The Smiley Smile Message Board

I was listening to POB and thought, wow, what a personal album! It got me thinking about the BB most personal songs. What do you think their most personal albums/songs are?:

-POB (Moonshine/Thoughts of You/Dreamer/You and I/Rainbows/Fairwell My Friend)
-Pet Sounds (obvious choice)
-most of BW88
-Happy Days
-Lay Down Burden
-Side 2 of TODAY! (besides you know what)
-Warmth of the Sun
-Lonely Sea
-Let the Wind Blow
-Til I Die
-Wonderful
-Still I Dream of It
-2nd side of Love You
-Back Home
-Love Remember Me
-Are You Real
-My Diane
-Baby Blue
-Goin' On
-Guess I'm Dumb
-Everything I need
-Melt Away
-Soul Searchin'
-You've Touched Me
-Midnight's Another Day
-Oxygen to the Brain
-Southern California
-Forever
-Cuddle Up

Good choices!

I'd argue that in its own way side 2 of Love You is probably every bit as personal as side 1. Well, probably not quite as personal as something like "Let's Put Our Hearts Together", but still...

"Don't Let Her Know She's an Angel" is one song I would add to the list.

i agree

I'd like to add Long Promised Road and Everyone's in Love With You

I'll add Angel Come Home and Lady Lynda!

"I'm So Young" because Brian was not as young as the song describes, married, and he didn't even write the fucking thing?

DON'T YOU EVEN TELL ME "BULL SESSIONS ISN'T. "HI FIG"? "I HOPE YOU GUYS LIKE ONIONS"? COME ON.

Brian - "Surfer Girl"
Carl - "God Only Knows"
Dennis - "Thoughts Of You"
Mike - "Brian Is Back"
Al - "Help Me Rhonda"
Bruce - "Disney Girls"

In the case of Carl and Al, I don't think it's absolutely necessary to have written the song for it to have personal meaning and significance. I think those songs meant very, very much to them.

It's funny, i've always considered most of Dennis' lyrics to be the opposite of personal. That is, generic "I love you" songs. With the exception of a few, of course. I'm generalizing.  

YOU STEPPED ON MY FRENCH FRIES!!! ;)

Dennis meant all the stuff other people sang just to be commercial. It is all in the voice.

My vibe on this is Dennis' material was quite personal to him, and I think he strove for a really "romantic" sound on a lot of his stuff, but a lot of the time lyrically, his stuff did come off very ordinary. Like where more talented lyricists would find a more interesting way of saying "I love you", Dennis just said "I love you". Sometimes it worked, but some of his stuff does get a bit boring. Which is good when the topics are non-romantic on stuff like "River Song", "Pacific Ocean Blues" (lyrics by Dr. Love).

Excellent choices, especially that surprise choice for Mike. My choices would be the same, but I would change Al's song to Lady Lynda. Or maybe California. He is, after all, so infatuated with the Big Sur area that it counts as a personal love song.

I completely agree with you!

I'm a little surprised at this, sweetdudejim.  :)

For me, Dennis always hit the mark with his vocal/"expression of love"/emotion - and he had to. Like his brother Brian, Dennis ruined his voice in much the same way...cocaine. But, unlike Brian, Dennis was able to learn to use what voice was left, and make it expressive and suitable to what he was singing - lyrically. It never sounded forced, robotic, or non-expressive. Starting with Friends and going right through L.A. Light Album, you could count on Dennis to move you, not just with his music but with his vocal. And, I almost said "with his voice", but it IS with his VOCAL. Dennis, for as gruff as he became, knew how to sing his words, he got his point across, to me anyway. "Be Still", "Forever", "Cuddle Up", "Morning Christmas", "Baby Blue", and especialy the Big Three - "Moonshine", "Thoughts Of You", and "End Of The Show".

There are lines in Pacific Ocean Blue that still blow me away - 35 years later. I certainly respect your opinion, and I'm curious as to which vocals fall a little short for you, emotionally speaking?

All Dennis had to sing was 'I love you', really. He was that good a singer, even as his range crumbled, and the music beneath it carries the emotion. Your mileage may vary, of course. But I do prefer the direct approach in songwriting.

Damn right.

And he did that a lot! It was his "Dyn-o-mite!" or for you British folk, "Are you havin' a laugh?"

If that's the case, is it any wonder Dennis chose "The Wanderer" as his vocal spotlight in the early days?

I believe I'm So Young is personal to Brian, think about who originally sang it, I'm sure it was one of his favorite songs and recording it with the guys in the mood of Please Let Me Wonder/Kiss Me Baby

Besides, I said you know what...that could be any of the tracks that you know.  ;)

The Students?

Hey Little Tomboy is a song that I relate to.   :serenade

"I Went to Sleep" is a very personal one I think, even though it may sound lightweight or even goofy on first inspection.

"Leaving This Town" is another one I would add, even though I know many fans don't even seem to like it much. Personally I think it's one of their best from the early 70s, very personal and the overall topic is something that's very easy to relate to.

what you said.

I've always enjoyed it. prolly my fav. Blondie/Ricky song...personal to them for their situation in their home town in South Africa.

Me too, but only the part where Carl screams "TIME TO TUUURN INTO A GIIIIRL" and nothing else.

I feel like all of Denny's songs that say: I love you, have a unique way that only Dennis can say I love you in multiple ways.