but it always made the most sense to me...
A. Koos
ak...@juno.com
Jamie Winsor
> >As for the fire which I have seen referenced, where in the world do people
> >get the idea that someone burned a house down???
>
"...and so I lit a fire;
isn't it good
Norweigan Wood."
You could take it as lighting her fireplace or actually burning down her
house. I interpret it as the former.
Bob Dylan does a parody of Norweigan Wood called "4th Time Around"
(Blonde on Blonde) if case anyone didn't know.
Cookiez
jazzage wrote in message ...
>I'm wondering - is he "crawing off" from embarrassment over not "working"
in the traditional sense?
I always thought that it was because he couldn't have any 'nookie' cause she
had no time to....since she had to work in the morning...thus.. him whining
<crawling> all the way into the bathroom and sleeping in the tub <either
cause there wasn't a bed to sleep in cause they burned it <re: fire/burning
of furniture/norwegian wood>.....OR he couldn't sleep in the same bed with
her cause he'd be too horny and wouldn't let her sleep <G>
jazzage
> Even Lennon/Mcartney themselves have
> admitted they didn't always know what their
> songs were about and it's what ever the
> public wants to write into it is whatever it's
> about. Lennon tried to explain his meaning
> of "Hapiness is a warm gun" yet it kept
> getting taken out of context by the public
> which seemed to frustrate him since this song
> was one of the songs he cared to even comment on.
Which raises the question of who art really "belongs to". An artist
writes a song with a special message in mind, yet everyone who listens
and hears the song will have a different take on it. Art is the ability
to create something that can have a personal effect upon the perceivers,
something which by its genius can be interpreted and experienced in
multiplicitous ways.
therefore, to enforce an idea upon people of what a song is SUPPOSED
TO MEAN might hinder the process of art. It would seem that once the
piece is submitted to the audience, the artist loses his claim on what
the song "means"; or rather, that she then shares the possibilities of
meaning with the audience. Thank goodness the Beatles seemed to realize
this early on.
It's too bad that John took such a negative stance on questions of song
meanings, tho. I find Paul's attitude more refreshing - half the time,
he seems to be pulling your leg. Gives you an "explanation" casual enough
that all the deeper possibilities are left for the listener to distill.
peace
jazzage
> ABCXYZ wrote:
> >I'd like to ask what the *wood* in "Norwegian Wood" means.
>
> I seem to recall reading many years ago something about "knowing she would."
Beatles interview 1966 just before their last concert (San Francisco):
QUESTION: I would like to address this question to Mr. Lennon and McCartney,
In a recent article Time magizine put down pop music and referred to 'Day
Tripper' being about a prostitute and 'Norwegian Wood' being about a Lesbian.
Paul: Well we just want to write songs about prostitutes and lesbians! (everybody laughs)
cheers
Chas
jazzage
> Maybe she was just asking,
> 'Isn`t it good Norwegian wood?'. 'Hey, check out my furniture! Isn`t it
> great? It`s made from Norwegian wood!'
'Course..she could afford Norwegian Wood cause she had a job!
> My 'imagery' was of the
> guy left behind when she was gone to work lighting a fire in a fireplace!!
Maybe the whole damn forest was ablaze...John set the Norwegian Wood
on fire. Guess he wasnt that impressed.... :)
Or maybe it's like Brazil and the rainforest - we strip the world of its
woods to create status symbols. john would burn the entire system down?
Damn bathtub-sleeping pinko... ;)
> The original title of the song was, by the way, 'This Bird Has Flown'
Was she a budgie?
Miss Ahmie L. Cross
being with a prostitute, but he had to "hide" it in the lyric because
he didn't want Cynthia to know.
"She told me she worked in the morning and started to laugh." She was
laughing because she told him that she had to go to her "real" job in
the morning, but she had been "working" tonight with him.
I don't really get the "crawled off to sleep in the bath" part, myself,
but since then I've come across the same statement in books and
stuff... rather than leave after they were done, they stayed the night,
but slept elsewhere. I have no idea why they slept in the bath???
Maybe they just took a bath because they felt dirty and fell asleep and
this is what he's referencing???
Btw, if anyone emails a response, this is XYA...@prodigy.com using XYA...@prodigy.com's account while she looks over my shoulder and wants to know when I'll let her write something. :)
Gallard
Miss Ahmie L. Cross wrote in message
<6vjjon$1dse$1...@newssvr04-int.news.prodigy.com>...
The song is about John having sex with a woman other than his wife... She
may have said, "Hey, I can't stay up all night, I have to work in the
morning." because John and everyone stayed up very late partying in London
in those days.. (Still do!)
Anyway, John decided to write a song and instead of admitting his trist, he
cleaned it up by saying he "crawled off to sleep in the bath." Probably he
was so stoned he couldnt walk so he had to crawl and woke up in the
bathroom.
Also, the girl may have had Ikea furniture and John changed it to Norwegian
wood because Swedish wood sounds stupid.
I have no proof for this but it sounds as good as anything else I ever read.
R4949
Gallard wrote in message <361ef...@news.prostar.com>...
>
>Miss Ahmie L. Cross wrote in message
><6vjjon$1dse$1...@newssvr04-int.news.prodigy.com>...
>>"Cookiez" wrote on Wed, 30 Sep 1998 01:07:55 -0400:
>>>
>Also, the girl may have had Ikea furniture and John changed it to Norwegian
>wood because Swedish wood sounds stupid.
Ikea hadn't hit us by then... and when we had a drunken friend we used to
put him in the bath to sleep it off - if the threw up it was easier to clean
up the mess...
DavidR