Mike's switch from booze/mary jane to meditation killed his lyrics.

[Mr. Cohen]

Think about it. When Mike was given the chance, he was a pretty hip lyricist all the way up to Wild Honey (he wrote, after all, the lyrics for Top 20 and Top 30 hits on that album). But then... but then he went to India, and he lost the plot. Once he got into transcendental meditation and all kinds of other esoteric ways to deal with whatever issues it is that he faces in life, he lost his pulse on popular culture. His best work lyrically after that was the occasional but rare poetic gem - think "All I Wanna Do" - or nostalgic, like "It's OK" or "Do It Again". He got lucky with "Kokomo", but otherwise, he didn't know how to connect with contemporary crowds unless it was relating how cool the BBs used to be (remember when we sang "Fun, Fun, Fun"?).

If Mike doesn't go to India, I think the BBs score more hits in the late '60s and early '70s. I mean, look at that insane bearded and robed look he'd roll with on live TV! The guy had no clue.

[Cam Mott]

Maybe so. I wondering if it wasn't TM adjusted his world view and that's what got him off track lyrically.

[Mr. Cohen]

Well, that's what I meant. It's clear Mike desired some sort of escape. When he chose TM over booze and mary jane, it resulted in a whole slew of changes which perhaps put him out of touch with the general public.

[SMiLE Brian]

Damn Straight, ML went from "hip " to looking to the past for hits.

[Kurosawa]

ML was never hip.

[Mr. Cohen]

Mike on stage during T.A.M.I. is hip. He's hamming it up and he knows it and the ladies in the audience know it, too. And he's totally about to spend some time eating up some wild honey after the show. You wanna bet he didn't?

[SMiLE Brian]

The 1964 Mike was cool following Brian's lead, once Brian retired to the studio, Mike lost his way.

[Shady]

No way. His lyrics from Good Vibrations up until Surf's up were some of his best ever.

The Wild Honey album being a stand out

[Mr. Cohen]

Wild Honey was the last booze/pot album. If you want to say Mike had some moments here and there after, fine. But if you want to see how out of touch he got during this period, I point you to one "Student Demonstration Time".

[Quzi]

Methinks Mike died in the fasting incident of 1970 and a lookalike was called in to fill the void. Most everything he did up until 1970 I enjoy. Around SDT is where the alarms start ringing   

[Dave in KC]

Wild Honey was the last booze/pot album. If you want to say Mike had some moments here and there after, fine. But if you want to see how out of touch he got during this period, I point you to one "Student Demonstration Time".

Total bs as far as I'm concerned. Student Demonstration Time got the band back on the radio. I'm talking FM here. And not just any FM, WMMS in Cleveland and KSHE in Saint Louis. Standard barrers in true rock radio at the time. I speak from experience, not books. Without the early release of SDT, Surf's Up wouldn't have been such a game-changer. I guess you had to be there. Were you?

[Bicyclerider]

No way. His lyrics from Good Vibrations up until Surf's up were some of his best ever.

The Wild Honey album being a stand out

Agree with Wild Honey, but after that . . . No.  Surf's Up?  May I mention Don't Go Near the Water and SDT both of which are cringeworthy?  Anna Lee?  Do It Again was great for what it was - a retread of former glories.  But his TM based songs and ecology songs were awkwardly phrased and too preachy/message driven and obvious.  I agree All I Wanna Do is an exception - not the greatest lyric in the world but it fits the song like a glove.  I also like Sound of Free from this period.

[runnersdialzero]

No way. His lyrics from Good Vibrations up until Surf's up were some of his best ever.

The Wild Honey album being a stand out

There we are. Include a few songs from the few years prior to that, and yeah, Mike did pretty well. The guy only really "lost" it in '74 after Endless Summer came to be.

[Mike's Beard]

Mike's last great set of lyrics were for Pacfic Ocean Blues. After that he was sub-par at best. And runners is right it was Endless Summer that caused the drop, not meditation. Even the lyrics for Everyone's in Love with You read pretty good on paper - it's the cloying arrangement that makes the song stink. 1975, the year Love lost his way.

[Nicko1234]

The 1964 Mike was cool following Brian's lead, once Brian retired to the studio, Mike lost his way.

No. Wasn't it David Marks who stated (under oath) that Brian needed Mike to write lyrics for him because Brian didn't know the 'hip' and 'cool' language of the time. Mike was cool at that time.

The trouble is that a person who is cool in their early 20s is going to seem a lot less cool decades later if they haven't changed at all. Due to Endless Summer that happened to Mike when working with The Beach Boys (but some of his solo stuff features much better lyrics).

[Shane]

Mike's last great set of lyrics were for Pacfic Ocean Blues. After that he was sub-par at best.

This brought me to a realization about the only set of lyrics from the album that make me cringe.  That whole thing about a "cold hearted slaughter of an otter".  Now I understand... it's a Mike Love lyric!  It all makes sense now!

[Aegir]

Pacific Ocean Blues is the best song on that album hands down. And considering that musically, it's just the blues progression, Mike singlehandedly wrote that song.

[Cabinessenceking]

Wild Honey was the last booze/pot album. If you want to say Mike had some moments here and there after, fine. But if you want to see how out of touch he got during this period, I point you to one "Student Demonstration Time".

Total bs as far as I'm concerned. Student Demonstration Time got the band back on the radio. I'm talking FM here. And not just any FM, WMMS in Cleveland and KSHE in Saint Louis. Standard barrers in true rock radio at the time. I speak from experience, not books. Without the early release of SDT, Surf's Up wouldn't have been such a game-changer. I guess you had to be there. Were you?

I'm not against it being recorded, but it deserves no spot on the SU album if one views what else might've taken its place. As a standalone single I have no issue with it.

[Smilin Ed H]

Pacific Ocean Blues is the best song on that album hands down. And considering that musically, it's just the blues progression, Mike singlehandedly wrote that song.

So Mike singlehandedly wrote the best song on POB?  Thanks be to the Lovester for the best solo album in BB history. You really talk some horseshit at times.

[runnersdialzero]

Yeah Aegir. So much horse sh*t.

[filledeplage]

Wild Honey was the last booze/pot album. If you want to say Mike had some moments here and there after, fine. But if you want to see how out of touch he got during this period, I point you to one "Student Demonstration Time".

Total bs as far as I'm concerned. Student Demonstration Time got the band back on the radio. I'm talking FM here. And not just any FM, WMMS in Cleveland and KSHE in Saint Louis. Standard barrers in true rock radio at the time. I speak from experience, not books. Without the early release of SDT, Surf's Up wouldn't have been such a game-changer. I guess you had to be there. Were you?

Dave in KC - You got that right!!! You had to be there!  

[AndrewHickey]

Pacific Ocean Blues is the best song on that album hands down. And considering that musically, it's just the blues progression, Mike singlehandedly wrote that song.

The chord changes are more or less standard blues changes, yes (apart from the penultimate chord, where rather than moving to a G as you'd normally expect, the chord stays on A but with a C# in the bass, but that's not exactly an unknown variant either). But the melodic phrasing is all over the place in that song, crossing bar lines all over the place.
If Mike wrote the melody as well, to the backing track, then he's responsible for everything good about that song. If he wrote the lyrics to Dennis' melody, then while the melody is ninety percent of what makes the track good, the fact that he managed to write such natural-sounding lyrics to a melody which has such odd phrasing is *staggeringly* impressive, even if the odd line is a bit clunky. And if Dennis wrote the music to Mike's pre-written lyrics, then Dennis deserves all the credit, because taken without the music those lyrics are both unimpressive and quite hard to write a melody around.

Does anyone know exactly what Mike and Dennis' working method was on the few collaborations they had?
(Also, does anyone else wish Mike and Dennis had written together more? Sound Of Free, Only With You and Pacific Ocean Blues is a pretty good hit rate given they were their only collaborations as far as I know.)

[Smilin Ed H]

And it's not the best song on the album.

[BergenWhitesMoustache]

Pacific Ocean Blues is the best song on that album hands down. And considering that musically, it's just the blues progression, Mike singlehandedly wrote that song.

I like how this is presented as fact rather than opinion.

Perheps it should be engraved in rock somewhere.

[Gertie J.]

And it's not the best song on the album.

yeah that was a clunky choice.