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Post by B.E. on Mar 12, 2023 1:55:51 GMT
Forgive my amateur analysis, but I find myself interested in the technical side of lyric writing. ( If only I'd been man enough to take a poetry class when I was younger!) Track #2: You Still Believe In Me (B. Wilson, T. Asher)I know perfectly well I'm not where I should be. I've been very aware you've been patient with me. Every time we break up, you bring back your love to me. And after all I've done to you, how can it be you still believe in me? I try hard to be more what you want me to be, but I can't help how I act when you're not here with me. I try hard to be strong, but sometimes I fail myself. And after all I've promised you so faithfully, you still believe in me. I wanna cry. Notice the very simple rhyme scheme (although, it's not really rhyming to use the same word). The first line of each verse ending in "be" and most of the rest of the lines ending in "me". Obviously, it underscores how introspective the song is. Kapitan pointed out how each verse and the chorus start with "I" and here I'm pointing out most of the lines and the title ends in "me", so, yeah, from start to finish, it's all about him! I'm here for it, though. It's no accident that Pet Sounds and Plastic Ono Band are two of my favorite albums of all-time. Anyway, I think Tony Asher was perfectly aware ( sorry!) of what he was doing. What's my favorite part of the lyric? "I try to be strong, but sometimes I fail myself". On one hand, I just think that stands out as a cool/unfamiliar/unique phrase to me. But I think the impact is aided by it being the first time he breaks the rhyme scheme (albeit gently). I'd also note that the substitution of "faithfully" for "be" is nice, and a nice sentiment, but the whole point of the song and this repetition of "be" (which is also in "be-lieve") and "me", and the emphasis on those syllables in the melody, is to set up the climactic...immediate...entirely exposed: "I wanna cry". And how effective it is!
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Post by Kapitan on Mar 13, 2023 11:54:18 GMT
Track #3: That's Not Me (B. Wilson, T. Asher)
I had to prove that I could make it alone now, but that's not me. I wanted to show how independent I'd grown now, but that's not me. I could try to be big in the eyes of the world. What matters to me is what I could be to just one girl.
I'm a little bit scared 'cause I haven't been home in a long time. You needed my love, and I know that I left at the wrong time.
My folks, when I wrote them, told them what I was up to, said that's not me. I went through all kinds of changes, took a look at myself, and said that's not me. I missed my pad and the places I'd known and every night as I lay there alone, I would dream.
I once had a dream so I packed up and split for the city. I soon found out that my lonely life wasn't so pretty. I'm glad I went, now I'm that much more sure that we're ready.
I once had a dream so I packed up and split for the city. I soon found out that my lonely life wasn't so pretty. I once had a dream so I packed up and split for the city. I soon found out that my lonely life wasn't so pretty.
Please discuss "That's Not Me," which will be up for a few days.
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Post by kds on Mar 13, 2023 13:03:15 GMT
Another good set of lyrics from Tony. Funny, the first time I ever listened to Pet Sounds, I thought the lyric was "I missed by pet and the places I'd known" because I thought they were trying to make a thematic connection to the album title.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Mar 13, 2023 13:29:31 GMT
I love the lyrics to "That's Not Me". They might be my favorite on the album. They're not fancy...it's just like Brian singing what's on his mind, letting us know how he feels about some things, self-evaluation. My favorite line? "What matters to me is what I could be to just one girl..." That resonated with me.
Didn't Brian state in some book (maybe David Leaf's) that the lyrics to "That's Not Me" are his favorite or most like him or something to that effect?
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Post by carllove on Mar 13, 2023 13:44:25 GMT
Another good set of lyrics from Tony. Funny, the first time I ever listened to Pet Sounds, I thought the lyric was "I missed by pet and the places I'd known" because I thought they were trying to make a thematic connection to the album title. It’s not “pet”? 🤣🤷♀️
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Post by Kapitan on Mar 13, 2023 14:05:05 GMT
I'm not as high on the lyrics to "That's Not Me" as the two previous songs ... and I'm not entirely sure why! I don't have much against them. The closest things to actual bones of contention are a few of the very period-specific slang, like "my pad" and "split for the city." Just generally I'm not a fan of any slang, current, old, or anywhere in between.
But that surely isn't enough to dislike a song! (And I don't dislike it.) In fact, the outro repeating "I once had a dream so I packed up and split for the city" is great. I actually wish he hadn't answered it every time, but just kept repeating that line.
My favorite lines of the song, I think, are "I'm a little bit scared 'cause I haven't been home in a long time. You needed my love, and I know that I left at the wrong time." To me, there's a whole short story's worth of emotion and conflict just in those lines.
In fact, this song's lyric as a whole might be the most evocative of a potential story, suggestive of real movement and change. Something like boy loves girl; boy leaves girl while she's somehow emotionally vulnerable, so he can do "it" on his own, whatever "it" is; boy finds out the dream he's chasing sucks, and he's failing; boy knows he should go home again, but he's afraid because he's ashamed; happy ending at his return.
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Post by Kapitan on Mar 16, 2023 13:43:02 GMT
Track #4: Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder) (B. Wilson, T. Asher)
I can hear so much in your sighs and I can see so much in your eyes. There are words we both could say ... but don't talk, put your head on my shoulder. Come close, close your eyes and be still. Don't talk, take my hand and let me hear your heartbeat.
Being here with you feels so right: we could live forever tonight. Let's not think about tomorrow. And don't talk, put your head on my shoulder. Come close, close your eyes and be still. Don't talk, take my hand and let me hear your heartbeat.
Listen ... listen ... listen ...
Don't talk, put your head on my shoulder. Don't talk, close your eyes and be still. Don't talk, put your head on my shoulder. Don't talk, close your eyes and be still.
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Post by carllove on Mar 16, 2023 14:33:33 GMT
Even without the melancholy musical voicing, the lyrics of this song express a feeling that we have all felt, you cannot define. The sadness, the hope, the angst, the worry, the warmth, the understanding of the moment when talking isn’t enough and yet it is too much. All of the conflict and depth of the emotions of love on the brink of change are expressed in these lyrics. Heartbreakingly beautiful. At times this is my favorite Beach Boys song. My most listened to track on Pet Sounds.
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Post by Kapitan on Mar 16, 2023 14:57:27 GMT
It's funny you used words like angst, worry, and conflict as being in the lyrics, carllove. My takeaway was not quite the exact opposite, but very different. My impression in just reading the lyrics was how they don't feel melancholy. I think I read some anxiety there--anxiety for the future--but more than that I read words about being lost in one another, wishing a moment could last forever. The feeling I read is "this is perfect, right now: may it never end! Let's just enjoy it in silent bliss." But the music adds more of the anxiety, and a sadness. (Maybe a knowing sadness: it will end.) On a more technical level, I really was struck how the words close and close are set beside one another: "come close, close your eyes..." I wonder whether that was intentional, using the two homographs in immediate succession. And I love this phrase: "we could live forever tonight."
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Mar 17, 2023 12:22:05 GMT
I can hear/feel some conflicting emotions in "Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)". And, I know I keep saying it, but the way Brian delivers the lyrics is key. He just has that melancholy tone at play on Pet Sounds. On several tracks.
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Post by kds on Mar 17, 2023 12:23:20 GMT
I don't really have a lot to add to what's already been said, another really good set of lyrics.
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Post by Kapitan on Mar 20, 2023 13:22:18 GMT
Track #5: I'm Waiting For The Day (B. Wilson, M. Love)
I came along when he broke your heart. That's when you needed someone to help forget about him.
I gave you love with a brand-new start. That's what you needed the most to set your broken heart free.
I know you cried and you felt blue, but when I could I gave stength to you. I'm waiting for the day when you can love again.
I kissed your lips, and when your face looked sad, it made me think about him, and that you still loved him so. But don't you know that pretty soon, I made you feel glad that you belonged to me, and love began to show.
He hurt you then, but that's all gone. I guess I'm saying you're the only one. I'm waiting for the day when you can love again.
He hurt you then, but that's all done. I guess I'm saying you're the only one. I'm waiting for the day when you can love again.
You didn't think (no!) that I could sit around and let him work?! You didn't think (no!) that I could sit around and let him take you?! You didn't think that I could sit around and watch him go?! You didn't think that I could sit back and let you go?!
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Post by Kapitan on Mar 21, 2023 12:45:10 GMT
This song strikes me as relatively unusual in its perspective, but maybe I'm just forgetting other examples. It seems to me our narrator finds himself "stuck in the friend zone," and is admirably waiting for the object of his desire to get over her heartbreak ... but he fully intends to pursue her romantically. It's a relatively "beta male" kind of approach.
The other thing I can't help but notice (ever since I noticed it a few songs ago): while the overall topic is the woman's heartbreak, the grammatical subject is usually "I." Song after song, it's I, I, I, I. It's a very self-absorbed album, lyrically. I don't mean that as a negative, necessarily, either. It's just interesting. And in this one, "he/him" is probably as prominent as "you"! It's like the narrator and his romantic competitor are the key figures, with the romantic object almost waiting off to the side.
I like the lyrics, by the way. Another good one. And interestingly, the first (and only) Wilson-Love composition on the album.
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Post by kds on Mar 21, 2023 12:51:05 GMT
As for former Mayor of Friendville, I find that concept pretty relatable. Although, I'll admit, 90% of the time, I never had any delusion that the girl in question would come around to me, so that's where this song and I part ways.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Mar 21, 2023 13:06:41 GMT
I like the "I'm Waiting For The Day" lyrics, too. And Brian sings them both tenderly and edgy. Or perturbed. And that was different for Brian. It's interesting to hear Brian...mad at somebody!
On a side note, I always considered "I'm Waiting For The Day" to be the more (most?) underrated song on the album. It's never lumped in with the other "biggies" on the album, but it's darn close.
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