The Smiley Smile Message Board

According to David Marks - it was HIS mother who told Brian about dogs and how they pick up vibrations and such.

(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Hj4neqKqbSw/SncdwSFxeuI/AAAAAAAABFs/_czuZScz0gU/s400/davidmarks.jpg)

Good Vibrations most likely began as a straight up hymn to chemical ecstasies - Brian's early conception of the song seemed curiously devoid of a conventional girl/boy thing. It wasn't love-lust vibrations from a girl, it was kundalini energy. Mike's verse lyrics are actually very finely crafted in my opinion. They make Tony's/Brian's sound like amateur stuff. Mike's words have a wide appeal. When I hear the song I think of it more esoterically than just some lines about seeing a female you have fallen for momentarily. And the words fit that too- IIIIIIiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii hear the sound of a-

You rule, Ghost. I agree completely.

By the way someone mentioned the edits in Good Vibrations. You must understand, Brian intended this...

It becomes more artful. Editing as Brian and the engineers did it then was not how most of us do it now. I wonder if most of us would have a clue. Although, neither would Brian on a computer. But Good Vibrations is exciting for its edits. it makes it unpredictable, living, puts your listening mind on the edge a little, and the brain perceives the different edits too, subliminally if not realized entirely. Mono is best for it too. The organ in the verses has a beautiful mystical sound to it. It fluxes in and out and this only works in mono, in stereo it's lost. It's just a perfect recording - the hum be dums would've made this song go where Heroes and Villains went on the charts.

I used to wonder why this song fades out so quickly - but I guess they were already pushing the boundaries of the length of a 45 'single' as it was.

close my eyes
she's somehow closer now
softly smile i know she must be kind
when i look in her eyes
she goes with me to a blossom world


are they singing from a boy to girl perspective here or describing an inner trance mind meeting with the goddess of energy? remember folks, as the ancient vedas say, sound is energy, energy is god.

close my eyes - see with your inner vision
she's somehow closer now - the inner eye can see beyond this world
softly smile i know she must be kind - the tranquil smile of the goddess
when i look in her eyes - when we merge together in union
she goes with me to a blossom world - we enter into deeper entrancing ecstasies

Yeah, Mike Love was cookin' that day!

True that's one thing that I do consider a little unfortunate about it but it still works well as it is. I don't think Paul McCartney off his face on LSD hearing Good Vibrations for the first said at the end WHY DID THEY FADE OUT SO FAST? You know? I'm pretty sure he was in the bathroom slitting his wrists.

 8)

http://www.mediafire.com/?p6wc17tkbdtf6s2

Selected excerpts from With Me Tonight & Wind Chimes made backwards for further appreciation of old favorite sacred hymns.

Brian asked Van Dyke Parks to write lyrics for "Good Vibrations" after Brian had started working with Mike on the song (and this was after the Tony Asher lyrics!!!).

If Van Dyke had accepted the offer the lyrics would have taken an immediate turn toward the less obvious style of SMiLE.

The point is that the story of the dogs & vibrations may be a convenient way of avoiding talking about the deeper stuff involved. 

As much as I love Mike's lyrics (I agree with ghost, they are far better than Asher's), I wish Van Dyke had at least taken a crack at it, just out of mere curiosity for what the music would have elicited from him thematically.

IMO VDP iz the
wrong person entirely
to be writing lyrics
for good vibrations

brian wilson . mike love
that's good vibrations
that's why it's so good

see, you have to have something people can understand
what do people understand? girl and boy. see?

van dyke parks would make it about horse shoes or something.

I always thought that when you were talking about edits you meant the end fade out, not the edits between vocals sections and instruments. Duh. You can certainly hear differences in ambiance and overall tape sound. Now THOSE are fast fade ins/outs, or more like on/off. But, it's like mixing different art medias - it was a bit disconcerting at first, especially this new HDish version. But what is cool about it is you really get a sense of the inner workings and the modularity of the whole thing. I'm gonna be a recluse come November.

Speaking of LSD, vibrations and dogs, they can sure tell when yer trippin can't they?
Animals in general.
I've been able to walk right up to wild animals, bunnies, deer, hawks etc.
I'm sure Brian noticed this if he was bouncing around Lake Arrowhead as well.

Agreed. Lines like "I don't know where but she takes me there...." and "She goes with me to a blossom world..." are really revolutionary....it's like 'Strawberry Fields Forever' before that song was recorded. The lyrics, voices, AND the music just take you away to a whole other place. I think Mike was in tune with what Brian was trying to achieve, but he was also, understandably, trying to meld previous success (boy-girl tunes) with Brian's new experimental phase....it worked perfectly.

Also, wasn't the Cello section in the chorus VDPs idea? Without that Cello thumping along in the chorus/coda that song wouldn't be half as good in my opinion.

Either VDP or Carl.

The main point of my point was that after Brian became "enlightened" he wanted to work with "enlightened" people.

After Brian became "enlightened" that was his trip.

Certain people, including Mike Love, and even myself, randomly come up with very good lines in the most random places, even when you're not writing.

Certain people, like Roger Miller, randomly come up with very good lines.... ALL THE TIME, lol.  I heard Bill Anderson say once that other songwriters used to follow Roger Miller around Nashville and just write down what he said because you could write a hit off of about any phrase that fell out of his mouth.

So you're saying Mike Love is not enlightened? Man, you'd have to be enlightened to do like Mike does. 20 mins in the mornin, 20 mins in the evening. Cousin Brian prefers a plethora of drugs.

The "blossom world" line feels extremely dated, to me. Also feels very forced, which feels more legit considering it came from Mike and his role in Brian's songwriting at the time.

it doesn;t even sound like carl sings blossom world

how scandenavian of him

Maybe, David Marks mom was really Brian's mom.  They kept it a secret from him all these years, but forgot to tell him.  Same damn thing happened to Bobby Darin.  I HATE when that happens.  Google it. 

You been watching that movie again??

18th Of May inquired:


Well yessss! Here are a few of my favorite lines....

"He's off in his vision, on a trip. Reality is gone; he's creating it like a dream"

Here's another, "Wonderful thing--the joy of enlightenment."

I think I remember VDP saying he suggested the cellos play triplets on the fade.

I believe Carl made a similar claim.