NEW AND IMPROVED LYRICS

[Tab Lloyd]

I'm not a 'Mike basher'...just like Nixon wasn't 'a crook'....but wouldn't it be nice to see new lyrics for some of the great BB songs? I know this idea borders on sacrelige , but I feel that in some cases great songs suffer from lame lyrics. Sure, Mike had his groovy moments (Warmth of the Sun, Calif. Girls, GV, etc.) where he totally nails the spirit of the song, but I say it's time to stir up the copyrights and create some new/old classics. It takes a bit of de-programming to even consider alternatives to something you've heard a gazillion times, but I would like to know if anyone feels the same about any of the songs? My first inspiration for new treatment would be a non-Mike lyric, DWB, an awesome song about true love: between man and car. This is Brian at his best and he pulls it off despite the insipid words...imagine if the lyrics were equally inspired. Any other suggestions?

[Andrew G. Doe]

I'm not a 'Mike basher'...just like Nixon wasn't 'a crook'....but wouldn't it be nice to see new lyrics for some of the great BB songs? I know this idea borders on sacrelige , but I feel that in some cases great songs suffer from lame lyrics. Sure, Mike had his groovy moments (Warmth of the Sun, Calif. Girls, GV, etc.) where he totally nails the spirit of the song, but I say it's time to stir up the copyrights and create some new/old classics. It takes a bit of de-programming to even consider alternatives to something you've heard a gazillion times, but I would like to know if anyone feels the same about any of the songs? My first inspiration for new treatment would be a non-Mike lyric, DWB, an awesome song about true love: between man and car. This is Brian at his best and he pulls it off despite the insipid words...imagine if the lyrics were equally inspired. Any other suggestions?

Been done already, back in the early seventies.

[Cabinessenceking]

DWB is not about the love between a man and his car...
As BB songs go I think DWB is a very fine example of solid, suitable lyrics.

MIU could have some rewriting though ^^

[phirnis]

The original lyrics are all totally inspired and timeless with only very few exceptions before 1978. Personally I can't relate to most of the car stuff (and I don't mean DWB) but that's just me.

[RiC]

DWB is not about the love between a man and his car...
As BB songs go I think DWB is a very fine example of solid, suitable lyrics.

MIU could have some rewriting though ^^

Yep, Don't Worry Baby is pretty much a perfect song. I don't think it's about cars at all.

[Cyncie]

DWB is not about the love between a man and his car...
As BB songs go I think DWB is a very fine example of solid, suitable lyrics.

MIU could have some rewriting though ^^

Yep, Don't Worry Baby is pretty much a perfect song. I don't think it's about cars at all.

Yeah, Don't Worry Baby is great. It's a love song that just happens to have a drag race as the setting. Now, if someone wanted to write new lyrics to "Be True To Your School," I wouldn't object.

[rab2591]

DWB is not about the love between a man and his car...
As BB songs go I think DWB is a very fine example of solid, suitable lyrics.

MIU could have some rewriting though ^^

Yep, Don't Worry Baby is pretty much a perfect song. I don't think it's about cars at all.

Agreed. In Catch A Wave, Carlin describes DWB as being more about Brian's own state of mind rather than about a drag race. He explains that it's more about Brian's fears, Brian's lack of control, etc.

[sockittome]

Yeah, nobody cares about cars or surfing anymore.  Let's update all those moldy old tunes!   

[pixletwin]

Don't Worry Baby about a man's love for a car? Sorry if I sound rude, but have you ever paid attention to the song?

It's about an insecure guy filled with anxieties who's girl is able to bring him confidence and peace of mind. That's is what DWB is about. Wouldn't change a single lyric.

Ballad of Ol' Betsy is about the love between a guy and his first car. I don't find those lyrics insipid either.

[Mikie]

Who's Tab Lloyd?

[Disney Boy (1985)]

I've got precisely zero problem with any of the lyrics to their surf or car songs, and I say this as someone who has no interest whatsoever in either surfing or cars. Who cares about the words when they're sung so brilliantly and set to such timeless, perfect melodies? Some fans are never bloody pleased...

[RiC]

I can think of only three Beach Boys tunes which lyrics I'd change/erase anyday: Be True to Your School (entire song), The Little Girl I Once Knew and Endless Harmony (entire song).

"
We met when she was younger
Then I had no eyes for her
A few years went by and I saw her
Now I'm gonna try for her

Look out babe
"
Ugh...

[rab2591]

I've got precisely zero problem with any of the lyrics to their surf or car songs, and I say this as someone who has no interest whatsoever in either surfing or cars. Who cares about the words when they're sung so brilliantly and set to such timeless, perfect melodies? Some fans are never bloody pleased...

Cherry Cherry Coupe is one of my favorite Beach Boys songs - yet I have no fucking clue what is being talked about in the song. This is why Brian Wilson is a genius: He made the words "Door handles are off but you know I'll never miss 'em They open when I want with the "Cellunoid" system" sound like a prayer.

If anything, meaningful lyrics would actually distract me too much from those harmonies

[Andrew G. Doe]

Suggest you check the composer credits for "Cherry Cherry Coupe"...

[Andrew G. Doe]

Who's Tab Lloyd?

A person of little to no importance...

Like all of us here.

[zachrwolfe]

‍

[rab2591]

Suggest you check the composer credits for "Cherry Cherry Coupe"...

I was talking about the melody Brian wrote for the words - not the words themselves.

[halblaineisgood]

.

[retrokid67]

I can think of only three Beach Boys tunes which lyrics I'd change/erase anyday: Be True to Your School (entire song), The Little Girl I Once Knew and Endless Harmony (entire song).

"
We met when she was younger
Then I had no eyes for her
A few years went by and I saw her
Now I'm gonna try for her

Look out babe
"
Ugh...

I've always disliked that song too  . o well

[Jon Stebbins]

I've always felt the drag racing element of Don't Worry Baby is absolutely sincere and moving. Anyone who grew up in the 60's/70's and was heavily involved in the hot rod/muscle car culture will know that street racing/drag racing was a very scary and dangerous part of the lifestyle. Many people, including several of my close friends, died racing their cars, some came away with serious and lifelong injuries. It was an intense and frightening (and exhilarating) part of our lives, and i think the race scene in American Graffiti might be one of the best at showing what it was really like. Emotion and bravado often drove these challenges to a point where the individuals really were putting their lives at risk by accepting the challenge. In Don't Worry Baby I've always felt that the lyric absolutely nails that scenario where your mouth and your machismo ends up putting you in a scary situation. Brian (or Roger Christian) relates this so poignantly in Don't Worry Baby, and the guy who will be risking his life reveals his fear to his lover, this is intimacy in the most heartfelt way...admitting fear. And the girl, knowing the guy cannot back down, cannot bail on the race, because in that culture if you did "chicken out" it would result in a fate that was in a way worse than risking your life. So we showed up, and we drove our cars 100 mph, and sometimes they rolled, and sometimes they spun out and slammed into a tree, and people died, and sometimes lived and came away crippled. I lived this. I got lucky and came away unscathed, but as i said several friends did not. To me that is what Don't Worry Baby is about. It's about blustering your way into a challenge, accepting it even though way down inside you're scared shitless, and then sharing that SECRET fear with someone who loves you, and who comforts you, and is probably just as scared as you are...but knows you need her love...so you can take it along with you as you tempt fate, even against your better judgment, because that is the world you live in. God I love that song so much.

[drbeachboy]

I've always felt the drag racing element of Don't Worry Baby is absolutely sincere and moving. Anyone who grew up in the 60's/70's and was heavily involved in the hot rod/muscle car culture will know that street racing/drag racing was a very scary and dangerous part of the lifestyle. Many people, including several of my close friends, died racing their cars, some came away with serious and lifelong injuries. It was an intense and frightening (and exhilarating) part of our lives, and i think the race scene in American Graffiti might be one of the best at showing what it was really like. Emotion and bravado often drove these challenges to a point where the individuals really were putting their lives at risk by accepting the challenge. In Don't Worry Baby I've always felt that the lyric absolutely nails that scenario where your mouth and your machismo ends up putting you in a scary situation. Brian (or Roger Christian) relates this so poignantly in Don't Worry Baby, and the guy who will be risking his life reveals his fear to his lover, this is intimacy in the most heartfelt way...admitting fear. And the girl, knowing the guy cannot back down, cannot bail on the race, because in that culture if you did "chicken out" it would result in a fate that was in a way worse than risking your life. So we showed up, and we drove our cars 100 mph, and sometimes they rolled, and sometimes they spun out and slammed into a tree, and people died, and sometimes lived and came away crippled. I lived this. I got lucky and came away unscathed, but as i said several friends did not. To me that is what Don't Worry Baby is about. It's about blustering your way into a challenge, accepting it even though way down inside you're scared shitless, and then sharing that SECRET fear with someone who loves you, and who comforts you, and is probably just as scared as you are...but knows you need her love...so you can take it along with you as you tempt fate, even against your better judgment, because that is the world you live in. God I love that song so much.

Terrific post, Jon. Being a teenager and living in Arizona, that racing culture is just as you say.

[Cyncie]

I've always felt the drag racing element of Don't Worry Baby is absolutely sincere and moving. Anyone who grew up in the 60's/70's and was heavily involved in the hot rod/muscle car culture will know that street racing/drag racing was a very scary and dangerous part of the lifestyle. Many people, including several of my close friends, died racing their cars, some came away with serious and lifelong injuries. It was an intense and frightening (and exhilarating) part of our lives, and i think the race scene in American Graffiti might be one of the best at showing what it was really like. Emotion and bravado often drove these challenges to a point where the individuals really were putting their lives at risk by accepting the challenge. In Don't Worry Baby I've always felt that the lyric absolutely nails that scenario where your mouth and your machismo ends up putting you in a scary situation. Brian (or Roger Christian) relates this so poignantly in Don't Worry Baby, and the guy who will be risking his life reveals his fear to his lover, this is intimacy in the most heartfelt way...admitting fear. And the girl, knowing the guy cannot back down, cannot bail on the race, because in that culture if you did "chicken out" it would result in a fate that was in a way worse than risking your life. So we showed up, and we drove our cars 100 mph, and sometimes they rolled, and sometimes they spun out and slammed into a tree, and people died, and sometimes lived and came away crippled. I lived this. I got lucky and came away unscathed, but as i said several friends did not. To me that is what Don't Worry Baby is about. It's about blustering your way into a challenge, accepting it even though way down inside you're scared shitless, and then sharing that SECRET fear with someone who loves you, and who comforts you, and is probably just as scared as you are...but knows you need her love...so you can take it along with you as you tempt fate, even against your better judgment, because that is the world you live in. God I love that song so much.

You know, I have always wondered why people have such a hard time with the surfing and car songs. These were real elements of youth culture at the time, and writing about them wasn't just a matter of shallowness.  Even when I was growing up in the 70's, cruising the drive in was a popular past time for American teens in small towns. It was a part of the core of the teenage social landscape, and the car was the means to youthful independence and freedom. I realize that this might not be as personally relevant to people growing up in metropolitan areas, and may not resonate at all with European fans who had different rites of passage. But I think it's wrong to dismiss those early songs as trivial, when they were  really an insight into American youth culture in the 50's and 60's, and even to some extent, beyond. Those early songs recall the fears and joys of our youth. There was plenty of time to become serious and cynical.

I've made no secret of the fact that I love the sun and surf songs just as much as I love the serious, artsy ones. You don't have to be a teenaged surfer to feel the exhilaration of a day at the beach as expressed in "Surfin' USA". And, as much as I love Pet Sounds, SMiLE and everything that came after, when I drop the top on the convertible on a perfect summer day, it's "Fun, Fun, Fun," blaring from my stereo, not "Til I Die."

[RiC]

Look out babe
"
Ugh...

Yeah, you should be repulsed. That's by design. The guy who says look out babe who thinks he's dealing with a little girl he once knew should gross you out,  it turns out she's not the little girl he once knew, and it was wrong of him to be all confident like that , sayin' what he said. Can you dig it?

I understand what the song is about, I just find the lyrics dull and stupid. When I hear the fifth millionth time "SHE'S NOT THE LITTLE GIRL I ONCE KNEW!", I'd like to shout back: OH, REALLY? I kinda figured that out already. Anyway, I find the composition amazing and it's just so wrong that the bad lyrics destroy the whole song. Well actually not the whole song, the instrumental break is awesome.

[Mikie]

You know, I have always wondered why people have such a hard time with the surfing and car songs.

Who's got a hard time with the surfing * and car songs, especially back in the early 60's?  I can't remember ever having met someone who didn't like those songs. That's really what The Beach Boys are known for.

* With exception to Mackenzie Phillips

[CenturyDeprived]

I'm not a 'Mike basher'...just like Nixon wasn't 'a crook'....but wouldn't it be nice to see new lyrics for some of the great BB songs? I know this idea borders on sacrelige , but I feel that in some cases great songs suffer from lame lyrics. Sure, Mike had his groovy moments (Warmth of the Sun, Calif. Girls, GV, etc.) where he totally nails the spirit of the song, but I say it's time to stir up the copyrights and create some new/old classics. It takes a bit of de-programming to even consider alternatives to something you've heard a gazillion times, but I would like to know if anyone feels the same about any of the songs? My first inspiration for new treatment would be a non-Mike lyric, DWB, an awesome song about true love: between man and car. This is Brian at his best and he pulls it off despite the insipid words...imagine if the lyrics were equally inspired. Any other suggestions?

Been done already, back in the early seventies.

What do we know about the early 70s attempted lyric revisions to older songs? How far did this go? I remember reading a brief blurb about that in passing at some point, but not much details were given. I'm guessing this was right around the aborted name change idea to "Beach"?