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Post by Kapitan on May 10, 2021 11:06:46 GMT
The first single the Beach Boys released subsequent to the release of their landmark album Pet Sounds was in July 1966: "Wouldn't It Be Nice" backed with "God Only Knows."
What is there to say?
(Hopefully a lot.)
WIBN peaked at #8. GOK peaked at #39.
Please rate and discuss two of the greatest songs in Beach Boys history, "Wouldn't It Be Nice" and "God Only Knows."
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on May 10, 2021 12:14:01 GMT
I see that "God only Knows" peaked at No. 39. I often wondered how they tracked that. How do you...determine...sales of a B-side? When the record came out, I'm assuming sales were "attributed" to "Wouldn't It Be Nice". After a certain period of time, do they then say, "OK, now all future sales will be counted for 'God Only Knows'". Does somebody tell the radio stations and DJs to start playing the B-side? To the best of my knowledge, the record wasn't re-issued/re-released with "God Only Knows" as the A-side? Was it?
Also, I checked Wikipedia, and in the U.K., "Wouldn't It Be Nice" did not chart, but "God Only Knows" peaked at No. 2. Explain that one!
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Post by kds on May 10, 2021 12:47:03 GMT
This is a pretty obvious 10.
It was mentioned on another thread that the "leap" to Pet Sounds wasn't nearly as big as it's made out to be. I think that's very evident on Wouldn't It Be Nice. Underneath the big arrangement played by the Wrecking Crew is a pretty familiar BB rhythm. Plus, you've got the voice of many of the BB hits, Mike, popping in for a verse in the middle, and those gorgeous harmonies. And, despite the fact that it's not about summer, the song sounds like a summer's day.
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Post by Kapitan on May 10, 2021 13:47:39 GMT
I see that "God only Knows" peaked at No. 39. I often wondered how they tracked that. How do you...determine...sales of a B-side? When the record came out, I'm assuming sales were "attributed" to "Wouldn't It Be Nice". After a certain period of time, do they then say, "OK, now all future sales will be counted for 'God Only Knows'". Does somebody tell the radio stations and DJs to start playing the B-side? To the best of my knowledge, the record wasn't re-issued/re-released with "God Only Knows" as the A-side? Was it?
Also, I checked Wikipedia, and in the U.K., "Wouldn't It Be Nice" did not chart, but "God Only Knows" peaked at No. 2. Explain that one! The charts have always included more than just sales. Radio airplay used to be big, too. And now streaming is involved in the calculation. I don't know the details ... but I know musicians have complained about the formulas as long as there have been formulas, implying (or even saying) it was all rigged.
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Post by jk on May 10, 2021 17:18:06 GMT
Like "SJB", I heard "GOK" far too often at the time. They played "WIBN" a lot on pirate radio. "Here Today" got a lot of airplay. I heard "Caroline No" a few times too. It all fell into place when I bought the album. And that's what makes it so gosh darn difficult to vote for these songs as singles!
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on May 10, 2021 17:59:18 GMT
In four years, from "Surfin'" and "Luau" and Judy, Judy, Judy Papa Judy...to this!
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Post by Kapitan on May 10, 2021 19:37:01 GMT
This one, for me, is as good as the Beach Boys ever got. Its only real competition would be "I Get Around"/"Don't Worry Baby" and probably "Help Me Rhonda"/"Kiss Me, Baby" in terms of the brilliance of both sides of the single. But the fact that "Wouldn't It Be Nice" incorporates a new kind of sophistication both in the chord progression itself as well as the arrangement without losing that rock and roll feeling--it's not heavy, but it sure as hell ain't light--really lifts it to another plane.
Both of these songs are also just a little bit strange in their construction. I'll talk about WIBN first, and GOK another time later in the polling period.
One thing about WIBN that stands out upon close inspection is that there's no chorus, no refrain. It opens with the title, and the verses close with the title acting as a kind of little refrain, but there isn't a repeated section that serves as a refrain/chorus. There's a verse (which includes a little bridge-like ending each time, "you know it seems the more...," that doesn't quite feel a part of the verse structure, but also isn't a bridge or a chorus), and there's a bridge ("maybe if we think and wish..."). And really that's about it.
But within that structure, we have some really, really great parts.
Intro: are there many better introductions than this one? The almost angelic-harp (actually a mando-guitar) in A major is immediately recognizable. But its sweet, mysterious, almost otherworldly dream like sound is perfectly, abruptly interrupted by that drum hit that launches into the song proper.
Verse: it almost couldn't be more formulaic through the first part of the verses, a really simple progression in F (a major third down from the intro key of A major), all in the key:
F ' ' ' / ' ' ' ' / Bb ' ' ' / G-7 ' C7 ' / I IV ii-7 V7
The second part of the verse, though, is really interesting.
D-7/A ' ' ' / C-7/F ' ' ' / D-7/A ' ' ' / A-7 ' ' ' / G-7 ' ' ' / C7 ' ' '
The D-7/A is a vi-7 in second inversion (fifth in the bass), while that next chord--the best chord in the song!--is an odd one. I don't know what would be the best harmonic analysis of its function. The bass note is the tonic, F, but it in no way feels "at home" due to the out-of-the-key C minor 7 atop it which includes the accidental of an Eb, the dominant 7th of an F chord. So, is this acting as a replacement for an F dominant? Not really, though it could be interpreted as an F11, because it isn't resolving like you'd expect such a chord to resolve (which is to a Bb).
Then the change from that D-7/A to A-7 is cool because it doesn't move in the root, so it's letting you get comfortable even as the interior notes change. From bottom to top, these chords could be voiced to go from A-C-D-F-A to A-C-E-G-A. Just those two interior notes move up a step each, with three notes holding tight. Of course then it dives right into the very familiar ii-7 to V7 resolution back into the verse.
The brilliant bridge:
Dmaj7 ' ' ' / Gmaj7 ' ' ' / F#-7 ' ' ' / B-7 ' ' ' / 2x F#-7 ' ' ' / B-7 ' ' ' /F#-7 ' ' ' / C7 ' ' ' / (then the slower repeat of the end part of the verses)
This is another interesting bit. (It's all interesting to me.) We shift to D major, a minor third down from the F major of the verses, but with the A-major introductory figure playing over it. The chords go Imaj7, IVmaj7, iii-7, vi-7. Then of course that last chord is leaping back into the verses' key, F major, as a V7 chord of that key (C7).
This doesn't even touch on the arrangement. Both instrumentally and especially vocally, it's arguably Brian Wilson's masterpiece. I just don't think he ever did much better, and that's partly because I don't think there's much room to get better. You could say he did a few different things similarly well, but I'd struggle to grant much more than that.
You could have made "I'm Bugged At My Old Man" the B-side and I'd be tempted to give it a 10. But instead they made another of their half-dozen or so best songs the B-side. Amazing.
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Post by lonelysummer on May 10, 2021 20:25:51 GMT
I'd rate this an 11 if I could!
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Post by Kapitan on May 11, 2021 13:50:22 GMT
"God Only Knows" is another great song. (I've already spilled plenty of digital ink for now on the A-side, so let's flip it.) But rather than jumping into the chords--which I'm going to do, rest assured! I just can't help myself!--I want to talk about the lyrics.
In a word, I think they're unclear. They're wonderful. Evocative. But I don't think there is a consistent meaning in them. I'm writing them more as prose than poetry to help discern the various functions of words and phrases.
V1 I may not always love you, but [as] long as there are stars above you, you'll never need to doubt it. I'll make you so sure about it. God only knows what I'd be without you.
What is the "it" that the listener need never doubt, and will become sure? The romantic might link that "it" back to the "love," but the line is that the singer won't always love you. The "it" seems to point to the refrain line, "God only knows what I'd be without you." That verse on its own seems to say something like this: "while I may not love you forever, you can count on the fact that I don't know what will become of me without you."
V2 If you should ever leave me--though life would still go on, believe me!--the world could show nothing to me. So what good would living do me? God only knows what I'd be without you.
The structure is really similar to V1, with the first lines saying that things will go on regardless, even without the listener in the singer's life. But this time, there is more to the second sentiment, which in the first verse is really just the refrain-line, but here more than half of the verse. It says that life would go on, yes, but that the singer would have nothing more to see/hear/learn, and so it would be pointless.
And that's it. It just repeats the second verse and a few more "God only knowses."
This is not a romantic song of everlasting love. It's a depressing song of everlasting misery. It is a song that says "This won't last forever, and I'll get through it. Don't kid yourself: life goes on without you. But it will be pointless."
Yikes.
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Post by kds on May 11, 2021 14:03:24 GMT
Well, when you break it down like that, maybe my wife and I should've had our first dance to All I Wanna Do.
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Post by Kapitan on May 11, 2021 14:16:26 GMT
Well, when you break it down like that, maybe my wife and I should've had our first dance to All I Wanna Do. The magic of the song is, with Carl's sweet vocal and the almost triumphant, major-key (well, major family of key-ish territories) chords and arrangement, it sounds as if it were a majestic love song. And of course singing about love gives that impression, too.
But really, how positive is "this isn't going to last, and my life is going to go on meaninglessly"? It's like the "I couldn't live without you" sentiment that is considered romantic and being literal about it: "yes I could, and probably will, but it's going to suck."
Aw, you say the sweetest things!
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Post by kds on May 11, 2021 14:18:51 GMT
Well, when you break it down like that, maybe my wife and I should've had our first dance to All I Wanna Do. The magic of the song is, with Carl's sweet vocal and the almost triumphant, major-key (well, major family of key-ish territories) chords and arrangement, it sounds as if it were a majestic love song. And of course singing about love gives that impression, too.
But really, how positive is "this isn't going to last, and my life is going to go on meaninglessly"? It's like the "I couldn't live without you" sentiment that is considered romantic and being literal about it: "yes I could, and probably will, but it's going to suck."
Aw, you say the sweetest things!
I always took the lyrics as the subject contradicting himself. "I may not always love you, but, who am I kidding, yes I do." Probably not the intention.
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Post by Kapitan on May 11, 2021 14:44:21 GMT
Hard to say. And of course one of the great things about lyrics (or any writing) is how differently they can be interpreted.
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Post by lonelysummer on May 12, 2021 2:13:37 GMT
Yes, it's possible I may not always love you, but look up to the sky, see the stars...as long as you see those stars up there, yes, I will love you. (cut to scene of stars falling from the sky) The lyric is a bit like a song from the early 60s, my dad had the record..."baby I'm yours, until the rivers all run dry, yours, until the stars fall from the sky...in other words, until the day I die"
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on May 12, 2021 11:13:43 GMT
Wow. Just wow. Brian was in rarefied air. He was on a another plane. He was in "the zone". He was traveling to places - musically - that not many others traveled. Any other cliches needed?
And you know what's sad. Well, we as diehards do know what was/is sad. "People" didn't know how special it was, it meaning what Brian was creating. Simply, it doesn't get much better than "Wouldn't It Be Nice" and "God Only Knows". 10.
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