Isn’t It Good?

The Fiery Furnaces “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)” – It’s a bit perverse to cover a Beatles song and take substantial liberties with the melody, of all things. I had been hoping that this recording (made for a compilation celebrating the 40th anniversary of Rubber Soul) would play it fairly straight and feature the vocals of Matt Friedberger, whose voice and persona seem perfectly suited to the melody and lyrics of this particular song. Instead, we get a peculiar psychedelic lounge arrangement that feels slippery and restless but strangely stagnant, eventually slowing down and reaching an abrubt conclusion. Eleanor Friedberger sings the song with an odd sort of bewildered breathlessness, almost as though she intended to make the character sound a bit naive, dim, and more than a little bit stoned. This is certainly not their best work, but it is definitely an intriguing experiment. (Click here for the official site of the This Bird Has Flown compilation.)