The Smiley Smile Message Board

Pardon me if this song has been discussed to death (I'm new here!) - but does anyone else think that if Brian or Carl sang this, it would be considered a beach boys classic? Or do the overwrought lyrics kill it for you?

The melody and tag are just heavenly - in my opinion - and  JR's voice suits the song just fine. It may be that it's followed by two of the most amazing songs in the BB catalogue (not to mention proceeded by one of Al's best), but I find myself enjoying the heck out of this song every time I put on SU.

Anyone agree? I'd actually love to hear Brian sing this now (his pretty - but worn - voice would be perfect for this track)

I don't believe this song could ever win acclaim as it is so dark and outlandish. It would always be viewed as an oddity. However for me it's among my favourite beach boys songs, I love the piercing sound of the organ on the first verse, then it changes to this blissfull flute organ sound in verse two before going back, it's a pretty dramatic song really and on a whole new level of creativity on Brian's part.

IMO this song would be well recieved at Bonaroo festival. I can imagine many noticing this band if they took away most of the hot rods and put in this, Add some music, Cool Water, Surf's Up and more Smile and PS cuts.

Its one of the two BB songs that makes me cry. 'Cos we know he aint talking 'bout no tree! I love it so much, especially, as you say when the fairground style organ comes in.

My favourite track on Surfs Up, to me sounds much more personal and painful than Till I Die

For years I thought it was Brian singing it though, but Jack nailed it great IMO, sounds like the gruff Brian of a few years away.

Yes, I've always thought this song could be called "A Day In The Life Of Brian, Circa 1971"

The first few times I listened to the Surf's Up album I didn't pay ADITLOAT much attention and then one day I put Surf's Up on and wham! It was like I was hearing it properly for the first time, the hairs on my arms stood up to attention and I felt nearly overwhelmed by it's beauty, especially the tag. I think Jack R does a pretty good job on this but feel that Dennis' rougher textured vocals would have been more appropriate.

a top ten beach boys song for me.  I agree if a Wilson did the vocals then more people would listen to it

The organ texture from the second verse on seals it for me. I wish Brian would tap this depth of sadness more, but except for "Still I Dream of It" maybe he just doesn't seem to want to go there---understandable, I guess. "Day" is an especially perfect listen to get lost in with headphones.

Reilly does an incredible job on this track....those lousy vocals are perfect - and they are a great contrast the beauty of Carl's, Park's, and Al's voice at the end of the track.

I think it was said that Brian cried when he heard the last bit of that song during the vocal recording.

Reilly said that reports of Brian bursting into tears at that session are bullshit. Rather, when the vocal session was finished he ran out of the control booth hollering with both hands in the air 'like a gym coach". Somethign like that.

Great song with prime BW production.

I think that's a great and thought provoking perspective - I've taken this song's lyrics a bit literally in the past, not looked beyond the headline, and gone with the Riely push on the environmental/eco-happening lyrics.

I still think 'Till I nudges ahead; the Brian only words and lead vox nail provokes something that "...Tree" just quite can't deliver - but hey, what f--kin' great songs

Beautiful, beautiful song that is unbelievably under appreciated.  Before I could be influenced by reviews or anything of that nature, I listened to Surfs Up, and I immediately loved this song.

What's the story behind how VDP got involved with the vocal session for Tree? It's a peculiar time--4 or so years after the collapse of Smile. What was Brian and VDP's relationship like at the time, and i wonder what the band's thoughts on VDP were at this time?

it's in tom nolan's 2 part beach boy article in rolling stone from 1971.

Well, we know that Van Dyke helped them get their contract for Warners, so maybe he was a liaison from the label to the band. Also, it probably didn't hurt that they were completing the recording of an important song he co-wrote from a few years ago, so maybe he was just around. However, I have nothing to base this all on. So maybe someone else would have more info?

Al really does a great job on this track, fantastic vocals

Even if Jack Rieley sings on it, it IS a CLASSIC!!!  >:(

One of my favorite underrated gems in the Beach Boys canon.  If I'm in the right kind of mood, this song just hits me in a place most others can't.  The production is so weirdly brilliant, and that tag is absolutely one of Brian's best.

I second the idea that Brian's current voice would absolutely be killer on this song. 

Jack sounds perfect for the song. I'd certainly be interested in hearing a Carl or Brian vocal for the song, I don't doubt either would be great, but I have to wonder if they would have fit as well as Jack did for the song. I wouldn't call his performance "lousy" or "bad" at all - he's certainly not a trained vocalist of any kind, but he fits the part and is on key most of the time. What more can you ask for? A Dennis vocal would have been interesting. Who all actually attempted the vocal back then?

As for VDP, while I'm also curious about his presence on this song, his presence on Summer In Paradise is about a thousand times more baffling. In this case, as the sweet one said, they were completing "Surf's Up", and don't forget that "Sail On, Sailor" was probably seeing initial work around this time, too.

Also, I don't know if this has ever been brought up - it feels obvious to me, but maybe I'm wrong. The tag, Jack has the roughest voice and begins it, singing the lyric as the old, dying tree. Van Dyke comes in next, repeating the lyric, and would be the middle-aged version of the tree. Finally, Al's more "childish" voice/vocal comes in last and is the tree as a youngun. Yes?

Where do Al and VDP sings? I recognize JR's and Brian's voice in the song. . .

The tag - Van Dyke comes in at about 2:23 (depending on your copy) and Al comes in at about 2:39.

You can hear Brian on top in the "doo 'n' doo doo" in the back ground. But I think what you are mistaking as Brian is actually Al.

Maybe - perhaps they're meant to be other trees  :o

Yeah, I always thought the part at the end, or the "tag" as it is known as was like the whole forest singing.

Its one of my favourites too, and one of the saddest in the Beach Boys cannon, largely because of course its not about a tree but about Brian Wilson.

And it wouldn't have worked with a pro singer such as BW or CW. Much of its poignancy comes from a troubled, non-professional Riley vocal.

Replies like this always bug me. To save everyone having to trawl through the net finding said article, couldn't you have just given us a brief question-answering summary. Sorry, end of moan.

Like a lot of Surf's Up, ADITLOAT is massively under-rated and i've always adored it since my very first listen!

VDP - "Trees like me weren't meant to live/If all this earth can give..." and so on.

ACJ - "Oh lord I lay me down/My branches to the ground..." etc.

who's doing that "dah daaah da daaaah"

i used to think it was brian, but i guess al can sound like brian a lot on that stuff. eh?

Or one could, if they are interested in the history of The Beach Boys and discussing same, purchase and read this indispensable book:

http://www.amazon.com/Back-Beach-Brian-Wilson-Reader/dp/1900924463

If VDP had done the lyrics for this, rather than sang on it, and if Reilly had just...gone away...or done something productive like get donuts and redi-whip...then this would have been a stormer.

To me, the lyrics are highschool at best, so desperate not to be taken literally that it's really just best for all concerned to go ahead and take them literally.

But for all that, it's a special, infuriating track for me. Its production, its exquisite musical nuance and texture, and its devastating tag are among the best the BBs have ever produced. And the underlying tragedy of competing interests - be they genuinely collaborative or selfish - and/or BW's self-destructive tendencies are bolted onto the track like neon haemorrhoid cream adverts on Bath Abbey.

But it remains an open question, an ambivalent and intriguing track, to these ears.

Speaking of writing like "highschool".....  ::)

he would have mulched the poor thing.

Yeah, my yearbook was loaded with pretentious crap like that  :afro

To me, Jack's voice is so wonderfully melancholic, he is the tree.   I wouldn't want it any other way than how it is.  Having said that, it breaks my heart so much to listen to it that I rarely do.

Well, I thought your summary of your reaction to the song was very well-considered and insightful, as are all of your posts. And what's more, it articulated my own personal struggles with the song much better than I ever could. So I felt it behooved me to chime in with my support.

The only thing worse than being pretentious is being paralyzed because you're so afraid of being pretentious, and in the end saying nothing.

Very true. I should point out that my comment was tongue in cheek. I guess a smilie should have accompanied it.

Cheers Pete - and no worries SBonilla - I'm enjoying reading the responses to this weird & glorious tune.

Likewise.

If there is any song deserving of a vocals-only mix, it's this one -- that tag is magnificent! The original LP is totally quad-channel surround mixed too, right? That and "Til I Die" must be a trip to hear that way!

A Day In The Life Of A Tree is a lot like Child Is Father Of The Man, only with a bare bones production  and raw bare naked honesty.

Correct.