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TL;DR:

  • Bob Dylan played a song for John Lennon inspired by The Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood.”
  • John told Dylan he didn’t like the song.
  • John felt Dylan’s song was part of a comedy bit.
Bob Dylan | Bettmann / Contributor

John Lennon said The Beatles‘ “Norwegian Wood (The Bird Has Flown)” was one of the Fab Four songs that meant something to him. “Norwegian Wood” inspired one of Bob Dylan’s songs. Subsequently, John said some contradictory things about Dylan’s track.

John Lennon liked The Beatles’ ‘Norwegian Wood’ but Bob Dylan was not a big fan of the song

The book The Beatles: Paperback Writer includes an interview with John from 1968. In it, John named some of The Beatles’ songs that meant something to him. “Probably ‘Strawberry Fields [Forever],’ ‘She Said [She Said],’ ‘[I Am the] Walrus,’ ‘Rain,’ ‘Girl,’ there are just one or two others, ‘Day Tripper,’ ‘Paperback Writer,’ even,” he said.

John named another pair of songs that meant something to him. “‘Ticket To Ride’ was one more, I remember that,” he said. “It was a definite sort of change. ‘Norwegian Wood’… that was the sitar bit. Definitely, I consider them moods or moments.”

Dylan wasn’t a big fan of “Norwegian Wood.” According to the book Who Is That Man?: In Search of the Real Bob Dylan, Dylan felt the song was a rip-off of his style. He was especially upset as other artists like Sonny & Cher had already taken influence from his work.

Bob Dylan responded to The Beatles’ ‘Norwegian Wood’ with his own song

Dylan responded to “Norwegian Wood” by writing a similar song called “4th Time Around.” He felt he could write a similar song because the original was already a rip-off of his work. “4th Time Around” has a much more bitter tone than “Norwegian Wood.” Notably, Dylan also drew inspiration from the Fab Four for his songs “I Want You” and “Obviously 5 Believers” from his classic album Blonde on Blonde.

According to The Beatles: Paperback Writer, John was asked to discuss “4th Time Around.” “I was very paranoid about that,” he said “I remember he played it to me when he was in London. He said, ‘What do you think?’ I said, ‘I don’t like it.’ I didn’t like it.”

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John Lennon later said nice things about ‘4th Time Around’

John seemed to reverse his feelings about the track. “I was very paranoid,” he continued. “I just didn’t like what I felt I was feeling — I thought it was an out-and-out skit, you know, but it wasn’t. It was great. I mean, he wasn’t playing any tricks on me. I was just going through the bit.”

Dylan was upset by “Norwegian Wood” but John said “4th Time Around” was great.

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