The Beatles

Released: March 18, 1996

Songwriter: John Lennon Lennon-McCartney

Producer: George Martin

[Verse 1]
I once had a girl
Or should I say, she once had me?
She showed me her room
"Isn't it good, Norwegian wood?"

[Bridge 1]
She asked me to stay and she told me to sit anywhere
So I looked around and I noticed there wasn't a chair

[Verse 2]
I sat on the rug
Drinking her wine, biding me time
We talked until two
And then she said, "It's time for bed"

[Bridge 2]
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

[Verse 3]
And when I awoke
I was alone, this bird had flown
So I lit a fire
Isn't it good, Norwegian wood?

The Beatles are arguably the most famous, critically-acclaimed, and successful rock band of all time—certainly the preeminent group of the 20th century. They started out as four teenagers playing grimy basement clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg, but they progressed to become world-beating rock stars who are still influential to this day.

John Lennon first formed a skiffle group called The Quarrymen in March 1957. A fifteen-year-old Paul McCartney joined shortly thereafter, eventually inviting his friend George Harrison to audition for the band. After finally impressing John with his guitar skills, George was asked to join—but this juncture would be short-lived as John’s departure to college signaled the other quarrymen to go their separate ways.

By 1960, Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison had re-branded from ‘Johnny & the Moondogs’ to ‘The Silver Beetles’ at the behest of their new bass player, Stuart Sutcliffe. The name would eventually evolve into ‘The Silver Beatles’ by July of that year, before settling on ‘The Beatles’ come August—just in time for their trip to Hamburg with new drummer, Pete Best. Though club residencies in Germany would prove fundamental to the group’s progress as a whole, the tour turned out to be a blessing and a curse, following the deportation of a then-seventeen-year-old George Harrison, and the eventual tragic death of Stuart Sutcliffe.

more tracks from the album

Anthology 2

From the album

Anthology 2 (1996)

The Beatles popular songs

Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) [Take 1]The Beatles

The Beatles

Anthology 2