Surfs Up - "Bygone" or "My God"

[ericxplackis]

 

 Every lyrics website has it listed differently.

I swear it's Bygone but it's hard to tell  

[jiggy22]

Or is it "By God"? 

But seriously, listen to the A Cappella version, it's definitely "bygone".

[pixletwin]

I seem to remember Desper saying it is "Bygone, By God" (sung) and "Michael, Michael" (whispered).

[zachrwolfe]

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[Dove Nested Towers]

Also never been clear (to me at least) whether this was an unrecorded Smile-era lyric from Van Dyke or a '71 addition.

[Willy Wilson]

According to Van Dyke (I asked him) it's "bygone, bygone".

[Dove Nested Towers]

Probably written in '66 but just never recorded, or maybe it was included in lost vocal sessions.

[Stephen W. Desper]

 Every lyrics website has it listed differently.

I swear it's Bygone but it's hard to tell  

COMMENT to ericxplackis:

Here is a quote from my book Recording The Beach Boys -- Part Two  (soon to be out) -- and should answer your question.

"Carl sings using a Neumann U49 microphone. After laying down the bygone, bygone part, Carl was concerned that his voice or signature sound was populating too much of the vocal landscape. After some discussion I suggested we try overlaying Carl whispering the words in a hush, which when added to the original vocal would choke off some of the similarity. We tried it and he liked the effect. "

~swd

[Dan Lega]

Thanks for chiming in Mr. Desper!

When I first heard it back in the early 70's I thought they were singing "Right on!  Right on!"  That being a very common phrase, at least in the late 60's if not the early 70's.

Love and merci,
Dan Lega

[c-man]

Thanks for chiming in Mr. Desper!

When I first heard it back in the early 70's I thought they were singing "Right on!  Right on!"  That being a very common phrase, at least in the late 60's if not the early 70's.

Love and merci,
Dan Lega

I know it's wrong, but I used to think it was "Fly dove, fly dove"!