Surf's Up - Lyrical History, References, and Meanings

[@FeelFlows409]

I need to make a correction here, as pointed out by SaltyMarshmallow over on smileysmile - Jack Rieley's email from the mid-90s actually was him saying that he wrote the lyrics at the very end, but the way he responded to the question over those lyrics' authorship was kind of a confusing, round-about non-answer where the implication was that he was trying to say he wrote them himself, but couldn't outright claim authorship for various and obvious reasons. When I recorded and wrote that last section at the end, I was going partially off of memory as far as what Jack had precisely said in it and had phrased certain elements within it, hence my confusion there. I still think there's a fairly decent chance Brian wrote those lyrics though, but I guess it comes down to whose claim and sources you believe more - Jack's claim, or David's sources (which I'm guessing are probably one or more of the surviving band members themselves, in all likelihood, but that's just my own guess). I will be including this correction in the PDF file of the visuals in this video, which can be viewed and downloaded via the link in the description of this video. SaltyMarshmallow's full comment can be read here: smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,27804.msg673016.html#msg673016 It's pretty interesting, and as he notes in it (and shows/reproduces in it) the Brian Wilson Presents Smile tour program actually contains a photo of some handwritten lyrics to Surf's Up that Van Dyke actually wrote down circa 2004. I actually don't own a copy of this tour program and had forgotten that they reportedly included those handwritten lyrics, which is why I didn't mention them at all in this video, but as SaltyMarshmallow points out, Van Dyke engages in a bit of retroactive revisionism in them with regard to the first line of the song, and because of that and the contemporaneous evidence that exists against it/contradicts it, and because he wrote those lyrics down in 2004 and the document in question is not one in the same with the original 1966 lyrics sheet that he wrote back then, the lyrics shown in the 2004 handwritten lyrics sheet written by him need to be taken with a bit of a grain of salt. But - aside from the inaccurate first line - and other than "adieu or die" literally being written as "a do or die" (which is what those lyrics have always been sung as in all versions of the song anyway, regardless of how it has consistently been written in published sources over the years) - the lyrics he wrote in 2004 are auditorily identical to the 1966 lyrics that I transcribed and showed within this video (I show them onscreen starting at 14:21). The only differences pertain to the spelling of a few words - "lamp light" is written as two words in Van Dyke's 2004 lyrics sheet rather than as one word, "canvas" is written with one "s" rather than two, and Van Dyke uses "I" the pronoun instead of "eye" the noun... and that's it! Meaning that - auditorily speaking - one can safely assume that the 1966 lyrics that I showed within this video, and the lyrics that Van Dyke hand-wrote in 2004 (minus the aforementioned first line) are accurate on an auditory level to what the original 1966 lyrics are/were, given the totality of evidence. Every other difference between my 1966 transcribed lyrics and Van Dyke’s 2004 handwritten lyrics pertains purely to spelling, which is something that, as I pointed out in the video, cannot be 100% definitively proven absent of having access to the original lyric sheet Van Dyke wrote back in 1966 (although absent of seeing that lyrics sheet, going with Van Dyke’s spellings of those specific words is definitely the safest/wisest/smartest thing to do, of course). July 2021 Update: I have updated the PDF document in the description to include an extra section at the end which talks about the 2004 handwritten lyrics, and in that section I have incorporated Van Dyke's spellings of the above aforementioned words into my own transcription of the 1966 lyrics. This final transcription, using the updated spellings from Van Dyke, should be the most accurate version of the original 1966 lyrics that one can possibly obtain/use at the moment, until maybe one day the original lyrics sheet from 1966 can be published. September 2021 Update: Physical copies of the Feel Flows box set include a book/booklet that contain photos of Carl Wilson's handwritten lyrics that he wrote/transcribed for Surf's Up from 1971. These lyrics sheets are from Stephen Desper's personal collection. I have updated the PDF again to include information about this lyric sheet: its history, key features, and some other interesting things that can be gleaned from it: drive.google.com/file/d/1fJXU_c7nHeCxOM1agSZWOYClYenrBOeL/view?usp=sharing

[@kumuluskld]

Wow, this is just an amazing, articulate & very well-researched video explanation. I was looking for the meaning of this song, figuring I"d find a brief general paragraph summary & came across this educational & thesis-like goldmine! Thank you & BRAVO!!! 👏👏👏

[@summertime_blooz]

A thought I've had is that "hand in hand some" was quite possibly an allusion to a hansom cab, a type of horse drawn carriage-for-hire created in the 1800s which could be viewed as a sign of affluence. Thanks for the video and the passion.

[@FeelFlows409]

Thank you so much, and I just want to add that I'm a big fan of your work! Your videos are awesome; I've been watching for years

[@summertime_blooz]

@@FeelFlows409 I've been thinking- If "hand in hand some" was an allusion to the hansom cab, then "drummed along" could be the steady rhythm of the horse clops just like a drum beat.

[@FeelFlows409]

That would fit with the overall imagery within the setting of the song. I dunno if there was any deliberate/conscious intention there by Van Dyke there when he wrote it, but perhaps subconsciously he was drawing from those two things when writing those words. It's definitely possible.

[@zappavolta]

Another misconception I've heard is the lyric "Bygone, bygone" being "my god, my god." Great video btw

[@FeelFlows409]

Yep, I've seen a decent number of people make that mistake, including a few covers of the song. In fact, I believe even Jeff Foskett made the mistake of singing "My God, my God" during Vince Gill's performance of Surf's Up in 2001 at the All Star Tribute to Brian Wilson concert. As far as I know, that's the only time he made that mistake, so maybe someone told him afterwards that those aren't the right lyrics. But yeah, I hear and see people mistake those lyrics for "My God, my God" relatively often. And thank you for the compliment, glad you enjoyed it! :)

[@milwaukeeskosher]

OMG! my brain is hurting. thanks a lot for this video. really

[@Matt-cm8hh]

Scott this is so interesting. Well done!

[@FeelFlows409]

Thank you Matt! Appreciate it, and yes, this one was definitely a fun and fascinating one to do, although it was a lot of work too. But I think it turned out pretty well all things considered.

[@angelajones4193]

Fascinating! Thank you very much. I'd picked up on some of this before and as you will see made an observation of my own which I don't know is a correct one!

[@FeelFlows409]

Timestamps: Intro: 00:00 Objectives of This Video: 02:57 What Were The Original 1966 Lyrics?: 03:27 The Reconstructed 1966 Lyrics: 14:21 The 1971 Lyrics and Their Changes: 15:40 The Evolution of the Lyrics Within Official Sources After 1971: 17:55 What The Song Is About: 21:25 Annotated Breakdown of The Song’s Lyrical References and Interpretations: 25:14

[@Evan-ug9hr]

Great video man

[@FeelFlows409]

Thank you! Appreciate it! :)

[@glnm6846]

If I remember right, one of Mike Love's points of contention regarding these lyrics was that, as he put it, "fans in Omaha wouldn't be able to relate with them." What I find curious about this comment is that I find the more trite and commercial lyrics he prefers to be the sort of lyrics that I cannot relate to. Why? Well, I just find them boring and unimaginative. I mean, how many times did he find it necessary to rehash the same tired superficial themes of girls, sunshine, and surfing? Van Dyke Parks' lyrics, on the other hand, wow... now those are some lyrics I find engaging. Just the depth, the richness, the evocation of imagery, the wordplay. It's bliss. Now I'm the kind of person who usually focuses on how a song sounds. But for me, Van Dyke's lyrics embody the sort of word smithing that enhances the listening experience. Actually I find the abstractness to be a plus. Lyrics which are more concrete almost seem to tell me how the sound of the music should make me feel. Abstractness gives me more freedom to feel out how my thoughts and emotions respond to the music's pure sound. And, for a masterwork like Surf's Up, what a sound!

[@yoblol]

To be fair, people in 1966 were stupid

[@deathshead357]

It's interesting that the line "while at port" is used right after the line about wine glasses.......with port being a a type of wine usually drunk by the upper classes. So perhaps he is first talking about the poor people drinking in the taverns ,then by saying "while at port" he means "meanwhile back at the theatre/concert among the upper class.

[@angelajones4193]

Handsome manneRED BATON (my caps obviously). I wondered if this is a play upon Baton Rouge....

[@RC-vn5vo]

Would you ever do a tutorial on how to play Fairy Tale music by the beach boys

[@WaitingfortheMeteor]

What about "And often spring you gave"? Could that not be a case of mondegreen with offspring (i.e. the children or younger generation) you gave?

[@FeelFlows409]

Yep! It almost certainly a case of is intentional mondegreen (“offspring you gave”; “often spring you gave”), especially when one takes into account how Brian has tended to sing that line: “JOIN THE YOUNG and OFF-ten SPRING YOU GAVE”. I don’t think it works as well as some of the other instances of mondegreen in the song, but it is definitely there in that line.

[@FeelFlows409]

It also plays into an aspect of the song that I discussed in this video: that Surf’s Up is, in part, a plea to the older generation to listen to the wisdom of the younger generation, especially in the context of what was going on during the 1960s and the generational divide that existed in the United States at that time.

[@WaitingfortheMeteor]

@@FeelFlows409 Cool! That was what I thought! Thanks for the video! Really passionate and comprehensive work worthy of this song.

[@bigb0oski]

is there any chance you could do a tutorial on Heroes and Villains? your tutorials are so helpful!!

[@FeelFlows409]

Heroes and Villains will be the next Smile song that I do a cover of and tutorial of, yes. But first I'm currently working on a piano cover and tutorial of Feel Flows, and I might do one for Forever as well, but I'm not sure if I'll be doing that one before H&V or after it. But either way, a H&V tutorial and cover will be coming in the near future, yes. And thank you, glad to hear they are helpful! That is indeed why I do them, so hearing/reading confirmations from people that they're helpful is always appreciated!

[@sheatiller2465]

I really enjoyed this. Do you plan on doing lyrical analysis videos for any other SMiLE material?

[@FeelFlows409]

Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed it! This was a really fun video to make. And yes, kind of: I’ve actually been thinking about making comprehensive written guides on every SMiLE song in the same vein as the PDF document I created and linked to in the description of this video (a good chunk of which I showed within the video, but I have actually updated the document with additional sections and updated/new info/visuals which didn’t appear in this video. Those additions make the PDF document one of (and possibly even the most) comprehensive and up-to-date resource on Surf’s Up’s lyrical history). But if I do create another video like this except with a different SMiLE song’s lyrics as the subject matter, I think Cabin Essence and/or Wonderful would be the next ones I’d like to do. But right now I have so many other videos I’m working on that it might be a bit before I get around to creating more of these lyric videos/PDF guides.