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Post by Kapitan on Jan 30, 2023 14:57:26 GMT
In the end, for my taste, I'm just not sure how good a concept their concept was (to say nothing of their execution of it, which was terrible).
I really think they'd have been smart to give it to Mike Love to try a rewrite--with no restrictions or requests to keep that concept. In fact, I'd have told him I liked the travelogue aspect of the chorus, and to write a song around that: another Surfin USA, Kokomo or other tune name-checking destinations. I made a jokey one earlier about him putting in a bunch of self-references, and obviously I wouldn't want that. But he could have easily made it something better, keeping that rhyme scheme and the first halves of each couplet in the chorus.
California to Mexico Where you are's where I wanna go Dallas, Texas to Monterrey Spending time on a sunny day Santa Barbara to Jersey Shore Everywhere I just love you more Everywhere that we travel to I only want to be with you
Something relationship-oriented like that, something right in his--and their--wheelhouse. (Obviously I don't mean that example contains good lyrics!) Then it's a matter of redoing verses appropriately.
By the way, for a laugh, check out what the Musixmatch service shows as the lyrics to this song... I am guessing they have some AI doing it, but suggest maybe they let humans give it a go. And if they did use humans? Well, they need different ones. Musixmatch gives the chorus as:
From California to Mexico Hey everybody's just - gotta know Dallas Texas - stood all in a row Wastin' time on a sunny day Set 'em up at the Jersey shore At the line in the grocery store Everybody's in love with you The private life of Bill and Sue
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Post by Kapitan on Jan 30, 2023 18:29:09 GMT
Track #6: Shelter (Brian Wilson, Joe Thomas)Did you ever listen with the music missin’ Turn your radio on When the trees are swaying and the band is playing our favorite song Shelter from the sunlight Shelter from the cold night Just where I wanna be Baby just you and me Staying at home Summertime take a few calls Make a little love Thank God for shelter I’ll give you shelter from the storm and a house to keep you warm I’ll give you shelter through the night And a chance to make this right Do you ever still think of me and the way that we used to be When the world was just you and me hanging out in our shelter Now it’s two o’clock lines around the block waiting for the parade When the dark of night or the bright sunlight has you runnin’ for shade Together we can run and hide Maybe we can stay inside [Just where I wanna be…] [I’ll give you shelter…] Do you think that you’d ever stay Take a page out of yesterday If we could only find a way Hanging out in our shelter HistoryJoe Thomas told David Beard for Goldmine that he saw “Shelter” as a piece of vestigial hipster lingo from the ‘60s: Wilson, in the same story, put things more succinctly, as is his wont: “‘Shelter’ is a song about a house that is sheltered from the sunlight in the cool of night.” [Note, the other primary source for Thomas’s discussion of the album’s material, Andrew Romano’s website, is currently down and so not incorporated. Depending on whether and when it goes back up, I may modify this post to include more.] Lyrical Summary“Shelter” is another first-person narrator: it’s “me” singing to “you.” But as is the case with a lot of the lyrics on this album, nailing anything down specifically is hard to do: it’s mostly vague and changing details over more vibe than story or point. Thomas comparing it to “In My Room” makes sense, as it certainly has that image of the singer’s “shelter” being a safe place. But to whom is he singing? Is it his current lover, “just where I want to be, baby, just you and me staying at home … mak[ing] a little love”? Is it his ex-lover, “do you ever still think of me and the way that we used to be”? Is it the latter, but with future hopes, “do you think that you’d ever stay”? There are also some odd phrases that don’t quite work or make sense. “Did you ever listen with the music missin’, turn the radio on.” Are we to understand the question as, did you ever listen to silence? If so, turn on the radio. That’s a lyric? Or “when the dark of night or the bright sunlight has you runnin’ for shade.” So, you run for shade in the dark of night and the sunlight? If not, then why is “dark of night” after the “when the…” that starts that line? In both cases, it just seems they’re modestly evocative words and rhymes: listen/missin’; night/sunlight. The chorus is what better captures the “In My Room”esque essence of the song, tying together safety, emotional security, and even nostalgia over the romance of new love, “when the world was just you and me.” While there are only two verses, “Shelter” has more moving pieces than did “Bill and Sue.” It includes what you might call a pre-chorus (“Just where I wanna be, baby just you an’ me”) and a chorus (“I’ll give you shelter…”). But if you consider the pre-chorus to begin with the couplet immediately preceding that—“Shelter from the sunlight” the first time around—its interesting in that this would make both the pre-chorus and the chorus containing different words at different moments. The chorus replaces the “do you ever still think of me” section with “do you think that you’d ever stay,” while the pre-chorus swaps in “together we can run and hide” the second time. This, along with the ever-changing background harmonies, helps keep this basic structure from feeling as repetitive as it otherwise might. Please discuss “Shelter.” It will be up through roughly midweek. Feel free to continue discussing any previous songs from this thread, too. It’s all cumulative.
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Post by kds on Jan 30, 2023 19:02:00 GMT
Shelter's lyrics remind me a little bit of Sweet Sunday Kinda Love. The theme of staying at home. That is, until the "Do ever still think of me" line. Until then, I'd assumed the lyrics were about a couple sharing a day or night at home. And, to be honest, I did not catch the "Do ever still think of me" upon my first couple listens.
I think the lyrics are a little more relatable than the previous three songs (two about the BB reunion, one about a fictional reality TV couple). Although, the pre chorus "summertime, take a few calls, make a little love" feels a bit clunky, and I'm surprised Brian pulls those quick lines off as well as he does.
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Post by Kapitan on Jan 30, 2023 19:06:01 GMT
Although, the pre chorus "summertime, take a few calls, make a little love" feels a bit clunky, and I'm surprised Brian pulls those quick lines off as well as he does. I agree with you entirely. And while I know we're focused on lyrics in this thread, I wanted to mention even in the initial post about this song, it's yet another one that feels basically like a Brian Wilson solo song. I don't understand some of these songs where the only clearly audible voices are Brian and Jeff. For the line you mentioned, why not Bruce? Mike? Al? Literally anyone else, just to remind us it's a Beach Boys song. (I was thinking the same sorts of things about "Bill and Sue.")
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Post by kds on Jan 30, 2023 19:14:15 GMT
Although, the pre chorus "summertime, take a few calls, make a little love" feels a bit clunky, and I'm surprised Brian pulls those quick lines off as well as he does. I agree with you entirely. And while I know we're focused on lyrics in this thread, I wanted to mention even in the initial post about this song, it's yet another one that feels basically like a Brian Wilson solo song. I don't understand some of these songs where the only clearly audible voices are Brian and Jeff. For the line you mentioned, why not Bruce? Mike? Al? Literally anyone else, just to remind us it's a Beach Boys song. (I was thinking the same sorts of things about "Bill and Sue.") I agree, for this and Bill and Sue, it's almost easy to forget you're listening to a Beach Boys album. I always felt they could've spread around the lead vocals on this album a little bit better. But, while on the subject of lyrics, I know Mike is usually the Beach Boys' leader of the Cringe Department, but did we really want to hear 70 year old (at the time) Brian singing "make a little love"?
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jan 31, 2023 19:57:53 GMT
My comments echo many of Kapitan's in his above post.
Until I read the lyrics above, I never realized how "all over the place" the lyrics to "Shelter" are. I guess I never listened to the song THAT closely. I always took away from the lyrics that Brian (or the singer) was singing about sheltering his loved one from "the storm" - literally (rain, thunder, wind, etc.) and/or emotionally. It was pretty much that simple. But upon actually reading the lyrics, there is a radio involved (I always heard those lyrics; didn't think much about them), there is thinking about lost love (I always heard these lyrics, too - "Do you ever still think of me, and the way it used to be" - but didn't read much into them), and finally, yes, more reuniting talk ("take a page out of yesterday").
It probably, again, falls on me that I'm not a lyric guy and didn't get more out of "Shelter" lyrically. But, damn, this song does cover a lot of ground! And, may I say again that Mike Love was probably sighing or wincing or seething and saying, "Why didn't they - or Brian - give me a shot at it?"
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Post by Kapitan on Jan 31, 2023 20:03:17 GMT
My comments echo many of Kapitan's in his above post.
Until I read the lyrics above, I never realized how "all over the place" the lyrics to "Shelter" are. I guess I never listened to the song THAT closely. I always took away from the lyrics that Brian (or the singer) was singing about sheltering his loved one from "the storm" - literally (rain, thunder, wind, etc.) and/or emotionally. It was pretty much that simple. But upon actually reading the lyrics, there is a radio involved (I always heard those lyrics; didn't think much about them), there is thinking about lost love (I always heard these lyrics, too - "Do you ever still think of me, and the way it used to be" - but didn't read much into them), and finally, yes, more reuniting talk ("take a page out of yesterday").
It probably, again, falls on me that I'm not a lyric guy and didn't get more out of "Shelter" lyrically. But, damn, this song does cover a lot of ground! And, may I say again that Mike Love was probably sighing or wincing or seething and saying, "Why didn't they - or Brian - give me a shot at it?" Thinking back, I had read various reviews of the album saying that the lyrics were largely meaningless. I think, in some sense, that's true, and this song is a good example. It's not quite meaningless, but it's not specific. It's not "First this, then this, then that, and now we wrap it all up." This song, and this album, comprises a lot of individual lines or individual couplets that are fine, and that point in some particular direction ... but they don't necessarily flow (meaning-wise) from what comes before or after them. More vague vibe than specific stories or purposes. And that doesn't bother me necessarily: after all, I love VDP's Smile lyrics, which, while much more poetic, also have that same approach of vague association and vibe over narrative. But every now and again there are lyrics that are nonsensical or contradictory. Like running for shade in the dark of night as well as the bright sunlight, or that awkward first line about listening "with the music missin'." Those just feel lazy, honestly.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jan 31, 2023 20:13:56 GMT
My comments echo many of Kapitan's in his above post.
Until I read the lyrics above, I never realized how "all over the place" the lyrics to "Shelter" are. I guess I never listened to the song THAT closely. I always took away from the lyrics that Brian (or the singer) was singing about sheltering his loved one from "the storm" - literally (rain, thunder, wind, etc.) and/or emotionally. It was pretty much that simple. But upon actually reading the lyrics, there is a radio involved (I always heard those lyrics; didn't think much about them), there is thinking about lost love (I always heard these lyrics, too - "Do you ever still think of me, and the way it used to be" - but didn't read much into them), and finally, yes, more reuniting talk ("take a page out of yesterday").
It probably, again, falls on me that I'm not a lyric guy and didn't get more out of "Shelter" lyrically. But, damn, this song does cover a lot of ground! And, may I say again that Mike Love was probably sighing or wincing or seething and saying, "Why didn't they - or Brian - give me a shot at it?" Thinking back, I had read various reviews of the albums saying that the lyrics were largely meaningless. I think, in some sense, that's true, and this song is a good example. It's not quite meaningless, but it's not specific. It's not "First this, then this, then that, and now we wrap it all up." This song, and this album, comprises a lot of individual lines or individual couplets that are fine, and that point in some particular direction ... but they don't necessarily flow (meaning-wise) from what comes before or after them. More vague vibe than specific stories or purposes. And that doesn't bother me necessarily: after all, I love VDP's Smile lyrics, which, while much more poetic, also have that same approach of vague association and vibe over narrative. But every now and again there are lyrics that are nonsensical or contradictory. Like running for shade in the dark of night as well as the bright sunlight, or that awkward first line about listening "with the music missin'." Those just feel lazy, honestly. I think That's Why God Made The Radio is guilty of this ^, if guilty is the right word. And, in just making conversation, I have to admit - and it's showing on this thread - that I have not digested That's Why God Made The Radio like I did with, well, all of the other Beach Boys' albums in the past. Oh, I like the album and I think it's a good album. I listened to it a lot when it first came out, used a few of the better songs on comps, and basically filed it away. I keep saying this about several albums (not just Beach Boys' albums), but I really should take some time to seriously revisit it.
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Post by Kapitan on Jan 31, 2023 20:34:13 GMT
Sorry, I didn't realize I'd made a typo in my post that you quoted, but I was specifically meaning reviews of TWGMTR called that out. (My post originally said "reviews of the albums," but I meant "the album," as in, this album.)
I suspect Joe Thomas is the guilty party, him having been credited as a cowriter in most of the songs, and obviously his role in at least the songs he cowrote with Brian often being lyrical.
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Post by Kapitan on Feb 2, 2023 18:21:12 GMT
Track #7: Daybreak Over the Ocean (Mike Love)Bring back Won’t you bring back Bring back my baby Daybreak over the ocean Moonlight still on the sea Will the waves gentle motion Bring my baby, my baby back to me And the stardust sprinkles the morning …from my side Will my love be returning like the sun to brighten up my life And as day breaks over the ocean Moonlight still on the sea I pray the waves gentle motion Will bring my baby to me [Bring back…] Darlin if you could only (if you could only) Hear this song in my heart Then you know why you need never feel lonely (never feel lonely) We’ll soon be together Never to depart And as long as there is an ocean (there is an ocean) Long as stars are to shine Baby you will always have my devotion (have my devotion) I’ll love you pretty baby till the end of time [And as day breaks…] [And as day breaks…] Darlin if you should ever wonder what you should do Baby always know I’ll love you forever Maybe little darlin that will see you through And as the sun sets over the ocean (over the ocean) And the world fades from view Baby always know our love and devotion (love and devotion) Love and devotion Will brighten up the night We will make it through because I love you [Bring back…] HistoryAny complaints that many tracks from That’s Why God Made the Radio date back to the late ‘90s should be delayed until considering that “Daybreak Over the Ocean” was a part of Mike Love’s unreleased 1978 solo debut, First Love. The song was redone for another unreleased Love solo album, available in the mid-00s as Mike Love, Not War. It is that latter version that more or less makes up “the Beach Boys’” version here, though the band’s release added some Beach Boys voices. The primary voices, though—even the primary harmonies—are by Love, Hayleigh Love, Christian Love, and Adrian Baker. Brian Wilson, Al Jardine, Bruce Johnston and Jeff Foskett are credited with “Additional Vocals.” Ouch. Joe Thomas said in Goldmine, “Mike brought it to the studio one day, and I thought it was great! There was such fine production, there was no real reason to change it around any, except adding the new Beach Boys (vocals) on there and giving it a remix. The guitar solo was (initially) longer, and we cut that out a little bit.” Thomas also said Brian Wilson had told Jason Fine (the then-Rolling Stone reporter who was around for the reunion) it was his favorite song from the album at that moment. Lyrical SummaryAnother first-person narration, this one fits into one of the most classic genres of rock and roll and popular music: an effort to win back a lost love. While several of the other songs, Thomas co-writes, avoided strict narrative and instead were peppered with vague or even contradictory ideas and details, this one is much more traditional in its approach. That isn’t to say it’s a simple story-song, though. It makes heavy use of natural imagery of, as the title makes clear, daybreak over the ocean. There is an interesting contrast between the passage of time with the cycles of the sun and moon on one hand, and the relatively timeless eternity of the ocean and stars above. The imagery isn’t necessarily consistent throughout. The former lover could be understood as the sun “returning … to brighten up my life,” with the ocean (and stars) a symbol of the singer’s eternal love, “as long as there is an ocean, long as stars are to shine, baby, you will always have my devotion. I’ll love you, pretty baby, til the end of time.” But the ocean isn’t just Love’s love, elsewhere the possible vehicle bringing her back to him: “will the waves’ gentle motion bring my baby back to me?” Finally, the sun is setting on the apparently reunited couple (or at least the very optimistic Love), and it’s their mutual love that brightens the night over the ocean. Please discuss “Daybreak Over the Ocean,” which will be up for a few days. As always, feel free to chime in about any of the previous songs from the album. The thread is cumulative.
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Post by kds on Feb 2, 2023 19:38:11 GMT
I think I can hear Al's voice in the harmony mix, but it can be hard to tell with JT's productions sometimes. Not so sure about Brian, Bruce, and Jeff, but I suppose they could be there.
Anyway, onto the lyrics. I can't say I ever really listened to them until reading them just now. I mean, I guess they're OK. A song about lost love with some ocean imagery. Nothing spectacular. But, nothing really stands out as bad either (ie. no references to 70 year old guys making love, fake reality stars, or BB 60s references).
I'm actually surprised Mike sat on this song as long as he did. Personally, I think it's better than most of Looking Back with Love. And, it would've improved some of those later BB albums.
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Post by Kapitan on Feb 2, 2023 20:01:21 GMT
I think I can hear Al's voice in the harmony mix, but it can be hard to tell with JT's productions sometimes. Not so sure about Brian, Bruce, and Jeff, but I suppose they could be there. ... I'm actually surprised Mike sat on this song as long as he did. Personally, I think it's better than most of Looking Back with Love. And, it would've improved some of those later BB albums. On that first part, I believe I've read that the Beach Boys' voices were only done for that intro part. That's certainly where they are (or rather, Al is) most prominent. The most obvious background voice throughout the song is Christian Love's. On the latter, I agree. In my opinion, the song could have fit on any of those albums that came after it was written: LA, KTSA, 85, SC and SIP. Or of course Looking Back With Love. Plus, on the lattermost, it would have given him another credit, which is something surprisingly absent from that album (where he only co-wrote one song out of 10).
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Post by kds on Feb 2, 2023 20:30:36 GMT
Seems like a typical BB move to sit on something like Daybreak for 35 years. I'm not saying it's a lost classic by any stretch, but it's surely better than a lot of what was released.
Reading over these lyrics, I can see a bit of a parallel between Daybreak and Lonely Sea.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Feb 3, 2023 12:46:40 GMT
Is "Daybreak Over The Ocean" a lyrical re-write or continuation, at least conceptually, of "The Warmth Of The Sun"? Mike uses all of his old tricks - bring back my baby, moonlight still on the sea, I pray the waves' gentle motion, darlin' if you could only hear this song, as long as there is an ocean, long as stars are to shine, as the sun sets over the ocean, and on and on. I've written about this on other threads but Mike's lyrics, IMO, were never works of art. The biggest compliment I, or the listener, could pay is to say they were effective. And sold a lot of records! But, really, do you ever get the feeling that your typical high school senior (or younger), if dedicating the time and effort, could come up with this stuff? That is the lyrics.
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Post by kds on Feb 3, 2023 15:18:30 GMT
Is "Daybreak Over The Ocean" a lyrical re-write or continuation, at least conceptually, of "The Warmth Of The Sun"? Mike uses all of his old tricks - bring back my baby, moonlight still on the sea, I pray the waves' gentle motion, darlin' if you could only hear this song, as long as there is an ocean, long as stars are to shine, as the sun sets over the ocean, and on and on. I've written about this on other threads but Mike's lyrics, IMO, were never works of art. The biggest compliment I, or the listener, could pay is to say they were effective. And sold a lot of records! But, really, do you ever get the feeling that your typical high school senior (or younger), if dedicating the time and effort, could come up with this stuff? That is the lyrics.
I hadn't really thought of that, but you're right, it could be a variation of The Warmth of the Sun theme.
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