Probing the chords, lyrics, and orchestration of Brian Wilson's most WONDERFUL ballad

Tim Smolens launches an exhaustive probe into the immaculate polytonal chord progression, the poetic lyrics and theme, and the orchestration (production) of one of Brian Wilson's most WONDERFUL and tender ballads. There is so much to unpack in this song that songwriters of any level can learn from and Tim takes almost an hour lesson in this video to lay it out from a variety of angles.
Download the PDF chart of Tim's chord analysis of the song Wonderful by Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks.
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[@TimSmolens]

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[@orbitaljellyfish808]

How is this dude playing two hands on the keyboard, controlling a mouse, and talking about the multidimensional wonders of this artwork? All without a moment’s loss of composure? 😮

[@tombjornebark]

Finally, someone understands Brian Wilson’s ideas and what drove him mad. If you’ve seen the dinner table scene in the movie “Love and Mercy,” where Brian reacts to the clanging silverware, you get a glimpse of what happens when you start hearing everyday sounds in a musical, pictorial way. Brian sent people with Wollensack recorders to capture “water sounds,” and many thought he was crazy. But if you start listening to the world, you realize everything has a pitch and rhythm. A steamboat has its own rhythm, which you can hear in “Rock Plymouth Rock.” The sounds of Chinese railroad workers are evident in “Cabinessence.” Now, imagine discovering this while pioneering modular recording, working with Van Dyke Parks’ complex lyrics, and under the influence of amphetamines. It’s no wonder anyone would be overwhelmed by the possibilities. To understand Brian’s burnout, you must consider everything happening simultaneously: • Pictorial music • Modular music bits fitting into any song • Writing music • Scoring and arranging everything • Starting a record label • Teaching the band their vocal parts • Stress from an abusive father • A resistant band • LSD mind expansion • Amphetamine-induced racing thoughts • Defending lyrics • Competing with The Beatles • Auditory hallucinations • Weight problems • Being in love with his girlfriend’s sister That Brian broke down is no surprise; it’s a testament to his resilience that he survived it all.

[@TimSmolens]

Wow, I've had some amazing comments but this is near the top. Your insight is fantastic and I pretty much agree with everything you said. I would love to discuss things more with you at some point in some way. I suspect we have a lot in common.

[@tombjornebark]

@@TimSmolens Thank you! and absolutely, the Brian Wilson rabbit hole is a deep and fascinating one. A couple of highlights worth exploring are the chord progression for the chorus of “California Girls,” which shifts from major to minor while dropping in scale-it’s truly remarkable. Another standout is “This Whole World,” which features a marathon of key changes akin to Billy Joel’s “Uptown Girl” (though the latter isn’t my favorite, the chord progression is impressive). I’ve been delving into many aspects of his work, particularly his influences from Phil Spector, such as the doubling of saxophones in the background and the combination of upright bass with a pick bass-a brilliant idea, with the pick bass handling the high end and the upright managing the low end. My exploration has taken me deep into the details, from analyzing the drawbar settings for “Good Vibrations” using footage from Bob Norberg to examining photos of the Gold Star echo chambers to create my own IR samples for the perfect echo. I’ve even studied Wrecking Crew photos for microphone setups and invested heavily in a Universal Audio preamp. We could indeed discuss this subject for hours. I also have some unused music pieces that I composed in a Brian Wilson style, which were never used due to time constraints. If you’re interested, I’d be happy to share some Dropbox links with you.

[@orbitaljellyfish808]

Finally a worthy analysis This song is otherworldly

[@moodindigo445]

That half diminished chord functions and feels like it does on Bachs harmonization of Bist Du Bei Mir! Great stuff

[@24hourcoffee]

I love what you're doing, thanks for this

[@TimSmolens]

That is one of the nicest things anyone could say, really! Thanks for watching and please subscribe to my channel if you haven't already.

[@cyclonasaurusrex1525]

I’d love to see your analysis of this entire “album” (first 19 songs through Good Vibrations). I was thrilled that Brian’s 2004 release gave us the road map (and is great), but hearing it recreated from the original flows is stunning.

[@retinalcircus]

The harpsichord bass run up that augments the end of verses on this song gives me chills. It's one of my absolute favourites. Gorgeous. Thanks for your diligence in analysing and exploring the dna of this composition. As you know I love my inversions as well ❤

[@captainautoflower4136]

I could watch a video like this for every song on smile. Also my favorite album of all time. Thank you for making these.

[@AllieSakwa]

I discovered this series recently, and a lot of harmony and arrangement concepts are finally clicking into place for me, even beyond the context of the Beach Boys' work. Thanks for these great videos! I really appreciate the work you've put in to them.

[@TimHareMusic]

Tim, I love these videos. Please do Surf's Up and Caroline No!

[@johncostigan6160]

This musical creativity and complexity invites a good long introduction. Chow Down, Big Boy!

[@Thoracius]

The thing that's always struck me about this song is despite that you've got these ambiguous keys and flood of chord changes, the block of notes is only gradually barely shifting. I mean for the most part he's only adding or moving only one note at a time while all the other notes stay put, gradually making it more lush and building tension with each miniscule shift, and then releasing it by changing maybe only two notes. The chromaticism is so fluid and seamless. But also when I picked out this song twenty years ago I arrived at different chords than you have... I've noticed there's a quirky use of the bVII that gives songs a really distinctive 1966/67 feel. There's this deliberate playing with bVII and VII that came briefly in vogue that you can use to instantly date a song, just as much as the recording fidelity. I wonder where that came from. Blues?

[@SpooksHD]

The small note shifting to make new chords is really how Brian works out a majority of his songs, if you look at a lot of his work you'll notice this is a very common pattern, but it's also incredibly effective as a manner of modulating - and like you mentioned - slowly building tension.

[@brianmi40]

Sting fits into that stratosphere also. You should analyze some of his pieces. Rick Beato has covered his genius.

[@coreopsis6754]

Tim, you write and speak so beautifully I could listen to your commentaries all day. And Im a drummer, so most of the time I am hearing you but not understanding fully what your explaining, but I get the general feeling and emotion behind your words. I think that is why I enjoy listening. I am also a big fan of your music, especially the Estradasphere creations. Can you please tell me how to find more content on the drummers who played for Estradasphere? Thank you for adding beauty and pleasure to my experience.

[@emilyrln]

I lost it with the "flirting with another key symbol" 😂 I love these occasional whimsical tidbits in your analyses!

[@64Peter15]

Awesome video! I subscribed. I always thought Wonderful was one of Brian's best songs, it probably never gained popularity only because it was never officially released before the smile sessions. I've known how to play it on piano for a while now but had no idea what I was playing and just memorized the shapes, so thank you for this analysis! Really cool how it goes back and forth between E and F#. The Beach Boys' music is what initially led me to become a lot more interested in music theory a few years ago, so it's great to see videos like this where I can learn more about the chords Brian chooses to use. On a different note, I learned the chords to Summer Means New Love a little while ago and thought the bridge part on that song was very interesting! I have a video on my channel. There's this interesting circular 4 chord pattern that moves the key down a half step a few times in a row. It would be cool if you could analyze that!

[@kennethslavin5469]

Have a listen to Van Dyke Parks Orange Crate Art. Parks reversed roles to some extent by writing the songs while Brian Wilson provides all the vocals.

[@nickbarber2080]

If it ain't Baroque....don't fix it...

[@breft3416]

It is you. But many will understand.

[@brianmi40]

Technically, an inversion wouldn't include changing the character of a chord as you did by adding a 4th as the bass, but simply stick to rearranging the given notes order. I also think your music "nerds" can handle the adult-ness of hearing what song sooner. You're not going to have many who have no appreciation for music theory whatsoever to stay just to hear what YOUR take on fav ballad of Brian's is.

[@sunshinecoolwater9528]

I was really let down by Wilson's solo version on BWPS. That version sucked the beauty out of the original recording.

[@TimSmolens]

BWPS 2004 version really needs to be taken in proper context. Nobody though Brian would ever return to Smile. The fact that he did and the arrangement and performance of the thing were very good was a triumph for everyone. Sure his voice can't hold up anymore, and the tinty midi harpsichord sounded awful, I am just glad he came back and finished the thing. We already have the 1967 version to behold. Thanks a lot for watching and please subscribe to my channel if you haven't already.

[@hnnymn]

Really great analysis, Tim. You hit this one out of the park, 10 out of 10. Your passion for this song really shines, and I love how you embraced the lyrics in their own right, as lovely and multifaceted as Brian's music. I think when you write “F” you of course mean “E#” in this key, eh? No matter. The music is peerless and your remarks a worthy meditation thereon. Thank you!

[@TimSmolens]

Thanks so much for the flattering comment. I am well aware of my enharmonic shortcomings, I know it's an error I just hate seeing FB and Cb for some reason. I need to get over it. Check out my song She's a Girl by my group ISS on KZbin it pays homage to heroes and villains and you make like the whole record which you can get on Bandcamp