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Just related to Pet Sounds, I remember God Only Knows has been cited by Paul McCartney and others as their favorite song of all time. Even though the song is ve

by sndean 1y ago

Just related to Pet Sounds, I remember God Only Knows has been cited by Paul McCartney and others as their favorite song of all time. Even though the song is very odd in many ways.

soulofmischief 1y ago
It's definitely one of my all-time favorites. It's literally a perfect song in every respect. Wilson was a songwriter's songwriter
daveevad 1y ago
You reminded me that one of Brian Wilson's favorite songs was "Be My Baby" by The Ronettes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Be_My_Baby#Effect_on_Brian_Wilson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Be_My_Baby#Effect_on_Brian_Wil...
- hansthehorse 1y ago
  I'm not sure he loved the song as much as he loved the production.
steeleduncan 1y ago
> Even though the song is very odd in many ways I suspect it is precisely because the song is very odd in many ways that it is so interesting
insaneirish 1y ago
Here is a great analysis of God Only Knows from the podcast “Strong Songs”: https://strongsongspodcast.com/blogs/episodes/god-only-knows-by-the-beach-boys https://strongsongspodcast.com/blogs/episodes/god-only-knows...
10729287 1y ago
The Beatles wouldn’t have been the band they became without The Beach Boys. And vice versa. The competition was tough between those guys back in the days. Surf’s up.
- xeromal 1y ago
  The problem was it was Brian Wilson vs the beatles who all were pretty talented. He had no backup
  - mgkimsal 1y ago
    Carl and Dennis both grew in to good songwriters, in different ways, but neither were close to being able to work with Brian in those early years. By the time they could, Brian seemed to be largely gone. Had they had all that combined talent together functioning at the same time, things would have turned out different (and ideally better).
    - parpfish 1y ago
      ... now say something nice about mike.
      - mgkimsal 1y ago
        I can if you really want... I do think Mike contributed over the years, possibly more in the early days just through enthusiasm and perhaps helping to focus. I think he was probably more willing to go along with some corny showbiz stuff than Brian was, and being older than the others, that probably carried enough weight to get the others to go along (again, in the early days). I think being family was probably helpful. He could sympathize enough and support the others dealing with Murray in the early days, but was enough of an 'outsider' that he wasn't going to be bullied by Murray like the sons were. Lyrically, I think he tries, and has had some moments of good or great lyrics. His push towards the spiritual led us to songs like 'All This Is That', for example (based on readings stemming from time with Maharishi). I wonder how much of the initial push towards the Maharishi was maybe riding the Beatles' coattails, but he seems to have stuck with it more than many over the years. As with many folks who get a lot of sudden fame/success, he was probably searching for deeper answers, and seems to have found some. Personality wise, based on enough interviews, he does seem to come across as a bit of an arrogant know-it-all, and that rubs me the wrong way. But... he contributed a lot to early success, has had some of his own good songs, and has kept the music alive touring longer than many expected. Interesting comparison about production/songcraft. Listen to his solo version of 'daybreak over the ocean', then listen to the 'Beach Boys' production version from That's Why God Made the Radio album. Assuming Brian had some production hand in the latter (along with others in the studio), but the BB one is simply a better listening experience, even though it's basically the same song. So even when Mike did something good, the "group" made it better.
basisword 1y ago
It's a brilliant song. In which ways is it odd though? I've always thought of it as just a classic 60's pop song. Listening again nothing jumps out as particularly unusual.
- sndean 1y ago
  This might be referenced in one of the replies but basically 1) it doesn’t have the normal verse-chorus structure, 2) not really any drums, 3) the chord progression don’t follow an obvious pattern for the time and genre, and 4) the end just fades out where you can imagine it simply continuing forever. I really like the song, and maybe it stands out as a favorite because of these features like someone commented above. I just wanted to point out that it’s unusual unlike nearly every other pop song.
- recursive 1y ago
  One more. Most of the song is in triplet swing, but there's a harpsichord(?) interlude in straight 8th-note feel, that's also completely harmonically disconnected from the rest of the song.
- DavidPiper 1y ago
  8-Bit goes into some of the unusual music theory of God Only Knows while talking about the (equally unexpected) a cappella cover in Bioshock Infinite - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p-GFTfGdLE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p-GFTfGdLE
dailyplanet 1y ago
Brian Wilson cited "Strawberry Fields Forever" by The Beatles as one of his favorite songs -- he apparently had to pull over because he was having a nervous breakdown after hearing it on the radio, and he was in tears and said "They got there first." Pet Sounds was the response to Rubber Soul, and then Sgt. Pepper was The Beatles response to Pet Sounds.
- amanaplanacanal 1y ago
  Yeah, John Lennon had that magic too, but certainly in a darker way.
- tayo42 1y ago
  I remeber reading about him writing songs and the effort he put into it, I think pet sounds, and then realizing the Beatles were releasing music at the same time. I felt a little bad because it seems like he was just in the shadow of the Beatles. So much musical talent at the time, crazy to think about

by sndean 1y ago

Just related to Pet Sounds, I remember God Only Knows has been cited by Paul McCartney and others as their favorite song of all time. Even though the song is very odd in many ways.

soulofmischief 1y ago

It's definitely one of my all-time favorites. It's literally a perfect song in every respect. Wilson was a songwriter's songwriter

daveevad 1y ago

You reminded me that one of Brian Wilson's favorite songs was "Be My Baby" by The Ronettes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Be_My_Baby#Effect_on_Brian_Wilson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Be_My_Baby#Effect_on_Brian_Wil...

hansthehorse 1y ago
I'm not sure he loved the song as much as he loved the production.

steeleduncan 1y ago

> Even though the song is very odd in many ways I suspect it is precisely because the song is very odd in many ways that it is so interesting

insaneirish 1y ago

Here is a great analysis of God Only Knows from the podcast “Strong Songs”: https://strongsongspodcast.com/blogs/episodes/god-only-knows-by-the-beach-boys https://strongsongspodcast.com/blogs/episodes/god-only-knows...

10729287 1y ago

The Beatles wouldn’t have been the band they became without The Beach Boys. And vice versa. The competition was tough between those guys back in the days. Surf’s up.

xeromal 1y ago
The problem was it was Brian Wilson vs the beatles who all were pretty talented. He had no backup
- mgkimsal 1y ago
  Carl and Dennis both grew in to good songwriters, in different ways, but neither were close to being able to work with Brian in those early years. By the time they could, Brian seemed to be largely gone. Had they had all that combined talent together functioning at the same time, things would have turned out different (and ideally better).
  - parpfish 1y ago
    ... now say something nice about mike.
    - mgkimsal 1y ago
      I can if you really want... I do think Mike contributed over the years, possibly more in the early days just through enthusiasm and perhaps helping to focus. I think he was probably more willing to go along with some corny showbiz stuff than Brian was, and being older than the others, that probably carried enough weight to get the others to go along (again, in the early days). I think being family was probably helpful. He could sympathize enough and support the others dealing with Murray in the early days, but was enough of an 'outsider' that he wasn't going to be bullied by Murray like the sons were. Lyrically, I think he tries, and has had some moments of good or great lyrics. His push towards the spiritual led us to songs like 'All This Is That', for example (based on readings stemming from time with Maharishi). I wonder how much of the initial push towards the Maharishi was maybe riding the Beatles' coattails, but he seems to have stuck with it more than many over the years. As with many folks who get a lot of sudden fame/success, he was probably searching for deeper answers, and seems to have found some. Personality wise, based on enough interviews, he does seem to come across as a bit of an arrogant know-it-all, and that rubs me the wrong way. But... he contributed a lot to early success, has had some of his own good songs, and has kept the music alive touring longer than many expected. Interesting comparison about production/songcraft. Listen to his solo version of 'daybreak over the ocean', then listen to the 'Beach Boys' production version from That's Why God Made the Radio album. Assuming Brian had some production hand in the latter (along with others in the studio), but the BB one is simply a better listening experience, even though it's basically the same song. So even when Mike did something good, the "group" made it better.

basisword 1y ago

It's a brilliant song. In which ways is it odd though? I've always thought of it as just a classic 60's pop song. Listening again nothing jumps out as particularly unusual.

sndean 1y ago
This might be referenced in one of the replies but basically 1) it doesn’t have the normal verse-chorus structure, 2) not really any drums, 3) the chord progression don’t follow an obvious pattern for the time and genre, and 4) the end just fades out where you can imagine it simply continuing forever. I really like the song, and maybe it stands out as a favorite because of these features like someone commented above. I just wanted to point out that it’s unusual unlike nearly every other pop song.
recursive 1y ago
One more. Most of the song is in triplet swing, but there's a harpsichord(?) interlude in straight 8th-note feel, that's also completely harmonically disconnected from the rest of the song.
DavidPiper 1y ago
8-Bit goes into some of the unusual music theory of God Only Knows while talking about the (equally unexpected) a cappella cover in Bioshock Infinite - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p-GFTfGdLE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p-GFTfGdLE

dailyplanet 1y ago

Brian Wilson cited "Strawberry Fields Forever" by The Beatles as one of his favorite songs -- he apparently had to pull over because he was having a nervous breakdown after hearing it on the radio, and he was in tears and said "They got there first." Pet Sounds was the response to Rubber Soul, and then Sgt. Pepper was The Beatles response to Pet Sounds.

amanaplanacanal 1y ago
Yeah, John Lennon had that magic too, but certainly in a darker way.
tayo42 1y ago
I remeber reading about him writing songs and the effort he put into it, I think pet sounds, and then realizing the Beatles were releasing music at the same time. I felt a little bad because it seems like he was just in the shadow of the Beatles. So much musical talent at the time, crazy to think about