The Smiley Smile Message Board

I can relate to this song so much and it's so beautiful :)..The ending always gives me goosebumps it seemed like they put everything they had into that song unlike some of their early songs.
I never really heard any of you bring this song up :/ anyone else love it?

I love it and I think Today! would be a perfect album if Don't Hurt My Little Sister was about something else.

I love it. Have you heard the alternate take?

:) yes i like it alot..but can't top today's version lol

lmfao i wish they changed the lyrics to to that song :p

Of course, there are the alternate lyrics to this song, which are much more poetic!  The original lyrics were aimed "to "correct the inequality in employment opportunities between whites and minorities including blacks in the U.S."


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHr8mcWqy9U

What's wrong with Don't Hurt My Little Sister? I think it's a really cool song. I don't think it was meant to be taken too seriously- it always makes me smile. Come on! Who's with me?

It's one of my favourites on the album because If forget it's there and it alwasy sounds fresh!

Just the subject of the lyrics.  The backing track and the melody and harmonies are wonderful, but the words just don't do it for me.

I agree, I was just wondering if you had heard it. It is pure doo wop from the late '50s. I do prefer the overall sound of the one that ended up on Today!, especially the drums and guitar.

That's a good one to point at if you're trying to prove the theory that Brian Wilson sounds like Jesus Christ when he sings, lol.  That explains why i'm always going "GOOD LORD" everytime I hear him hit those high notes. 

"I'm So Young" is a great example of a BB's studio classic that features the group playing on the session. Brian - organ, Dennis - drums, Carl - guitars, Al - bass.

yes the words almost kill the whole song for me :/

what about the outro?

his vocals are so beautiful it can make you cry seriously

What is wrong with the words to Don't Hurt My Little Sister?

I don't find them generally appealing because I can't relate to them whatsoever. That doesn't mean there's anything wrong with them, however.

The song has grown on me the last few years, but it's my least favorite song on Today.

I don't think anything's wrong with them, I don't relate to the song though... it's a little bieberish to me, it's more about really young kids dating... so once I got past about 15 I couldn't really get into the song anymore.

There is a place for everything, though, so I don't blame them for writing it or think anything's wrong with it, it's just a younger subject than I can relate to anymore.

I'm a young dude and i can't even relate to that song it's corny to say the least, maybe selena gomez would enjoy it much more. lol

Me. Big brothers should  be protective.

What would you all prefer?

A song about incest?

Is that modern enough for ya?

I've never felt the need to be protective of my sister and I love Don't Hurt My Little Sister. Brian doesn't even have a sister! It's a really good song, stop paying attention to the words. I can't relate to ANYTHING on Smile (maybe Good Vibrations and Wonderful) but that doesn't mean I don't love it.

i can relate to "fire" from smile  >:D lol jk

Yes. Dennis sounds fantastic on it.

what about the vocals? :] so much passion behind it!

I love Don't Hurt My Little Sister! How can you not like this lyric, "she digs you and thinks that you're a real groovy guy, but yet I'm not sure that I feel the same?" That's a cool line to me. Maybe if I had a sister I would feel differently about the song?

I also prefer the flute version of "I'm So Young." Just adds a good punch to it. I wonder why they didn't use it?

I like to sing along with Mike's part, but not use the words.  So more like

"Now Doooooo, boooo, baa booom.... ba boom baa...."

So basically like Murry?? lol

:lol

The only gripe I have with "Don't Hurt My Little Sister" is the "why don't you love her like her big brother?" line.  It's meant to sound innocent and protective, but for some reason just sounds dirty and wrong to me.  Other than that, great track.

"I'm So Young" is such a killer track, Brian's vocal just kills me.  I'm partial to the Today! version, but the alternate has its charm.

Y'know, if we're going to start criticizing Beach Boys songs because of their lyrics, we should all just roll up our pants legs and wade in. Is that really what Beach Boys fans dig about them- the lyrics?

To me, lyrics are the least important part of a song. Often, I can have heard a song many times before the lyrics even register.

I often catch myself singing this is my particularly foul brand of falsetto in the wee hours of the early morning, much to my brother's dismay! :lol

How on earth can anyone not like 'Don't Hurt...'? It's such a great song - another example of Brian squeezing oodles of musical invention into such a short space of time. And the fact that Brian's feelings towards Marilyn's sisters was so, ahem, troubled - well that just gives the song that extra little edge... Love it!

I'm generally the same way - competent or good lyrics don't often register with me, but bad ones can stick out like a sore thumb.  Of course, a bad line here or there isn't nearly enough to ruin a song in most cases, "Summer of Love" being a notable exception.

I have to add a dissenting voice here (which just proves that not everyone can agree on everything... or indeed, sometimes, on *anything*).

I like 'I'm So Young', but it's my least favourite song on Side 2 of Today (excluding 'Bull Session...' which I never count as part of the record anyway...). The singing is great, and most of the track is OK... but the rhythm section seems to drag terribly in a couple of spots. The tambourine hits are well off (both before and after the beat in all sorts of places... and not in a good, 'swung' way). The drumming is iffy too — on the bridge ("I'm, I'm I'm so young...") from about a minute in to 1:20, and the fill before the short vocal interlude at 1:24 is well shaky. The drumming on the tag is really sloppy, too. Sure, sometimes a rhythmically 'loose' performance can be part of the charm of a track, but it seems really distractingly wobbly for me here.

Similarly, though In The Back Of My Mind is an absolutely masterful, masterful track (one of BW's finest IMHO)... Dennis's rushed vocal on the bridge has always bugged the hell out of me. They really should have rewritten that with fewer syllables in it. I have a mix I made myself with no vocals on the bridge which I prefer... but that's prolly just me.

I love Today... but it's not without faults. But then again... what music is?

MattB