moments of unexpected beauty

[sleeptalk]

there are a lot of moments in the beach boys canon that, even if just for a fleeting moment, take a really unexpected turn into the sublime. some of my favorites are: the heart-melting vocal/harmonica outro to "don't go near the water" (TOTALLY out of the blue for such an otherwise straightforward, down-to-earth tune), the piano progression surprise at the end of "tears in the morning" (underrated song all around), and not one but two heavenly swells of emotion in "cuddle up." there's also the absolutely awesome first ten seconds of "east meets west" (especially for an '80s recording!) before it totally goes to sh*t.

what are some of yours?

[nobody]

end of Wind Chimes on Smiley

end of Wonderful on Smiley

[Eric Aniversario]

The last thirty seconds of Love Surrounds Me take me to a different place, and I'm reminded of why I'm a Beach Boys fan...little lost moments like these that take me by surprise because they slip out of my consciousness until i hear them again.

[Jay]

I've always liked that "nah nah nah" part from the Smiley version of Wonderful. There is also a part in With Me Tonite that I like. It's near the end of the song, where you hear these "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh" vocals in the background, and the vocal almost goes to a whisper. There is also that great ending to I Wanna Pick You Up that's totally out of the blue. Same with the second half of the song Endless Harmony.

[Pretty Funky]

Mount Vernon and Fairway (A Fairy Tale)

The BB vocal segments...Wow!

[Andrew G. Doe]

The chorus of the demo of "Midnight's Another Day" - if that doesn't make all your bodily hair stand to attention, you're probably dead.

[GLarson432]

The snippets of Walk On By and Old Man River are incredible to me.

Unexpected beauty, indeed...  It's great to be a Beach Boys fan!

[Eric Aniversario]

The snippets of Walk On By and Old Man River are incredible to me.

Unexpected beauty, indeed...  It's great to be a Beach Boys fan!

I agree...the instrumental outtro with the horns...fantastic!

[hypehat]

end of Wind Chimes on Smiley

That bit JUST before whispering winds is absolutely incredible.

[smile-holland]

The "deep and wide"-bit on Time To Get Alone.

[doc smiley]

the ending 30 seconds of Brian's "Melt Away"

[Sheriff John Stone]

Good topic, sleeptalk. I'm gonna have to go back to good old Dennis for a few....

On "Thoughts Of You", at the end, when Dennis sings, "Silently, silently you touch my face....", and the strings come in with the piano....it gives me a mental picture of the Harmony sailing away, over the Pacific Ocean, with a defeated Dennis siiting there, looking out over the horizon. Very emotional.

On "Love Remember Me", Dennis sings "I wanna love...", then, "Remember me....", then that chorus really gets going, singing, "My love comes gently down on you...", and Dennis is exhorting, "Come on, come on...". Genius...

[Mr. Wilson]

Dennis Wilson..1st song side 2 off lp..Is that the song..Time.??..That song is so cool with so many twists + turns.. With the horns blaring away..    The grande coolie dam chant is one great moment..Especially live..

[phirnis]

The ascending background vocal part (sung by Mike?) in the second verse of "A Day in the Life of a Tree". Truly sublime.

[Chris Brown]

The ascending background vocal part (sung by Mike?) in the second verse of "A Day in the Life of a Tree". Truly sublime.

Always sounded like Al to me, but yeah that's a really cool part.  The whole tag of that song is incredible.

[nobody]

dunno if this really counts anymore but i think certainly it was intended to be a moment of unexpected beauty, although the whole song is beautiful if you ask me and most people ...

after the "gotta keep those..." bit on Good Vibrations ... after the vocals fade ... when the bass stays on the F note and the organ too , then the AAAAAAAAHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh wave of harmony comes back in on an Eb/F thing i think ... it's just brilliant, and beautiful, and when you play that song loud and that part happens, wow! the reverb on the voices sounds so good, too, just perfect. real moment of bliss there.

[punkinhead]

'Deep and wide'  on Time To Get Alone
the track and vocals to Kiss Me Baby, simply amazing
track to Our Sweet Love
'the constalations are stars that form animals, Cleo and Capricorn too' on Solar System
'Star Light, Star Bright' on American Spring's version of This Whole World
Around the end of Sweet Mountain,'raindrops raindrops' is it Brian or Mike?
The first vocal "sigh" on the beginning of Don't Worry Baby
The vocals on Hushabye
Carl's vocal on Good Timin'
vocals on I went To Sleep
Denny's vocals on You are My Sunshine
Vocals on Let the Wind Blow
The emptiness/lonely feeling that My Diane gives
vocals on Breakaway
Sweet Sunday Kinda Love
Denny's Tug of Love, You and I, and Love Remember Me

EDIT: I forgot to add Surfer Girl in Hawaii (from the GV box set) and the track to In The Back of My Mind

[buddhahat]

the piano progression surprise at the end of "tears in the morning" (underrated song all around)

yeah I like that bit too. Talking of Bruce songs, I love the break in Disney Girls where there is a finger click or something and then they all sing "Love, Hi Rick, Hi Dave etc." probably getting the words wrong but anyway, I love that bit - there's something incredibly moving and nostalgic about it.

[oldsurferdude]

the line "...until I die " along with the incredible ending of the song.

[nobody]

not in a song but ... whenever I see Brian talking or being interviewed or whatever and he suddenly lights up in that characteristically childlike way of his, totally unpretentious and just beaming with enthusiasm, if for but a moment, it's always an unexpected moment of beauty for me to see

also... whenever i see footage of brian and his band off-stage or in studio, he typically seems fairly detached or just aloof, sort of drifting around while everyone else is connected, but occasionally he drops in and does or says something that almost says "i was here all along" and provokes an interesting reaction.

i heard about that in relation to some indian classical musicians ... they would deliberately allow the flow of the piece to 'drift' both in time and melodic form, giving you impression that they had lost the plot, so to speak, or creating a sort of uneasy feeling of drifting yourself as listener, then sneakily they'd pull you right back with a few triumphant twists and leave you with a feeling of subtle joy that you'd been taken for such a ride ... almost like walking with someone who is not familiar with the territory, allowing the feeling to develop in him that you're lost, then make a sudden turn that reveals the way was never lost at all and it was only an illusion

[Nicole]

I love the part in Endless Harmony that starts where Carl goes, "We sing do do do..." It's not a fantastic song, but I really like that part.

Also, "...But she knows me, knows me so well, that she can tell I really love her," in She Knows Me Too Well, and the long, "Ahhh," crescendo in Barbara.

[TdHabib]

The end of both "I'll Bet He's Nice" and "Let's Put Our Hearts Together." First is the brilliant wall of harmonies, just beautiful... and the latter is the way Brian sings "Together, together, together you and I."

Also the way the chorus surges in on "Forever," with Brian's harmony highest and most prominent, then followed by those beautiful ahh, ahhs under "I'd be so happy loving you." The best, the greatest...

One I'd like to just whisper is one that has nothing to do with the BB but immediately entered my mind when the question was posed. The middle eight ("well I wake up with the morning...") of "Nobody Loves You When Your Down and Out" by Lennon on Walls and Bridges. I literally almost fell out of my chair when I heard that!

[punkinhead]

for some reason, back when i first got the Sunflower/Surfs Up twofer, I couldnt stop listening to Tears in the Morning, I was singing it on the way to high school...now i kinda just play it every now and then, maybe I burnt myself out on it.

[Magic Transistor Radio]

The tail end (no pun intended) of Dennis Wilson's All I Want to Do. Umm, but seriously folks...

I could name so many. Brian Wilson solo albums are full of them. Sunshine from Imaginations has a really nice tag "Baby, don't be afraid to call..."

[Sheriff John Stone]

The end of "Let's Put Our Hearts Together." ....the way Brian sings "Together, together, together you and I."

Yes! I was gonna mention that one, too. For about five seconds, "the voice" was back.

Nicole's Carl choice reminded me of another later beautiful moment of Carl's. At the end of "Forever" - from Summer In Paradise - Carl lets loose with some of the most emotional singing of his career. It's almost like he was holding it in, and just couldn't take it anymore, and cuts loose. The highlight of the album for me...