It's Over Now

[donald]

Been listening to a lot of mid 70's stuff lately and continue to find much of it very creative and entertaining.

Listening to the Box set the other day I rediscovered this and also got out some demos that included this song.

When was it written?  According  to credits, this is a 100% Brian song, tune and lyrics.   

Personally, I think it is an exceptional song and can't believe it went unreleased for so long.    The only explanaton I can think of is that it is a very sad song.  Mature and blue.

[Fall Breaks]

And with incredible chord changes and chord structures. On surfermoon.com, there's a chord transcript of the song that breaks it down to the exact fingerings on the piano. Well worth seeking out.

[sofonanm]

We, the Beach Boys, are a fun group. We like good feelings, positive feelings, good vibrations!  We like sending a positive message out into the world, inspired by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. "It's Over Now" is one of Brian's downers.

- the spirit of Mike Love, contacted through seance (...his soul is already dead and wandering the bardo...).

[Alex]

It's Over Now was supposed to be part of the shelved Adult/Child album that could've been released in '78 instead of the mediocre MIU.

[punkinhead]

heck, the thing that really got me obsessed with BW/BB is the downer tunes: Please let me Wonder, Pet Sounds album, Let the Wind Blow, Kiss Me Baby, Let Him Run Wild, Til I die, It's Over Now, Still I dream of it (especially the demo!)

[TdHabib]

It's among the best slow songs Brian's ever written...in my opinion.

[lance]

heck, the thing that really got me obsessed with BW/BB is the downer tunes: Please let me Wonder, Pet Sounds album, Let the Wind Blow, Kiss Me Baby, Let Him Run Wild, Til I die, It's Over Now, Still I dream of it (especially the demo!)

Ha! Me too. Well those +I get around.

[Sciencefriction]

This is a wonderful song.  I like to speed it up a bit to the original key every once in awhile, but it sounds great no matter how you take it.  It would have been great if Adult/Child had came out.  You never what it would have done for the Boys credibility.  What an odd band.

[Fall Breaks]

This is a wonderful song.  I like to speed it up a bit to the original key every once in awhile, but it sounds great no matter how you take it.  It would have been great if Adult/Child had came out.  You never what it would have done for the Boys credibility.  What an odd band.

How much is it slowed down?

[Sciencefriction]

I can't recall, it is discussed somewhere else on the board, but if you have something like Audacity you can play around with it.  I think it's a whole key, somewhere around there? 

[donald]

I like the slowed down feel of it as it is.

[The infamous Baldwin Organ]

I can't recall, it is discussed somewhere else on the board, but if you have something like Audacity you can play around with it.  I think it's a whole key, somewhere around there? 

I just did exactly that, and woah, what a difference.

It gets me wondering how different M.I.U. and L.A. would have been if they had used some of the Adult/Child tracks in place of their weaker ones. I can see these fitting in on L.A. very nicely with the Dennis songs.

[Sciencefriction]

Yeah, both versions are good, but I think it's interesting to hear the difference.  The post Love You albums could have been really great, but oh well.  At least we have the tracks at all. 

[GroovinGarrett]

The master mix is slowed to the point that the first time I heard it, I thought it was Carl singing the bridge as well as the verses...had no idea it was Marilyn.

[Dove Nested Towers]

The master mix is slowed to the point that the first time I heard it, I thought it was Carl singing the bridge as well as the verses...had no idea it was Marilyn.

THAT"S why it's on the GV box set at that speed. I was surprised when that (master mix) version
was put out officially in that form, but now it makes sense. I first heard it on an Adult Child boot,
speeded up so that Carl's voice sounds normal instead of sickeningly lugubrious, and IMO it was
100% superior. Great companion song to Still I Dream of It and Deep Purple.

[Sheriff John Stone]

The master mix is slowed to the point that the first time I heard it, I thought it was Carl singing the bridge as well as the verses...had no idea it was Marilyn.

THAT"S why it's on the GV box set at that speed. I was surprised when that (master mix) version
was put out officially in that form, but now it makes sense. I first heard it on an Adult Child boot,
speeded up so that Carl's voice sounds normal instead of sickeningly lugubrious, and IMO it was
100% superior.

muted, I'm confused by your post. When you say "....but now it makes sense", are you saying that you agree with the boxed set speed? Because, later in your post you stated that the boot version was "100% superior."

Personally, I can't listen to the officially released boxed set version. It's too slow, and I don't believe it's mastered at the correct speed. What's really frustrating is that, of all the old Beach Boys' songs Brian re-recorded over the last twenty-some years, he didn't re-record "It's Over Now". That's one he might've been able to add something to....

[Dove Nested Towers]

Sheriff, I just meant that it makes some sense that they released that version because it was
the master mix, not a mistakenly slowed-down version found in the vaults and haphazardly
thrown on without researching whether a faster, and seemingly preferable, version could be found with a little more effort.

The compilers certainly could have tried to alter the speed of the "master mix" to achieve a better result before putting it on the set, but maybe other voices had a say, or it just didn't occur to them (hard to believe). I hope they at least considered "correcting" the speed before
putting it out into the world officially for the first time.  Some here prefer the slow version so I guess it's a matter of taste, although it seems clear to me that Carl's vocal is like molasses and
the faster speed is preferable.

[MBE]

They messed up With A Little Help From My Friends too. I speeded it up and it sounds terrific.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Bruce explained to me what happened there - when they added the bvs, they slowed down the track so's they wouldn't have to sing quite so high... but when it was mastered for the 1983 Rarities set, no-one knew to speed it up. Hence Bruce sounding stoned.

[MBE]

It does give it the back up a tweaked effect when sped up so the lead sounds normal. It's kind of cool really.

[Magic Transistor Radio]

The first time I heard Its Over Now, I thought it was the same singer throughout. But at times I thought it was Brian, others Carl. Then when I noticed it was 3 people, it amazed me how similar Brian, Carl and Marilyn's voices come together. A trick Brian often used on Smiley or Friends.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Well... maybe it's me... but I'm finding it just totally staggering that anyone couldn't hear that the middle-eight voice is female. And I first heard "ION" in the 70s on a dodgy cassette dub that was Hiss Central.

[grillo]

Agreed, AGD. Seems absurd to me, but I notice people listen and follow completely different aspects of songs, just as two people watching the same movie might not even be aware of what the other is seeing, or something like that.
That's why we need threads like the definitive vocal credit thread!

[Sheriff John Stone]

Sheriff, I just meant that it makes some sense that they released that version because it was
the master mix, not a mistakenly slowed-down version found in the vaults and haphazardly
thrown on without researching whether a faster, and seemingly preferable, version could be found with a little more effort.

The compilers certainly could have tried to alter the speed of the "master mix" to achieve a better result before putting it on the set, but maybe other voices had a say, or it just didn't occur to them (hard to believe). I hope they at least considered "correcting" the speed before
putting it out into the world officially for the first time.  Some here prefer the slow version so I guess it's a matter of taste, although it seems clear to me that Carl's vocal is like molasses and
the faster speed is preferable.

I understand your point now. Thanks.

But, you know, being the stubborn fan that I am, I STILL don't believe the boxed set has the correct speed for "It's Over Now". As messed up as Brian might've been when he wrote/produced (?) the track, there's no way he would've CHOSEN it to sound that way - so slow. No way. It's unlistenable!

They messed up another song on the boxed set - "Do You Like Worms".  How could that happen? And, it being a SMiLE song that waited 25 years to surface. How could somebody NOT catch that before it came out? Unbelievable....

[lance]

I also think Carl(and REALLY Marilyn) doesn't sound good at that speed.

But if it is sped up, wouldn't Brian's line(Shades of blue and purple haunt me) sound chipmunk-like?