Why Brian Dumped Mike: Exhibit A, "California Girls"

[Bill Ed]

Funny, but I never realized how bad the Wendy lyrics were until you just pointed it out. "I never thought a guy could cry 'til you made it with another guy." Hmm. Even "I never thought I could cry 'til you made it with another guy" would have been better.

Yep. That's the change I would have made too I wonder if that was Mike being a tough guy and not wanting to admit to himself (as "I" would have done) as capable of crying, instead making it about a different "guy" character who cries.

I think it's reflecting the times. Certainly when I was growing up a guy was NEVER supposed to cry. It was a sign of weakness. Even if you got punched in the gut, you sucked it up and held back the tears lest anyone think you were a wuss. We live I'm a different world now obviously (well, most of us do anyway). "I never thought that I could cry" is fine but it doesn't quite have the same false bravado.

I've always loved how the organ is so loud and piercing that it distorts. It actually conveys the pain of lost love very effectively.

Yet Brian talked about personally ("I") wanting to cry on a lyric just one year later, so there ya go; the bravo/bravado-less difference between Mike's lyrics and Brian's (via Asher) in a nutshell. Mike made a trade-off of having the lyric be far more clunky to avoid the shame of letting himself seem vulnerable in the song. 

Too bad there's not a Wendy lyric about coughing that could tie in to the cough later in the song ("I never thought a guy could cough / in '95 I"ll be Baywatchin' with the Hoff")

It's " . . break my heart I want to go and cry . ." I think the word "want" is used advisedly. I remember a video in which Brian tells Carnie not to cry on television.

The singer in Wendy is actually moved to tears.

I love the lyrics to both songs and don't give a thought to who wrote them.

[guitarfool2002]

Ultimately I think California Girls is a brilliant record, a standout both for Brian as producer/writer and standing among the best of the 60's rock in general. The lyrics are terrific, I think. I'll give a 5-minute mini review/analysis short of a dissertation.

I'm a music guy first and foremost. If the sound and the groove doesn't click with me, I move on. The words of a song to me are icing on the cake. If the cake is stale and lopsided, it could have the most beautiful icing and decorations and I wouldn't care. Likewise, the cake itself has to be great no matter how good the decorations are. I like many, many records based solely on the music and groove, I couldn't recite the lyrics if I had to in some cases but I know the music on that record inside and out.

Having said that, the lyrics on California Girls are terrific - They tell a story with a full narrative, a beginning and end, a case made and a point stated. The narrator states his case and each couplet leading to the payoff line in the chorus/hook lists his reasons and logic. It's a celebration of the girls from his home state, without taking shots at any other region...in fact, he celebrates the girls of each region in a positive way before coming back to the hook: But the California Girls are still the best in the world. Does he say why they are the best, is it beauty or demeanor or any number of factors? No - and the intelligence of that is he knows yet lets the people listening fill in the reasons why. Yet at the end of the song, the listeners have heard a strong case made and no one was knocked down or insulted in doing so. Rather, it's a celebratory narrative, it's a happy narrative.

Some of the individual lines flow perfectly with the phrasing and delivery generated by the rhythm of the melody. Lines like "I've been all around this great big world, and I've seen all kinds of girls...", the rhythm of that rolls off the tongue and sits perfectly with the notes and groove. That is top-notch songwriting and delivery.

Onto the music.

This is Brian's early attempt at doing what he would crystallize with Good Vibrations, a "pocket symphony" on a 3 minute 45rpm record. The intro is an overture, a clarion call to the listener - A symphonic technique dating back several hundred years and brought into popular music with Louis Armstrong defining swing on his overture from "West End Blues". It's a musical slam-dunk of a statement that is majestic enough to grab your attention, yet until the last ritardando before the organ groove, it has little or nothing musically on paper to do with the material soon to follow. Yet, it gives a hint at what is to come. Teases of some musical themes, hints of some swirling melodic material to follow, a brief curtain being pulled back moment where the anticipation builds. In truth, the intro/overture nearly threatens to outshine the body of the song itself, but it somehow does not. It sets up an infectious shuffle pattern played by the organ.

And that shuffle...Did Brian on California Girls reinvent the shuffle and all that was possible in that oft-used rhythm pattern? Brian isn't doing blues, he's not doing R&B...yet the characteristic rhythm of those genres is front and center. It's not a slow-blues shuffle, it's not a fast shuffle.

It sits right in between, tempo-wise. It's...dare I say..."laid back". It's a California shuffle. Not a trace of anything from the blues. Not a jazz swing or jump R&B. It feels and sounds like you're in California on the beach. Laid back. This overall feel in the music is perhaps more true to the environment which created it than the examples all kinds of rock critics and historians use, that SoCal country rock, singer songwriter feel in the post-acid early 70's that was all over pop culture. Brian's laid back, steady rolling rhythm feels like California. He played a medium/slow, non-blues shuffle and wore the fact that there are no elements of blues on his sleeve. He created an aura, brought home by the hook in the lyrics repeating "California". Genius.

The seeds of Pet Sounds and Good Vibrations, as well as later elements from Smile, are in this production and songwriting. Period. From his Spector-ism of shifting chords and keys in the hook, under the melody as he heard on Be My Baby, to the drop-outs, dramatic pauses, and solo organ break before the climax, it's all here in nascent form, while still being masterfully done.

And that climax - Just when you think you know what you'll be hearing, ol' Brian twists the ending chord progression by tweaking *one chord* to make it different. The 1967 Hawaii/Wally Heider outtro/tag is even more emotional and surprising, but the 1965 original still packs that radio-ready punch as it fades out with that new chord showing up to keep the water boiling until the DJ talks up the next spin.

A brilliant record.

And I always come back to this realization, like a bucket of ice water being thrown in your face on a cold January morning as you're walking out the front door:

The man who created the music, texture, harmony, and groove of this majestic recording was in his early 20's and only had one functioning ear to hear the results.

Natural-born talent beyond compare.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Brilliantly stated!

[clack]

The lyrics of California Girls are an inventive variation on Chuck Berry's Sweet Little Sixteen. It's a travel guide song, like Dancin' in the Streets, or indeed Surfin' USA. Songs that use a single focal point (dancing, surfing, or appreciating attractive girls) as a hook to give the listener a quick spin through various locations.

Some of Mike's best lyrics were Berry-inspired (Fun Fun Fun, I Get Around).

[GhostyTMRS]

GF nails it.

[RangeRoverA1]

Fantastic post, guitarfool! This is  >> Some of the individual lines flow perfectly with the phrasing and delivery generated by the rhythm of the melody. Lines like "I've been all around this great big world, and I've seen all kinds of girls...", the rhythm of that rolls off the tongue and sits perfectly with the notes and groove. That is top-notch songwriting and delivery. <<  especially true. The words matter to me only from that p.o.v.

[KDS]

I'm siding with Guitarfool on this one. 

Honestly, of all things to pick on Mike Love for, California Girls?  I think Mike has made a lot of positive contributions.  And I think there's a lot that you can poke at Mike about (particularly post Endless Summer).  But, really, California Girls? 

[thorgil]

Up to GuitarFool's great latest post, I was really angry at this thread. I mean, how can you take a pure expression of joy like California Girls, and demean it in that way with politics, both in the smaller Beach Boys context (Brian vs Mike, yet again, and I have been guilty of contributing to that, albeit with a very small post) and in the bigger context ("political correctness", about which the only thing I have gathered is that there are several distinct sets of rules, extremely strict for poor Mike in 1965, so-so for other pop lyricists, extremely lenient for hip-hoppers in 2016, etc.).
Then came GF's post, and stars re-aligned, a spark of hope lit up in the darkness, and the iron grip of Chaos did not seem the only force in the Universe.
Thanks Craig!

[Rick5150]

The early BB's songs are very well remembered because they created a feeling that resonated with folks when people needed to feel good. When I listen to the early Beach Boys, I hear catchy tunes that bring me to a place where daydreams are made. I don't have a hot rod, and I have never surfed, but I want to, even if only for the duration of the song. I did not dissect the lyrics until I was much older - I just enjoyed them for the way they flowed with the feel of the songs.

The California Girls intro is majestic, then it fades slightly before the cowboy bass line and the carnival organ create a new sound where Mike lyrics helped created the California Dream. All of the early stuff did. "What makes the girls there so special? I want to go there...." I wanted to go - not for the girls, but for the experience of being where the Beach Boys wrote about and seeing what the big deal was. There was no internet, so you formed your opinion by what you heard on the radio and on television. Of course, when I finally got to visit Hawthorne, the graffiti and free clinics kind of put the kibosh on my vision of what the Beach Boys sang about, but things change.
 
Brian chooses writers/co-writers that help him paint a picture so he can communicate with us.  Mike did that exceptionally well for many hits. Brian Wilson and his various writers/co-writers somehow get into my head. It feels like the songs are about my personal experiences and I know exactly what they are singing about. No other musician has done that.

[B.E.]

Great post, GF! I really enjoyed it. The only thing we differ on is the interpretation of the lyrics.

The narrator states his case and each couplet leading to the payoff line in the chorus/hook lists his reasons and logic. It's a celebration of the girls from his home state, without taking shots at any other region...in fact, he celebrates the girls of each region in a positive way before coming back to the hook: But the California Girls are still the best in the world. Does he say why they are the best, is it beauty or demeanor or any number of factors? No - and the intelligence of that is he knows yet lets the people listening fill in the reasons why. Yet at the end of the song, the listeners have heard a strong case made and no one was knocked down or insulted in doing so. Rather, it's a celebratory narrative, it's a happy narrative.

Simply put, I believe the song is a celebration of American girls. He does (gently) slight foreigners (they aren't as cute). To me, he's including them all (eastern, southern, northern, mid-western, western, and Hawaiian girls) in the California dream. He wishes they could all come back with him to California and, collectively, be California girls. Then he sings about having been all around the world, but that he can't wait to get back to the states. That's just my interpretation. A literal one, no doubt. My motivation for posting this was to discuss the terrific lyrics of this song! Like you and Billy and many others here, lyrics are more-or-less secondary to me. It takes quite a bit for the lyrics of a song to distract me from the music. California Girls, Wendy, and other songs mentioned in this thread seem perfectly fine (if not terrific) to me.

[B.E.]

Funny, but I never realized how bad the Wendy lyrics were until you just pointed it out. "I never thought a guy could cry 'til you made it with another guy." Hmm. Even "I never thought I could cry 'til you made it with another guy" would have been better.

Yep. That's the change I would have made too I wonder if that was Mike being a tough guy and not wanting to admit to himself (as "I" would have done) as capable of crying, instead making it about a different "guy" character who cries.

I think it's reflecting the times. Certainly when I was growing up a guy was NEVER supposed to cry. It was a sign of weakness. Even if you got punched in the gut, you sucked it up and held back the tears lest anyone think you were a wuss. We live I'm a different world now obviously (well, most of us do anyway). "I never thought that I could cry" is fine but it doesn't quite have the same false bravado.

I've always loved how the organ is so loud and piercing that it distorts. It actually conveys the pain of lost love very effectively.

Yet Brian talked about personally ("I") wanting to cry on a lyric just one year later, so there ya go; the bravo/bravado-less difference between Mike's lyrics and Brian's (via Asher) in a nutshell. Mike made a trade-off of having the lyric be far more clunky to avoid the shame of letting himself seem vulnerable in the song.  

Too bad there's not a Wendy lyric about coughing that could tie in to the cough later in the song ("I never thought a guy could cough / in '95 I"ll be Baywatchin' with the Hoff")

It's " . . break my heart I want to go and cry . ." I think the word "want" is used advisedly. I remember a video in which Brian tells Carnie not to cry on television.

The singer in Wendy is actually moved to tears.

I love the lyrics to both songs and don't give a thought to who wrote them.

Great point Bill Ed! and to GhostyTMRS's point, it reflects the world they grew up in. CenturyDeprived, you made a fine point about the guy/cry/guy rhyme. And it's perfectly legitimate if that distracts you from enjoying the song completely. For me, as the lyrics are of secondary importance, it doesn't bother me. Furthermore, I tend to give lyricists of popular music great leeway because the 'art' form is limiting. There's only so many ways to say what you want to say and have it rhyme or flow naturally, especially if you are more interested in direct lyrics (think Plastic Ono Band Lennon as opposed to psychedelic Lennon). To that end, I think you're making a mistake of dismissing Mike's (false) bravado lyrics in relation to Brian's (Asher's) bravado-less lyrics. They each have merit, is what I'm trying to say.

Now that you inspired me to look more closely at Wendy, I actually appreciate it more. I always just assumed that Mike was talking about himself when he said "I never thought a guy could cry", and he is, but to GhostyTMRS's point, again, he tells you more about himself than if he had just said "I" from the start. The way the song begins (and is mostly sung) in group harmony, it denies the listener the ability to assign the narration to a particular voice. So it begs the questions, "whose girl was Wendy?" Then Mike sings (alone) "I never thought a guy could cry, 'til you made it with another guy", then later he sings, "I can't picture you with him, his future looks awful dim". Have you considered, at this point, he could be a hurt, frustrated friend commenting on the situation? There's at least that ambiguity. Then, with his final line he admits, "The farthest thing from my mind, was the day I'd wake up to find". Now, definitively, we find Wendy left him (Mike) and the group immediately sings "My Wendy left me alone" which, to me, underscores that the entire song (Mike's lines and the group lines) was indeed written from his perspective.

[The Old Master Painter]

Accidental post

[joshferrell]

Accidental post

This is the best, most amazing post, I have seen on here in a long while...

[Lee Marshall]

Sorry G.F.  I disagree.  While the lyrics tell a story...it's a way too simplistic story told from the point of view of someone in grade 8 or 9...MAX.  I doubt that very many women find it to be "all that".  It's like the 'Dick and Jane/See Spot run' story being set to Beethoven's 5th...after drinking a 5th.  The original premise is valid.

[guitarfool2002]

Sorry G.F.  I disagree.  While the lyrics tell a story...it's a way too simplistic story told from the point of view of someone in grade 8 or 9...MAX.  I doubt that very many women find it to be "all that".  It's like the 'Dick and Jane/See Spot run' story being set to Beethoven's 5th...after drinking a 5th.  The original premise is valid.

No worries, for me I was hooked by the sound of that intro, the infectious groove, and the music itself that they could have sung the phone book as lyrics and I would have listened! But the lyrics set out to make a point, and they do - For what they are, they went into making a good record. It also goes back to the mid-60's, the whole music scene and the way rock was going beyond where it had been in a variety of ways. If a band like The BB's were trying to go beyond where they had been, then the lyrics of this kind would not have fit on later efforts, and fortunately they didn't try throughout '66. Yet you had records like "Hanky Panky" still hitting the charts, a great record no doubt, but it isn't anywhere near high lyric art. It's just a catchy record with a great sound and groove. Same with other favorites of mine like "Liar Liar" by the Castaways, the lyrics I couldn't even recite beyond the hook, but man I freakin' love the sound of that record. I could care less what he's singing about, lol. But if the lyrics happen to be a decent job of telling a story, that's more icing on the cake.

[Lee Marshall]

I doubt many here think that the record sucks.  The original concept put forward was that the lyrics weren't nearly as advanced as the music was and is.  Brian was reaching for heights which Love failed and would continue to fail to acknowledge with his high-school word play.  It was like a full orchestra providing a musical backdrop for a one trick pony.

These days a ton of people complain that all the Top 30 songs deal with, primarily, are the concepts of love and relationships...with a tinge of 'attitude'.  Same old/same OLD.  That was Mike...and his subject matter.  Still is.  Even if he did it 'well'...his limitations were front and centre.  Brian's limitations were... ... ...Mike... ... ...and health.

[guitarfool2002]

I can't help but think of "Hello Goodbye" at this point. First, I love that record because it sounds amazing, it's catchy, and I could listen to Ringo's drumming on that song all day. But - The lyrics are a nursery rhyme. Nothing there of substance at all, just rhyming couplets that lead to the payoff which is actually the melody working over the chords and groove.

But...consider this single was dropped by the one band who was the face of the literate rock movement, the band who had a few months prior dropped what many called **the** literary rock album of that time Sgt Pepper...and here they were putting out Hello Goodbye which has the most simple lyrics, yet it became a smash hit the same year as Pepper, Strawberry Fields/Penny Lane, etc.

And on the Capitol flip side was I Am The Walrus, which was Lennon's literary Lewis Carroll fantasy sugar-cube lyrics on full display sung through a distorted preamp so Lennon could sound as if he were singing from the moon. Such was the time when all of this would coexist. "You say yes, I say no, you say stop, I say go"...."Yellow matter custard dripping from a dead dog's eye, Crabalocker fishwife, pornographic priestess, boy, you've been a naughty girl you let your knickers down" available on 45rpm at Woolworth's music dept for 79 cents.

[KDS]

I can't help but think of "Hello Goodbye" at this point. First, I love that record because it sounds amazing, it's catchy, and I could listen to Ringo's drumming on that song all day. But - The lyrics are a nursery rhyme. Nothing there of substance at all, just rhyming couplets that lead to the payoff which is actually the melody working over the chords and groove.

But...consider this single was dropped by the one band who was the face of the literate rock movement, the band who had a few months prior dropped what many called **the** literary rock album of that time Sgt Pepper...and here they were putting out Hello Goodbye which has the most simple lyrics, yet it became a smash hit the same year as Pepper, Strawberry Fields/Penny Lane, etc.

And on the Capitol flip side was I Am The Walrus, which was Lennon's literary Lewis Carroll fantasy sugar-cube lyrics on full display sung through a distorted preamp so Lennon could sound as if he were singing from the moon. Such was the time when all of this would coexist. "You say yes, I say no, you say stop, I say go"...."Yellow matter custard dripping from a dead dog's eye, Crabalocker fishwife, pornographic priestess, boy, you've been a naughty girl you let your knickers down" available on 45rpm at Woolworth's music dept for 79 cents.

Sometimes in rock / pop, simple works.  Paul McCartney is one of the finest examples.  Many of his lyrics are simple, and at times repetitive, but the songs are fantastic. 

California Girls is one of many 1960s examples of where Mike's phrasing and lyrics worked perfectly with Brian Wilson's arrangements.  I get that many don't think too highly of Mike Love as a person, but let's give credit where credit is due.  Brian does.

[Lee Marshall]

But...Paul then didn't continuously come up with different ways to keep on keepin' on with a never ending Hello Goodbye motif.  For him...Go Go Go meant move on.

[guitarfool2002]

But...Paul then didn't continuously come up with different ways to keep on keepin' on with a never ending Hello Goodbye motif.  For him...Go Go Go meant move on.

I agree. My Hello Goodbye/I Am The Walrus example was to show how so many facets of songwriting and theme could and did coexist, but there has to be that diversity or else it becomes almost a parody. Which, dare I say, too many of Mike's songwriting and lyric efforts in the four decades after the 60's would become. The concept of the endless summer could be a curio but not something to keep beating into the ground, and it sure as hell didn't work with synths and drum machines replacing a roomful of musicians packed into Western 3 or Gold Star.

[KDS]

But...Paul then didn't continuously come up with different ways to keep on keepin' on with a never ending Hello Goodbye motif.  For him...Go Go Go meant move on.

This is true, but you have to admit, in the 60s, it worked. 

Like I said, there's a lot of post Endless Summer stuff from Mike that you can throw stones at. 

[SMiLE Brian]

The concept of the endless summer could be a curio but not something to keep beating into the ground, and it sure as hell didn't work with synths and drum machines replacing a roomful of musicians packed into Western 3 or Gold Star.

Mike's problems with trying to recreate the never could be recreated mastery of California Girls in a nutshell. The vibe of the 1960s and youthful joy of the BBs were came together with BW's growing mastery in one song.

[guitarfool2002]

It really does become a parody to try chasing the past, it can feel like a guy in his mid-40's going back to his old high school carrying a football and telling the kids "I was the quarterback for the Cougars when we won the state title...", and the kids could care less.

Case in point, this was a Mike Love/Adrian Baker release from '83, "Let's Party", the flip side to Jingle Bell Rock. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwHkmuU-MsM

Never mind the sound of this production, but one of the first lyrics has the line "It's time to party now and have some fun, put down your school books, your work away, we'll have a party if you wanna play...". At some point you do have to move on, and having a guy in his 40's saying put down your school books and party becomes pure parody. It just doesn't work unless it is done up as high camp or satire, and I don't get any of that vibe from these songs because Mike kept cranking them out with similar themes.

In 1983, did someone seriously think a record like this would go anywhere?

[SMiLE Brian]

Agreed, those songs reek of a older man out of ideas trying to recreate the success of youth without the inspiration.

[Amy B.]

I can't help but think of "Hello Goodbye" at this point. First, I love that record because it sounds amazing, it's catchy, and I could listen to Ringo's drumming on that song all day. But - The lyrics are a nursery rhyme. Nothing there of substance at all, just rhyming couplets that lead to the payoff which is actually the melody working over the chords and groove.

But...consider this single was dropped by the one band who was the face of the literate rock movement, the band who had a few months prior dropped what many called **the** literary rock album of that time Sgt Pepper...and here they were putting out Hello Goodbye which has the most simple lyrics, yet it became a smash hit the same year as Pepper, Strawberry Fields/Penny Lane, etc.

And on the Capitol flip side was I Am The Walrus, which was Lennon's literary Lewis Carroll fantasy sugar-cube lyrics on full display sung through a distorted preamp so Lennon could sound as if he were singing from the moon. Such was the time when all of this would coexist. "You say yes, I say no, you say stop, I say go"...."Yellow matter custard dripping from a dead dog's eye, Crabalocker fishwife, pornographic priestess, boy, you've been a naughty girl you let your knickers down" available on 45rpm at Woolworth's music dept for 79 cents.

Hello Goodbye is kind of inane when you take it at its surface. However, I feel like it could be interpreted as a metaphor for hope and youth, and in the 60s, that meant a lot. (I wasn't there, but...) I could see a teenager agreeing with the "You say stop and I say go, go, go..." in regards to their parents or the older generation in general. That's how I interpreted the song, even if McCartney didn't intend it that way. So in that sense, it seemed more sophisticated than "Well East Coast girls are hip, I really dig the styles they wear..." And I have no problem with the California Girls lyrics. It's just , as you say, that it was clear that this was as far as Mike Love could go in terms of sophistication.