A SAD SONG FROM THEM? // The Beach Boys - Surf's Up // Composer Reaction & Analysis

[@WallyBrando]

On the topic of the breaks, they make more sense in the context of the whole album, which was conceived as a sort of first-of-its-kind pop symphony made possible by advancements in tape editing. The idea being that the album is modular, a series of vamps and movements that can be put together in many combinations and orders and work through juxtaposition and new forms of harmony with each other. The version of Surf's Up here has a reprise of Child is the Father Of the Man as the outro, a theme that appears many times. This modular idea proved to be largely impossible at the time but computers have opened up possibilities, there are countless rearrangements of Smile songs on KZbin, particularly expanded versions of Heroes and Villiain (which also has an expanded 2 part version on the Smile Sessions). I think you're onto something with the unsatisfying feeling of it, thematically it's all about being disquieted by a musical performance, having your world upended and being left with only an optimism in innocence. Goes with the title, that the Beach Boys can't be a surf band anymore, there's something more essential they have to tap into. It's the sound of being thrown out of your old ways and not given a resolution, it's burrowed this song in the back of my mind, there's always mystery in it.

[@mooninites3]

Smile was supposed to be released in its entirety in 1967. Due to the record company and other band members doubting the marketability of the concept, it ended up with parts of the album being released across several albums all the way into the 70s. Later in 1967, The Beatles released Sgt Pepper with immense success and critical praise, and Brain Wilson fell into a serious depression for basically the rest of his life because he felt like Sgt Pepper was just as quintessential of a concept as he was trying to piece together. The Beach Boys were neck-and-neck as California's contemporary to The Beatles. Smile wouldn't be heard in full until performed live in 2004 by Brian Wilson and a dedicated group of musicians that helped him piece it together from these sessions and sheet music he wrote. The studio version of The Beach Boys' magnum opus was released by Brian Wilson as a solo album 37 years after it was intended. There's a documentary about this whole process called Beautiful Dreamer, and there's a really sweet scene where Paul McCartney approaches him backstage and shares praise with him. With that said, the songs are strange without the context of the rest of the album. It was supposed to be The Beach Boys' departure from traditional Pop music. If you really compare even a song like Good Vibrations (as an example of the material written for Smile) to the rest of their material from 1966 and before, it obviously stands out. Brian was operating on a level of composition that was literally beyond the belief of his partners in music. It's difficult to even understand something like Sgt Pepper without understanding the context of the music scene at the time. And this song acts as almost a center piece to the album. I personally believe, and Brian also probably thought Smile would've been the natural companion to the Psychedelic movement of the late 60s. My understanding of the lyrics are an acknowledgement to the coming youth movements and their identity split and/or shepherding with the old world to expanded values and freedom of the human spirit (y'know, hippie stuff), an old world dramatized by motifs of the Opera house and their aristocratic attendees therein; like chandeliers, velvet curtains, and diamond necklaces. While Brother John is sleeping in the comfort of a painted backdrop of his town within the dramatization of the old world, the narrator escapes through the fog, makes a toast to grieve the life they're leaving, and jumping aboard the tidal wave by means of trusting that the children's song is one that'll deliver him to a fulfilling life of peace and love, maaaaaaaan ✌😎🍄

[@locoxoconostle]

The trumpets on the song are referencing the Woody Woodpecker song, typical of the points of humor that can be heard throughout the SMiLE sessions. The ending choral segment shares the lyric "Child is the Father of the Man" with the song of that title. The eternal mystery of SMilLE is how all the known recorded bits were really intended to come together, especially given that there's too much for an LP length album of the time. There's no definitive answer, only the official one that a changed Brian assembled many years later. I think this song is about broken dreams. It pays to hear different versions to really understand it. If you're not already familiar with it you'll probably also want to hear "Until I Die," a similarly gorgeous sad song that ends with an impossibly beautiful dovetail, like this one.

[@MichaelDaley-l6i]

It’s a work of genius.

[@gablen23]

I love this album, and I love "Pet Sounds". There's something magical about it, it's so unique.

[@thornbird6768]

I like Holland also , Sail on Sailor is very different from them although none of the brothers sing lead .

[@davidschecter5247]

The Beach Boys in the early seventies were making some amazing music. Don't worry about the words when you're dealing with Van Dyke Parks' lyrics. It's about the music. Check out the SURF'S UP and SUNFLOWER albums by the Boys for some of the most inventive music of the era. Even Brian's solo work has some amazing gems, like "From There to Back Again." Nobody can master song structure and production (and of course, arranging), like Brian.

[@VampeyMK]

One of my personal favourite songs of all time. And i listen to a lot of music.

[@Andermander429]

I have been a fan of this band for over a year and so much of my life changed because of them. They had quite the catalogue from their early days to now. If you haven't listened to both Pet Sounds and the Smile Sessions, GO DO IT. You may learn a thing or two from Brian Wilson. Can't sleep on the Beach Boys!

[@AmeliaInTheDaylight]

there’s lots of sad beach boys music. i would argue all of pet sounds is a sad song

[@justsomejusstsome8994]

Melancholic is a better word for it

[@stevebroady5539]

@@justsomejusstsome8994 Brian’s father called it “a suicide note.”

[@MrLandlocked]

Did you catch the trumpet playing a snippet of the Woody Woodpecker song at the beginning? The child-like innocence of Brian combined with his musical genius. The vocals, per usual, are outstanding. Brian arranged all vocals in 5 complex parts singing Jazz chords. Peel those off and they are equally impressive. I consider Surf's Up Brian's magnum opus...that he never finished im 1967. It wasn't until Brian began a nearly 4 year stint hiding in when the rest of band finished up the second movement for the self-titled 1971 album.

[@CriticalReactions]

I didn't catch the Woody song but that's a neat little detail for the song

[@ChipsAplentyBand]

SURF'S UP, to me, is an art song written in a pop vein by a pop artist searching for greater depth than what is merely commercial. The nearest analogue I can think of, actually, is Schubert's WINTERREISE song cycle. Brian collaborated with Van Dyke Parks on SMiLE, and VDP's lyrics for this particular song are the most intriguing ingredient of all. They are riddling, full of run-on imagery and overlapping wordplay entrendres, and (I think) they are packed with symbolism as well. They are in words something like what a Salvador Dali painting or a Pablo Picasso 'two-faces' painting can be like, and I think they are best understood if you look at them written out on paper and study the interlinear and line-to-line relationships of the words. There IS a point and a story to the lyrics, but it is concealed within the unconventional collage-like phraseology which embodies and presents it. Mike Love famously objected to the seemingly incomprehensible phraseology "Columnated ruins domino' and yet there is MEANING and rich imagery in those and the other words. When you think about the imagery evoked by the words you understand the 'story' of the song on a subconscious, dream experience-like level. The lyrics are thus the coded externalization of an internal experience of the subconscious mind, expressed in words. Even the title, SURF'S UP, can be taken in two senses: 'Surf's Up' in the sense of 'the waves are right and ready for surfing' and also 'Surf's Up' in the sense of 'we're done with surfing.'

[@Blend42]

As great as this song is, it wasn't finished by Brian Wilson in 1966/1967 during the Smile sessions. I think this is reflected in the final product. The first "movement" instrumental was done during the those sessions by the Wrecking Crew this covers the first 2 verses. Brian had recorded a full demo of the song with him singing the first 2 movements and playing piano double tracked, with a shorter outro where the 3rd movement now is. You can hear Brian sing (double tracked vocal) and piano here - kzbin.info/www/bejne/gpKxfZJtbLiEg9Esi=HCyiHwHPp5AVLnRd - It's lovely but also missing a little lyrics (filled in by Carl Wilson later on but we'll get to that). Basically that's all there was when the Smile Sessions collapsed. Fast forward to around 1971 and the Beach Boys are wanting to add something special to their 2nd album on their new record label. Manager Jack Rieley lobbied a more reclusive Brian to include the song on the album , Brian finally agreed. Jack and Carl Wilson occasionally with Brian's help located the 66 tapes and tried to synch Brian's piano take with vocals to the 1st movement but failed. Carl ended up re-recording a vocal for the 1st movement and in this mix you can here him a little in the bit before the end of the first verse. The Beach Boys also added backing vocals to the first movement as well as organ overdubs. The second movement was from Brian's piano take with some Moog synthesiser bass. For the 3rd Movement The Beach Boys took again from Smile. Basically taking the theme from the also unfinished Child is The Father of the Man (an excellent unfinished track kzbin.info/www/bejne/qJbUqoWBmrF8o6csi=DAL4yTdMcfMxXRZg and adapting to play over the outro (3rd movement). It took 3 days of coaxing to get Brian to contribute to the ending, including the new lyrics which are apparently Brian's (and sung by Al Jardine) or Jack Rieley depending on the source. I think you can hear that this has been put together from sessions and vocals over 5 years. The Carl Wilson lead version was the title track of their 1971 album Surf's Up. With better music technology they were able to get Brian's 66 vocal and marry it to the 1971 recording replacing most of Carl's 1st movement recording from 1971 to be released for The Smile Sessions in 2011. Still an amazing track it does have the imperfection of an idea that has been worked by many to completion. The first movement is largely what you got in 66, I think Brian would have recorded a 2nd movement instrumental with the wrecking crew had he finished the album and whether the 3rd movement would have included Child is the Father of the Man is up for debate. Lyrics were done by Van Dyke Parks a New York "hipster" and musician who Brian engaged for the whole Smile project.

[@layne182]

The percussion is a set of keys shaking in a slightly open palm.

[@ericdoce4974]

The laughs come hard in Auld Lang Syne

[@amosrichardson8374]

Surfs Up is a 4 part symphony in 4 minutes with impossible chords, new melodies, genius, the sound of Heaven. The lyrics are the story of consumerism/Capitalism, and the destruction of the virtues of society. The perfect statement on the late 20th C.

[@xdrezcorex]

i would argue that thematicly 'pet sounds' does not contain a single uplifting track

[@BCADBCAD]

You gotta listen to pet sounds it’s in my opinion one of the best produced albums of all time

[@johna6767]

After you listen to this about 10 times, it becomes clear it's an absolute compositional masterpiece.

[@johna6767]

In fact, I think that's a problem with a lot of these reaction videos in general. There is a lot of pop music you can't really expect to "get" on the first listen, but the people doing the reactions are trying to react to it on the first listen anyway.

[@CriticalReactions]

Totally agree. It's a fault of the format but it's also me and my limited experience with older pop rock. I often can "get" complex modern music but I've consistently had difficulty with pre-80's rock. It's like listening to a different dialect; I can get the gist of what they're telling me but there's enough that I'm not picking up that it confuses me. I'm sure I'll get there with more exposure, though making a "second time through" reaction might be the way to go until then.

[@elizabethmuhleisen357]

@@CriticalReactions It’s okay.Ive listened to several people’s YT reactions to this song and they all had the same reaction - What the ?? And that’s probably a common reaction to all the songs on the Smile Sessions. They are so unconventional. Multiple listens, for me, and hopefully for you as well, will demonstrate the genius of this song and others such as Heroes and Villains, and Cabinessence.

[@johna6767]

@@CriticalReactions You really, truly honestly should do some videos where you make it a point that you're reviewing a song not just after the first time, but give your reaction to it on, like, the 3rd listen or more. Maybe even start a playlist of "3rd Listen Songs." Choose some really complex stuff to do this to, because like this particular Beach Boys song, you're just not going to "get" them on the first listen anyway. If you haven't already listened to any, I would recommend some 70's Yes, which is noteworthy for having a lot of really complex stuff. I would recommend "South Side of the Sky" from their Fragile album, or maybe also include the lead-in song "We Have Heaven" since the 2 songs merge into each other. There is really just a ton of stuff going on in that song (and in most Yes songs of that era), and you have to approach it like you're listening to a complex jazz or classical piece.

[@johna6767]

This: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rqHJfY1_rcaBea8

[@berntborjesson2042]

Pls find below a link which may explain more about this song and it's background. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surf%27s_Up_(song) Regarding "Child is the father of the son" the three Wlson brother's father was extremely dominating them so much that they finally fired his as prodicer of their music. (that's my own thoughts)

[@gergsar]

A masterpiece...

[@hookalakah]

It's an art song.

[@predeterminedmeat5024]

If you think this is a sad one by them check out I Just Wasn't Made For These Times. Brilliant song but very somber

[@Stereoheadx]

Their best songs are the sad ones.. clearly you never listen ‘Pet Sounds’

[@bulletfastspeed]

This song is from the album Surfs Up, not Smile. They have so many great sad songs. Honestly, most of Pet Sounds is pretty depressing (although if you aren't paying attention, it's just beautiful/pretty).

[@oweb7754]

No it was intended for the Smile album and was shelved when that project was canned, it was then released later on the Surfs Up album. This version is from the Smile Sessions archival release of material intended for Smile and is different to the version on Surfs Up.

[@SpeedOfThought1111]

yes, I Just Wasn't Made For These Times is one of my favorite sad songs

[@bulletfastspeed]

@@oweb7754 oh word! I prefer the version on Surfs Up, sounds a bit darker, but thank you for letting me know!

[@Blend42]

No, This mix is from the Smile Sessions (2011). The Surf's Up version of this song differs in that it has a Carl vocal throughout the first movement /verses. Granted it has the the 1971 additions, like the backing vocal bygones in the first movement, moog bass in the 2nd and the the whole 3rd movement built over Brian's piano part but it does differ from the 1971 album mix. It still has the 66 wrecking crew backing vocals, Brian's piano demo in the 2nd and buried in the 3rd movement and Brian's demo vocals throughout from 1966

[@meyerhave]

@bulletfastspeed: This IS from the "SMILE" sessions with Brian Wilson on lead vocal. The remake on the "SURF'S UP" L.P. has Carl Wilson on the lead vocal.