Is Please Let Me Wonder really about a breakup?

[Synth Wash]

Every description I read about that song assumes it's about an unfaithful lover that the singer doesn't want to confront, but if that's true why does the song start with "Now here we are together, this would have been worth waiting forever"?

I always thought the song was about a guy pining for a girl for so long that when he finally gets to be alone with her, he can't profess his love. Does anyone else have thoughts on this?

[adamghost]

Can't remember which BBs book, in describing this song, said "this shy teenager isn't about to ask, did you come?"

That about summed it up for me.

[Chris Brown]

I've always thought the same as you Synth.  I never considered it to be about a breakup at all.  To my ears, it seems like the narrator has built up this moment in his head, the moment he's finally alone with the girl of his dreams, and he's worried that the reality won't be as good as the fantasy.  He talks about the "beautiful image" he has of her and how long he's waited for the moment, and he's saying "please let me wonder" as a way of asking her to indulge all of his dreams about her. 

[slothrop]

Ditto Synth and Chris Brown. Never thought it was a break up, as much as someone breaking down. It's a beautiful song that perfectly captures that teenage idealization of love and the bittersweet heartbreak when it finally meets reality.

[runnersdialzero]

Can't remember which BBs book, in describing this song, said "this shy teenager isn't about to ask, did you come?"

That about summed it up for me.

Am I reading this wrong or did you just say what I think you said?

[grillo]

Seems like the original lyric was more about a break-up/cheating lover scenario, while the released version is way vague. Still my all-time favorite BW vocal.

[Jay]

"And now I just can't live without it, this beautiful image I have of you". I have always taken this to mean  that the guy thinks so highly of the girl that he's to afraid to even speak to her, for fear of her rejecting him. If she rejects him, the image of her in his eyes is crushed. So he suffers in silence. He can't risk the image of this sweet, warm hearted girl turning sour. He'd rather have his fantasy world than nothing at all.

[adamghost]

Can't remember which BBs book, in describing this song, said "this shy teenager isn't about to ask, did you come?"

That about summed it up for me.

Am I reading this wrong or did you just say what I think you said?

I quoted (verbatim, IIRC) exactly what you think I quoted.  I don't remember the book, but I remember the quote extremely well.

[runnersdialzero]

Can't remember which BBs book, in describing this song, said "this shy teenager isn't about to ask, did you come?"

That about summed it up for me.

Am I reading this wrong or did you just say what I think you said?

I quoted (verbatim, IIRC) exactly what you think I quoted.  I don't remember the book, but I remember the quote extremely well.

Wh... what in the Christ?

I will never hear this song the same way ever again

[GLarson432]

This song, along with "The Lonely Sea" and "Kiss Me, Baby" are what made me a Beach Boys' fan.  The fast songs were and are great.  I love them.  But these three songs are what I'd play over and over for hours when I was a somewhat troubled teenager.

I bounced around a lot in the early-mid sixties due to my circumstance but I could always take the music with me.  It kept me sane


And it's Rieley.  'i' before 'e' except after 'c' unless it has the sound of 'a'.  Jack Rieley.

[Dave in KC]

Greg, I'm missing the reason for the Rieley part of your post. You are correcting the spelling of his name. But why?

[jmc]

I can't remember where I heard it, but "I think" sometime in the last 20 years of reading up on BB's stuff I came across an explanation for this song that said Brian wrote it (or wanted the general message) to be about how he felt about the guys in the group, with him wanting to quit touring, grow as a writer and producer, and not being happy on the road all the time etc, etc.   

The boy-girl thing makes more sense commercially, but was the boy-girl wording a cover for what he was really trying to convey?

[Chris Brown]

I can't remember where I heard it, but "I think" sometime in the last 20 years of reading up on BB's stuff I came across an explanation for this song that said Brian wrote it (or wanted the general message) to be about how he felt about the guys in the group, with him wanting to quit touring, grow as a writer and producer, and not being happy on the road all the time etc, etc.   

The boy-girl thing makes more sense commercially, but was the boy-girl wording a cover for what he was really trying to convey?

Brian's "autobiography" suggests this explaination...something about it being a plea to the Beach Boys to let him pursue his own creative path.  Maybe it's been written somewhere else, I don't recall, but I would (obviously) take it with a grain of salt if the autobiography is the only source.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

to me it's always felt to be about a guy finally "getting" the girl he's pined for and has loved from afar. She finally agrees to have sex with him and he wants it to be the beginning of the greatest love story of all-time. He has this whole romantic speech ready but she tells him upfront that it was just a one time deal. And he's pleading (in his head only?) for her to just let him wonder and imagine how it would be if she felt the same way he does.

[GLarson432]

From Dave in KC:  Greg, I'm missing the reason for the Rieley part of your post. You are correcting the spelling of his name. But why?

Great point, Dave.  I screwed up and carried over this response from something in another thread.  Mea culpa.  Plus, I'm really anal about misspelled BB/BB-related names.  Murry, Audree, Rieley, Cincinnati and undoubtedly more I'm not thinking of.  For better or worse that's just who I am.

[bossaroo]

Seems like the original lyric was more about a break-up/cheating lover scenario, while the released version is way vague. Still my all-time favorite BW vocal.

what's the original lyric???


this song is the polar opposite of a break up song. it's about that moment of coming together... and no, i don't mean THAT kind of coming!

i think it's about as beautiful as a love song can be. i don't hear any sexual connotation, but i suppose almost anything can have a double meaning.
he's in love with this girl, he's laying it on the line, confessing his true feelings... asking for another moment or two before she gives a response.
similar to Don't Talk in that way, but so much more innocent and angst-ridden.

In Don't Talk they have most certainly done the deed.  In bed...  in love... the same couple a little further down the line.