The Smiley Smile Message Board

I don't have much to say, just wondering what everyone else thought about them changing the lyrics after the album was already released. Here's a link to the video with the slightly changed lyrics. Looks like they might be trying to shape it into a song to release as a single. Who knows.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_D3DOd0qRA

It's a great song and will be a great single but I think they're doing the right changing the lyrics. Also Brian's lead on the first verse on the album could do with a little tweaking I think.

I agree Brian's vocal could use a tweak, but I love the way he sings "Do you want to turn back the pages" in the first verse, especially the way he sings "pages". Very cool!

I couldn't understand what Jeff sang. I could tell it was different to the album though. Anyone care to decipher it for me?

And as the sun goes down another day's behind us.
We'll spend the nightime together.
Isn't it time we get ready and then,
isn't it time to be lovers again?

They might want to adjust that pounding beat a little bit, hard on the ears, and shorten up the end of the song. 

Cool song, but i could use a different sound/arrangement ... not a fan of the drum machine in the background, i know they just wanna be modern and all..
but really, we live in a time where there isn't really style anymore!
well yes there is (right now, all is about dancefloor/sh*tstep music), but people are open to everything now..
they really could try to use a 60's sound again, and that actually would help this song a lot.

edit : well, actually.. any other production style would help the album a bit more, could at least do without all the weird vocals effects

I really like the sparseness of the drum machine + uke in the verses. It's new territory for the band and they manage to pull it off well. However, I do think the chorus could benefit from a bombastic layer or two of a quirky horn/string/flute arrangement. I think it'd help stop the song from sounding overly drone-like. That being said, I'd probably keep the understated instrumentation during Mike's two lines after the bridge. I find it's a refreshing respite after that onslaught of vocal harmony.

As I figure out just what to do with this scrap of paper, does anyone know whose handwriting this is?

(http://atroxi.smugmug.com/Music/When-Around-The-Corner-Came/i-Wc2gpFw/0/L/isntittime-L.png)

You know one of the things I like the most about this very cool song? Bruce's prominent role.
I think it's great that he gets that hard-to-get lead in the chorus. And that 50 years after they started Bruce gets to highlight his youthful high voice.

Agreed, I would like to hear a variation in the arrangement during the choruses, even if it's some background OOOHs.  Right now the choruses and verses sound very similar.

Odd that they are changing the words at this point...I'm sure there is an interesting backstory.  The new ones are okay, though I did like the "raise a glass to kindness" sentiment.

Cool. Thanks for posting that.  :)

Jeff's struggling to fit that "nighttime" in there. Anyone else here think it'd sound better if it were just "We'll spend the night together"?

Song's perfect the way it was.

I have no problem with the old ones, but if forced to choose I would say I like the new ones better. They sound more mature, more appropriate for 70 year old guys than singing about going steady.

The only thing that bugs me about the original line is that the song is about recapturing youth and then all of a sudden you have Jeff singing this line with maturity behind it.

I have to admit, the first time I heard Isn't It Time, I really didn't like it much at all. Bruce's repetitive lyric's drove me nuts. But I have played the live version from the above posted link probably ten times in a row, and now I love it. It's funny how songs can somehow change when played live. I used to hate most of KTSA, but I like a lot more of it now after hearing the songs played live.

That looks like Mike's handwriting to me.

I agree that it looks like Mike's handwriting.

Compare that to those promo videos where they show him writing down the lyrics to the new album (in 5 minutes!).


BTW, also note that Al sings "every time I DREAM of you".  Wonder if that is also a change or he's just messing up.

That's the only change I like. Sounds great imo.

Brian's performance on the opening lines is way better here than in the studio version. Why didn't they try to rerecord it on a better day? The only bad thing about this piece.

Isn`t that because it`s not just Brian singing. He`s being covered by someone else.

It's Brian.

And the studio take is somewhat rushed because the song was a last minute addition, recorded in March or something.

bouhouhou

It's definitely Brian, but I swear I can hear another vocalist there.

It still sounds wonderful to my ears though.

The last thing I expected was for them to rework a new song on the road after the studio version was released. Shades of "Help Me Rhonda" undergoing a re-record in '65. Proof that the band is communicating enough to say "you know, I think we can improve this".

Maybe Mike will go back and completely rewrite the lyrics to "Spring Vacation" and "Beaches In Mind"  ;D.

I bet the mumbled pronunciation is 100% Brian. ::)

Yes, it`s Brian with someone covering him.

Put me on board with those that don't like the way Brian sounds on the studio version. That kind of gruff lazy singing has spoiled many songs in Brian's career. Rushed or not, I don't understand how those vocals made the cut. No one but people like us here would have any clue that is the same guy singing on most all of the rest of the album. Not trying to be mean, but when Brian "phones it in" like that, he sounds more like a loud half drunk guy singing to himself in a bar. I know the youthful Brian is long gone, but he is still WAY better than that when he wants to be even without processing.

Yeah, there's definitely someone else 'behind' Brian's vocal, albeit very indistinct. Guess it's Foskett.

Couldn't that someone just have stood up or at least have taken whatever he was covering him with off Brian's mouth so he wouldn't have mumbled that way?

Agreed. Loved it from the first time I heard it. Love it more each time I hear it. The album version is perfect to these ears. Quirky perfection.

Sure it's Brian (mainly), but there's clearly somebody "behind" him. Foskett in his middle range, I suppose.

This seems way over the top to me. Brian sounds a bit gruff, yes, but hardly lazy. His phrasing and general attitude are spot on -- to these ears, he seems really engaged in the song. The vocal tone seems to me to be partly a production choice, too -- everything in the track is quite stripped down. I am less impressed with his singing in something like Shelter, for instance, where his tone is generally good (or tuned to be so), but his phrasing is clipped and his pronunciation inexact.

Still doesn't explain why Brian was allowed to get away with such a ragged, drooling vocal.

He does sound better live, but then he does have Jeff (I assume) doubling him.

This is very catchy, though I wonder if Spring Vacation wouldn't be a better single choice.

To my ears when Brian sings like that it sounds like he's just doing it to get it over with as he would/does during a sound check. He also seems to sing more like that during the one song appearances on television shows or (often) the first set of his concerts. I think it sounds BAD and it turns off some people as I've had them ask me about it. The overly gruff and shout like stuff he often does, does not do whats left of his voice justice IMO. He's capable of doing a lot better. I've seen him live 5 times and when he slips into the right groove a LOT of his true old self shines through. Very little gruff Brian on BWRG, a big reason I really like that record.

Wirestone, I purchased the Carlin book upon your recommendation in the "Brian's problems again" thread from a month or so back. First BB book I've purchased in years after vowing to never again after the "Landy" one. Overall a decent read, though I did not agree with some of his perspectives, but well worth the 10 bucks I paid to Amazon....so thanks for the heads up.

And here's another live version of Isn't it Time:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzMSMGdwknU&feature=related (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzMSMGdwknU&feature=related)


Ooh, and another one!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJmrYzJMqQE&feature=related (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJmrYzJMqQE&feature=related)

"Isn't It Time" is by far my favorite song on the new album and is the obvious choice for the next single.  But I agree that Brian's intro vocal needs to be redone, as parts of it sound "old guy" gravelly.  And in addition to redoing Brian's part, the intro should be more of a group effort, primarily Brian but with more of Jeff plus Al and Bruce in the mix. 

However, for me the weakest part of the original recording is Jeff's "Isn't It Time?" refrain.  On the NJ show video Al and others join in with Jeff on that part, and it sounds dramatically better as a group vocal.  That repeated refrain is really one that would have been done best by Carl, so for a studio rerecording, Christian Love would probably sound very good doing that part solo.  Otherwise, make that part a group effort, with Al, Bruce, and Jeff singing together.

When I first saw the lyric rewrite it looked good to me, but now that's I've heard the new lyrics sung on the YouTube clip I must say that I have a strong preference for the original lyrics.  "Isn't it time we go steady again" may have an old fashioned ring to it (and I'm old enough to remember that term well), but I take those lyrics to mean 'Let's spend a whole lot of our time doing fun stuff together again'.  The new lyric "Isn't it time we be lovers again" leaves me with the depressing thought that the singer is saying 'Hey, we haven't made love in years, maybe we oughta try it out once again'.

Some additional observations: One of the elements of the song that really appeals to me is Mike's "da doobie do's" mixed low in the background.  There are a ton of possibilities for various mixes of Isn't It Time, including extended vocals and a prominent farty synth.  And finally, "Isn't It Time" should be the flip of the forthcoming "That's Why God Made the Radio" 7 inch single (and it better be at 45 rpm with a large center hole to fit in jukeboxes!)

Brian sounds so much better on every live version I've heard, compared to the studio take.

Bah! I love Brian's lead on the record. When I'm just singing the song in the shower, I unconsciously emulate his delivery. It sounds kinda weary or sad, but I love it. Authentic. He gets a little bluesy gravel in his voice, which isn't necessarily a Beach Boys thing, but I think it sounds good.

I also like the original lyrics better. The new ones somehow manage to sound even more contrived.

I love this song so very much. A modern feel, a bass line that just pops, the piano/keyboard doubling the uke, the palm-muted guitar, the synthetic drums and handclaps... What a great, catchy stomper. I think it's an instant classic, and it is now one of my favorite BB songs.

Even with Brian's sloppily mumbled pronunciation at the start, Isn't It Time is about my favorite on the album. There's a few other gems that come close, however. So happy about this album! :)

After seeing it live, I am fairly certain Brian's first few lines are played on the backing track with the percussion, and Brian sings along with it, double-tracking. I think that's why it sounds different.

I love Brian's vocal on the studio version, and seriously think it's his best vocal on the album by a long way.
By contrast, it's the one song where I can see why people dislike Foskett -- he sounds pretty dire on the "And as the sun goes down..." part.

that'd be cool if they re-record it for the single, put it on the next album, retitled  "Isn't It Thyme".