Rolling Stone BW Video

[the captain]

But what about the whole 'feels' thing where these songs supposedly began as chord sequences where Brian was exploring his feelings? I think your post suggests that the brilliance in BW's songs relies more in his ability to manipulate listeners emotions through compositional techniques, in a slightly contrived manner. I strongly believe that he was a more intuitive composer - expressing his emotions through music so directly as to create incredibly moving chord runs such as Don't Talk. It's this honesty of expression that sets him apart imo.

I don't think one excludes the other. Sitting at a piano playing "feels" doesn't mean you're waiting for a god to move your fingers, it means you're getting into the feeling you're looking for and making decisions that fit together. (It also means you're stoned, in his case.) But I'd say most songwriting is intended to "manipulate listeners." I don't think that's a bad thing.

[phirnis]

On the subject of craftsmanship and competition playing that much of a role in some of BW's most heartfelt songwriting, I've always thought that lyrically the opening lines of God Only Knows felt like an extension of Spector's Every Breath I Take (as sung by Gene Pitney). At the very least it's the same psychological trick, the notion of "eternal love" becoming all the more palpable when preceded by those somewhat perplexing lines "I may not always love you" and "I hardly ever thank the stars above" respectively.

I can't see anything wrong in being "manipulative" as an artist. It probably just means you're being very much in control of the music you're making, creating music and lyrics in order to achieve maximum emotional impact as much on the listener as on yourself.

[variable2]

If you write music that means something to people it has to mean something to you first or it won't come across.  Brian heard music that meant something to him (Four Freshmen, Phil Spector, The Beatles) and it inspired him to write his own songs.  You try to capture the feeling other music gives you, or expand upon that feeling, with your own music.

[Dancing Bear]

I think this is all about cultural individuality. Brian felt he was a channel for a superior power when he was making music. Gene Simmons thought about the dollars he'd earn with a new hit. But at the end of the day they're just two guys writing songs like those they listened to when they were teenagers. "Capturing that feeling". Yeah, I like that.

[the captain]

If you write music that means something to people it has to mean something to you first or it won't come across.  

Depending on exactly what you mean by it "mean[ing] something to you," I'd have to disagree. Prove that. If you mean literally, the sort of infatuation that a fan may have with a certain lyric or chord progression or whatever, I say B.S. I believe that's just a tired cliche, the kind of thing repeated on documentaries or in interviews to sell product. The kind of thing that, sure, McCartney might say ... and so might someone in Maroon 6 or Nickelback or Metallica or whomever. If by "mean something to you" you mean that the composer feels pride in having done work, then sure. I agree.

[variable2]

If you write music that means something to people it has to mean something to you first or it won't come across.  

Depending on exactly what you mean by it "mean[ing] something to you," I'd have to disagree. Prove that. If you mean literally, the sort of infatuation that a fan may have with a certain lyric or chord progression or whatever, I say B.S. I believe that's just a tired cliche, the kind of thing repeated on documentaries or in interviews to sell product. The kind of thing that, sure, McCartney might say ... and so might someone in Maroon 6 or Nickelback or Metallica or whomever. If by "mean something to you" you mean that the composer feels pride in having done work, then sure. I agree.

I mean that the music you hear gives you a feeling.  A deep, personal, possibly spiritual feeling.  A songwriter (or some songwriters if you prefer) wants to bring about that feeling in his/her own music.  That's what people mean when they say "this song that I wrote was inspired by this song." That means that some aspect of a song they heard gave them a feeling of elation or what have you.  And they were inspired to write something that somehow captures at least part of that feeling.

[PongHit]

I just emailed a link to this video to someone, so I watched it again, & I noticed something odd that I didn't before: just before they go on stage, Scott Bennet says something like, "Let's sing from our hearts."  Why would he evoke Murry 'advice' at a time like that?! 

[Chris Brown]

I just emailed a link to this video to someone, so I watched it again, & I noticed something odd that I didn't before: just before they go on stage, Scott Bennet says something like, "Let's sing from our hearts."  Why would he evoke Murry 'advice' at a time like that?! 

I'm doubting it was a conscious thought, but that's a good catch, I didn't notice that.

[MBE]

what does he play on this? (besides LPR)
I know one's Why Don't they let us Fall in Love?

and He comfirmed the Elvis story!!!

Well he played an Elvis song The Wonder Of You. He may have known it from the Ray Peterson version too.

[lance]

I think the problem with the whole inspiration vs. craft thing is y'all are being too extreme.

Many artists use both...If one doesn't--if one only uses craft, fine, but that doesn't mean that others aren't inspired sometimes, and use a sense of craft to round things off, get things going or--in the case of sixties songwriters or TinPan Alley types-- create because they have to in order to fulfill a contract.

 I would guess that something like "South Bay Surfers" has more craft than inspiration about it--if Brian wants to say something was inspired or was God talking through him, he is merely echoing what other artists have been saying FOR CENTURIES, because, for some people, that's truly how it feels to them. I don't think it's some ad gimmick, necessarily designed to sell records...and you can substitue "the subconscious" or the Great Spirit or the Universe or whatever for "God" if you are uncomfortable with it.

However, I will say that without craft the "inspired" will rarely be successful IMO. But I will not say that inspiration is a sham or an ad gimmick. Creativity is a mysterious human power and NO ONE knows for certain how it happens.

Maybe I think that Dancing Bear is the most right on.

[Rocker]

what does he play on this? (besides LPR)
I know one's Why Don't they let us Fall in Love?

and He comfirmed the Elvis story!!!

Well he played an Elvis song The Wonder Of You. He may have known it from the Ray Peterson version too.

I only saw this video for the first time now (quite late, I know) but that's what I asked myself too. Did he play Elvis' hit-version or Peterson's. I guess he could've been quite attracted to Elvis' because of that wall-of-sound-thing, but I don't know how much he really listened to new music in 1970.

[Ganz Allein]

Well, we do know that Brian listened to Joe South's "Games People Play" since he mentions it in his own "Games Two Can Play."  It won a Grammy for song of the year in '70.