Surf's Up lyric

[Angela Jones]

On the Surf's Up version of this song Carl sings - in fact the sheet music also shows - 'A diamond necklace played the pawn. Hand in hand some drummed along to a handsome man and baton'. But listen to the version Brian sang - listen to The SMiLE Sessions. 'THE diamond necklace PLAY the pawn, hand in hand some drummed along to a handsome manneRED baton'. [my caps of course to show the differences]. I've known about 'handsome mannered baton' for ages and assumed it's a VDP pun upon RED Baton - Baton Rouge? 'Play' the pawn was a new one to me and I still haven't figured it out. Is it an instruction to the diamond necklace?

[SMiLE-addict]

You have to remember that TSS version was just from a demo Brian sang. He might not have been playing super-duper close attention to the lyrics when he sang it.

[Angela Jones]

I think it's on the lyric sheet.

[myonlysunshine]

I made a video that breaks down some of the lyrical differences between the different versions of Surf’s Up around three years ago, which delves into some of this stuff: https://youtu.be/PkBZP96NoAw?si=I2SzXozyueIToKYl.

On both the 1966 piano demo and the 1967 solo version (aka the “Wild Honey” version), Brian sings the exact same lyrics except for two instances during “the glass was raised” section where he swapped “the” for "a" in the latter version, which I assume was deliberate given its slower pace. But the fact that the lyrics he sang almost a year apart are pretty much identical suggests that he knew the lyrics quite well.

Regarding the line “play the pawn,” Frank Holmes confirmed that this was the original line in an interview he did for Domenic Priore’s 2005 book, “Smile: The Story Of Brian's Wilson's Lost Masterpiece” when he talked about his accompanying artwork for the original Smile, but unfortunately his comment doesn’t directly answer your question, Angela:

“The diamond necklace is an open box, like a jewelry case, with a diamond necklace in it. There's a little lettering there, “Tif”, which is a reference to Tiffany’s.  
“Play the pawn” is a chess expression — it's what you do when you can't think of anything else to do, so you push the pawn — so there's chess pieces in there. The footsteps are just random things popped around there.  
This one is a composite of several different ideas: it has the Smile Shoppe there, without the people, and then the lamp, and the wheat field in the background. Then there's the rain cloud, and the sun and the ocean, the Tiffany box, and the lamp in the lower right corner.”

[Angela Jones]

I made a video that breaks down some of the lyrical differences between the different versions of Surf’s Up around three years ago, which delves into some of this stuff: https://youtu.be/PkBZP96NoAw?si=I2SzXozyueIToKYl.

On both the 1966 piano demo and the 1967 solo version (aka the “Wild Honey” version), Brian sings the exact same lyrics except for two instances during “the glass was raised” section where he swapped “the” for "a" in the latter version, which I assume was deliberate given its slower pace. But the fact that the lyrics he sang almost a year apart are pretty much identical suggests that he knew the lyrics quite well.

Regarding the line “play the pawn,” Frank Holmes confirmed that this was the original line in an interview he did for Domenic Priore’s 2005 book, “Smile: The Story Of Brian's Wilson's Lost Masterpiece” when he talked about his accompanying artwork for the original Smile, but unfortunately his comment doesn’t directly answer your question, Angela:

“The diamond necklace is an open box, like a jewelry case, with a diamond necklace in it. There's a little lettering there, “Tif”, which is a reference to Tiffany’s.  
“Play the pawn” is a chess expression — it's what you do when you can't think of anything else to do, so you push the pawn — so there's chess pieces in there. The footsteps are just random things popped around there.  
This one is a composite of several different ideas: it has the Smile Shoppe there, without the people, and then the lamp, and the wheat field in the background. Then there's the rain cloud, and the sun and the ocean, the Tiffany box, and the lamp in the lower right corner.” ']


Thanks for that - every bit helps! I've spoken to Frank Holmes and he helped with some other things. I realised of course that 'play the pawn' related to chess but often it's shown as 'played' past tense. 'Play the pawn' sounds like an instruction to the diamond necklace. Thanks for the link BTW! I had actually seen - and commented  - on this on Youtube.

[Angela Jones]

Thanks for that - every bit helps! I've spoken to Frank Holmes and he helped with some other things. I realised of course that 'play the pawn' related to chess but often it's shown as 'played' past tense. 'Play the pawn' sounds like an instruction to the diamond necklace. Thanks for the link BTW! I had actually seen - and commented  - on this on Youtube.