A New Spin on 'Wouldn't It Be Nice'

[Pretty Funky]

...a different opinion, but wrong IMO. 


http://www.cinemablend.com/music/CB-Top-5-Classic-Songs-With-Terrible-Lyrics-9683.html


Cinema Blend Top 5: Classic Songs With Bad Lyrics

4. Wouldn’t It Be Nice by The Beach Boys


Peter Kimmich:I know what you think this song is about. It’s about the frustrations of teenager-hood, not being old enough, and having to wait to get what you want – a peaceful, sedentary American life with the sweetheart of your dreams. Right?

Sorry to smash your pretty little cloud to smithereens, you naïve schmuck, but Brian Wilson must have had a twinkle in his eye when he wrote this one – the same twinkle I’m sure he had as a teenager, smiling at the unsuspecting girls who spent all those Saturday nights in his passenger seat down at makeout point. Could Wilson really have been the grinning, doe-eyed high-school boy the musical press wants to make him out to be? Maybe. Or maybe he was a hormone-driven carnivore who used his band status and often-touted muscle cars to prey upon girls like a lion on the Serengeti. A sharp eye will reveal “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” to be nothing more than a script for one of Wilson’s weekend night conquests, and a keen insight into the mind of an agile predator. Let’s go to the lyrics.

“Wouldn’t it be nice if we were older / Then we wouldn’t have to wait so long / And wouldn’t it be nice to live together / In the kind of world where we belong.”

So far it’s pretty non-suspect. He could be saying this to a girl in his car with no intention of taking it anywhere. Or could he be laying the trap? Let’s keep going.

“You know it’s gonna make it that much better / When we can say goodnight and stay together.” Wait. The prey senses something is not right. What are you hinting at, Brian, she says. Do you want me to spend the night with you? Or are you just going on about “living together?” You don’t have an agenda, do you?

Undeterred, Brian the lion continues his slow, deadly ambush.

“And after having spent the day together / Hold each other close the whole night through.” Oh, Brian, I didn’t know you felt that way, um, I have to think….

This, Sally, is where the lion locks eyes with its prey.

“Happy times together we’ve been spending / I wish that every kiss was never-ending….” Well, Brian, we have been spending a lot of time together, but I kind of feel pressured. I wish you would just let me think.

The song’s bridge eases up the tension a bit, giving Brian’s quarry room to breath – and a false sense of security.

“Maybe if we think and wish and hope and pray, it might come true / Baby then there wouldn’t be a single thing we couldn’t do….” Oh Brian, I know, I want it too – but we’re too young, I don’t feel right. Why are you looking at me like that?

Right about now Brian is in complete control, and his girl is feeling like a rabbit caught in headlights. Then the trap springs shut.

“We. Could. Be. Married.” Oh, Brian, put your arms around me and take me right here in your little Deuce Coup, you sweet talker, you!

Yes, it’s all right there. He wrote it himself, with wingman Tony Asher. The entire formula to his feverish slaying of so many innocent girls, disguised in subtle, heart-swooning verse by the same man who wrote “I Get Around” and “California Girls.” Brian, you cad. And it does seem the more he talks about it, it only makes it worse to live without it. So he just keeps talking about it – until he gets what he wants. Isn’t that nice?

[Aegir]

I've always thought the real meaning was a lot more sinister.

[Chris Brown]

Definitely an interesting take, but most definitely wrong as well.  The guy who wrote that clearly did no research into the song and how it was written.

The funniest part was his idea of "Wilson's night conquests".  Maybe he was confusing Brian with Mike or Dennis?

[Summer_Days]

...okay.
Someone has it out for Brian, huh? It's funny, since I'm sure he has no idea that Tony Asher wrote nearly all the lyrics.
 There's nothing really sinister about my favorite song. There's everything beautiful about it, though.

He's probably just bitter Brian stopped writing surf/car songs.

[Sheriff John Stone]

The entire formula to his feverish slaying of so many innocent girls, disguised in subtle, heart-swooning verse by the same man who wrote “I Get Around” and “California Girls.” Brian, you cad.

(cough) Mike Love

[SG7]

There is more songs they could have chosen 

Sorry, but I think WIBN is a perfect song. It has been obvious over the past few years people need to be fired from that mag. When it comes to music journalism, these people are like the bottom line. I could be doing there job 

[mikeyj]

Haha this is the biggest load of trash I've seen for a while!! Doesn't this guy have anything better to do? Seriously... I get so annoyed when people over-analyze things. MOST songs have a basic concept, but there really is nothing THAT deep in the meaning of most songs.

And yes I agree with a few people, I think WIBN is one of Brian's best. There isn't a single thing that I can fault, it's just perfect in my opinion.

[TonyW]

I'd love to read this guys interpretation of Hey Little Tomboy!!

[Ebb and Flow]

This article gives hope to aspiring writers and journalists everywhere.

[phirnis]

It's not the worst "funny article" I've ever read, but not the funniest either.

Wouldn't It Be Nice IS a rather whimsical lyric, hands down. I've always loved the opening lines ("Wouldn't it be nice if we were older, then we wouldn't have to wait so long"), which sound so dark and heavily depressed when isolated from the rest of the song, it's quite a perplexing contrast to the happy music you get to hear simultaneously, and highly effective at wakening the most spell binding emotions.

[shelter]

Sure, Elvis wanted to love her tender, but we all know what he REALLY wanted, right? Of course The Beatles wanted to hold her hand, but what were they planning on doing next? And Bryan Adams did everything he did for her, but we can all guess what he wanted from her in return, don't we?

The article makes no sense at all, you could write pretty much the same article about every love song ever made.

[Mahalo]

Sure, Elvis wanted to love her tender, but we all know what he REALLY wanted, right?

What did he really want?

[Aegir]

There's nothing really sinister about my favorite song. There's everything beautiful about it, though.

I thought the story was that Brian was in love with underaged Diane Rovell. "Wouldn't it be nice if she was older? Then I wouldn't have to wait so long."

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

He's mentioned, Brian has, that the song was about a secretary he had.

[Chris Brown]

He's mentioned, Brian has, that the song was about a secretary he had.

That's interesting Josh, I hadn't heard that before...like Aegir said, I always thought it was about Diane to a degree.

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

Wasn't everything about Diane to a degree?

[Chris Brown]

Wasn't everything about Diane to a degree?

That's a very good point 

[mikeyj]

Wasn't everything about Diane to a degree?

Hmm.. I wonder if the unreleased "Marilyn Rovell" was REALLY about Diane instead 

[Alex]

I wonder if Brian still has the hots for Diane all these years later.

[lance]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Diane Rovell kind of was their secretary wasn't she? I mean, wasn't she in charge of the record sheets or something during the recordings?

[Bicyclerider]

Even more scandalous, I suspect rather than Diane it may have been about Barbara.  He had a thing for both sisters, and talked to Tony Asher extensively about his obsessions.

[Quincy]

You guys are nuts..putting so much time into the written word..it was about every girl in the world..not just his

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Diane Rovell kind of was their secretary wasn't she? I mean, wasn't she in charge of the record sheets or something during the recordings?

That wasn't until Smile/Smiley era when they moved to the house, really.

[the captain]

I'm a bit late to this thread, but here's my take.

The writer is overdoing it a little, but mostly just in terms of segregating the intentions of the "oh, I do wish we were older" vibe and the "gosh, I'd like to f*** you" vibe. Because let's be honest, they're not that different to the protagonist of the song.

No, I don't believe Brian and Tony Asher sat around conniving as to how to seduce innocent young maidens ... but the eventual goal of the protagonist is pretty much the same thing, regardless. And it's not all that shocking.

[Quincy]

Hello...1965..66