The Smiley Smile Message Board

In the course of the Four Seasons thread I happened to mention discovering "Cry Myself To Sleep" and just being staggered by it, and so this is to explore the heartbreakers produced by the Beach Boys.

"Love Surrounds Me" comes immediately to mind - whew, that opening line...

I Just Wasn't Made For These Times

Warmth of the Sun

'Til I Die.

A Day in the Life of a Tree
Thoughts of You
It's Over Now
Still I Dream of It
Carry Me Home
Caroline, No

Most of these! The demo of "SIDOI" in my case...

Plus: "I Bet He's Nice". The music is upbeat but the mood is one of deep sadness... 

Gotta go with this. :(

The obvious choice is Wrinkles.

Dennis Wilson's stuff is the saddest.

'Til I Die
I Just Wasn't Made For These Times

I also find In My Room kind of a downer...it's beautiful, mind you, just sad.

Also, a lot of Dennis' music sounds sad even if the lyrical content isn't...Example:  Cuddle Up sounds really melancholy, just from the music.

Til I Die
I Just Wasn't Made for These Times
Warmth of the Sun
Caroline No

'Til I Die'...for sure.  Not the subject matter we choose to face ... at least not with zeal.  Unless your name is Bob=cork, Russell[rustle]=leaf...or Rock.

'Summer's Gone'...not so much the actual perforance [because generally the Beach Boys 'sound' puts a positive spin on almost anything] but rather for the thought of what it represents.  ie:  The 'Boys' are pretty much finished.

'Pacific Coast Highway'...because nobody can catch utter lonliness and how incomplete one feels while in that state of mind like Brian.  Even with all that beauty...driving down Pacific Coast Highway...it sounds like the ride is over and the driver?  Forever to be disappointed...and alone.

PCH for sure.

One of them for me off hand is "Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)".

'Til I die, no contest.

"That's Not Me"

Would have loved to had heard Dennis on lead for this one.

"I once had a dream
So I packed up and split for the city
I soon found out that my lonely life wasn't so pretty"

Saddest sound and saddest lyrics:

Til I Die
Pacific Coast Highway
A Day In The Life Of A Tree
My Love Lives On
Where Is She?
My Diane

Saddest sound/feel:

tag of 'On A Holiday', (tag of 'Wind Chimes' from Smiley)
She Knows Me Too Well
Cherry Cherry Coupe (I can imagine that if you don't understand the English language this song has the feel of a tremendously sad song)

Oh Lord
From There To Back Again

Oh, how could I forget that? Heartbreaking stuff.

Difficult question. To be honest, it is difficult for me to find many of the Beach Boys' lyrics sad. To me, the lyrics are often too plain to evoke an emotional response. I suppose lyrically the closest it comes to evoking sadness for me is Surf's Up. To me, though, if you are looking for something Beach Boys related with very sad lyrics, you need look no further than the Pacific Ocean Blue album. Yet, of course, it is the sounds of The Beach Boys music that can provoke genuine emotion: joy, excitement, sadness, loss. I might say a song like Don't Talk Put Your Head on my Shoulder has the feeling of sadness, as does It's Over Now. I'll keep thinking...

See that; but what of Wouldn't It Be Nice To Live Again and Carry Me Home?  They carry sad thoughts a plenty while sounding great

California Feeling, 1974. Although his voice had mostly changed by this point, there was still enough of his younger smoothness remaining to make this heartbreaking for me...the final time Brian sounded like 'classic' Brian.

Til I Die or Carry Me Home. Those are two of the saddest songs I've heard period.

It's Over Now and Still I Dream Of It are the songs that make me feel the saddest. Both the demos and the studio versions.

Carry Me Home is a good example - very sad lyrics. The lyrics to WIBNTLA don't particularly move me in an emotional way, but the music certainly does, though the music does not evoke sadness to me as I think you are suggesting.

I don't find there songs to be sad, but if I had to choose...

Baby Blue
A Day in the Life of a Tree

Heaven- Carl Wilson
Tug of Love- Dennis Wilson

I think "the Lonely Sea" is worthy of being mentioned. I'm surprised no one's picked it yet.

Touche Add Some......Summer's Gone  without a doubt..... so so sad lyrics... as the end of the Boys is near....just like the setting sun. 

Oh Lord

Levine leak the floppy disc man, its been 30 years.

(Sh#t! .... 30 years!!  I'm getting old)

Wind Chimes, easily the saddest BB's song ever.

But! Have you noticed, that none of the BB's songs are THAT sad, I mean sad sad sad, with no hope anywhere and depressing mood crushing your soul. The music always has some hope to it. Even Til I Die. The lyrics are frankly quite depressing, but the floating music rises the listener above all the angst described in the lyrics. One of the many, many reasong why I quite like their music. Brian couldn't help but be true to his mission, uplift people spiritually.

Jukka, can you name a song you find "sad sad sad, with no hope anywhere and depressing mood crushing your soul" by another artist? That would be interesting, to hear one for comparison.

I know you didn't ask me but what about Lou Reed's The Kids. I find it almost impossible to listen to.

Leaving This Town - Fataar-Chaplin- C.Wilson-Love - and the message I take from that song, is that "geography doesn't change the desperate situation."

And, contrary to many, I don't happen to find Brian's work depressing, in the slightest, but philosophical, reflective, contemplative...

It may not be all not sunshine and lollipops, and neither is life, but causes one to think, ponder and reflect, and ultimately confront issues, amounting to healthy handling of issues, rather than burying them.  Getting things out on the proverbial table.  And I think this has its place in the corpus.  Sometimes we all need the quiet of listening to our own hearts beat.  And dial back the noise.

On the flip side, Brian did and does write upbeat, and very funny and optimistic music.  The Waltz is hilarious to me. I think he totally captured the era he wrote about, in the rear view mirror of life.  And it is my favorite Parks lyric.  ;)

Yeah, The Kids! I would have mentioned the same.

Also, the whole genre of doom metal. Not much hope going on there.

So true.

I agree.  Even in the most difficult times under the most oppressive conditions, there was a glint of humor or a joy in the music itself from Brian.  I agree about the reflective songs as well.  Possibly I'm projecting, but when you've had some amazing times in your life, I think looking back brings a sense of pleasure and pride.  Brian surely must be proud of what he's survived and his unbelievable accomplishments. 

 I've seen this posted before, and I just don't get that sense of it at all
 I hear  someone at peace with themselves/their universe. Life goes on , I'll roll with  the punches...

My Diane.

For somebody who thinks of himself as Mr. Upbeat, Mike has written some sad songs.

"I lost my way"..."It kills my soul" : That's someone at peace with their place in the universe?

Endless Harmony

I see the outro as the narrator finding peace in life...its the way the music resolves, and the lyrics are chanted, almost like a mantra.

Maybe it's simply one of those > glass half empty/half full < sort of feelings.

 >>I'm a cork on the ocean   Floating over the raging sea   How deep is the ocean?   ...  I lost my way <<   Floating nicely, just not sure where he's at 
 >>I'm a rock in a landslide   Rolling over the mountainside   How deep is the valley?   ...  It kills my soul <<   Yes, sure,  the immenseness of it all is numbing/amazing,  but cool 
 >>I'm a leaf on a windy day   Pretty soon I'll be blown away  How long will the wind blow? ...  Until I die...These things I'll be until I die <<    Accepting, peaceful, Life goes on... 

My Diane, hands down.

The Night Was So Young, for me.

That palapable yearning, the sense of separation and the competing futile resistance against and begrudging acceptance of reality.

The night was so young and everything still
The moon shining bright on my window sill
I think of her lips, it chills me inside
And then I think why does she have to hide

Is somebody gonna tell me why she has to hide
She's passin' it by, she won't even try
To make this love go where it should

The sky's turnin' gray, there's clouds overhead
I'm still not asleep, I'm in my bed
I think of her eyes and it makes me sigh
I think of her voice and it makes me cry

Is somebody gonna tell me why she has to lie
She'd be so right to hold me tonight
Love was made for her and I

It's three o'clock I go to my sink
I pour some milk and I start to think
Is she asleep or is she awake
And does she think of the love we could make

Wake up, call me baby call me tell me what's on your mind
I've got a car and you're not too far
Please let me come over to you

The night was so young and everything still
The moon shining bright on my window sill
I think of her lips, it chills me inside
And then I think why should she hide   

County Fair.  Poor Mike.  :(

Cuckoo Clock. Poor cuckoo.  ;D

Oh Lord, without doubt.

Day in The Life of a Tree. Poor tree.  ;D

Oh lord
A day in a life of a tree
It´s over now (demo)...

..I need to take this fear and force it down
 And just pretend that you are not around
 It's over now

 I'll put a Frank Sinatra album on
 And cry my blues away
 It's over now..

These three crush me every time i hear them..especially these words from It´s over now..

She's Goin' Bald = follicly sad

Brilliant   :lol

Moonshine captures the pain and sorrow of heartache about as well as any song i can think of.

Great call

When I feel sad for Al wasting his awesome vocal talents on a tune like PT Cruiser, does that count?  ;D

Till I Die
I Just Wasn't Made for these Times
From There to Back Again

Summer's Gone.  It's the only song that gets me close to tears, especially hearing it live. 

'Til I Die is just a great song. It has such an odd vibe to it. Sad, but in an odd almost unearthly type way. Not a normal sadness, but a spiritual type sadness. It's hard to explain.

don't know about sad, but it brings tears:    I Wish for You

All you 'Til I Die voters you gotta be kidding - there's nothing sad about its melody/sound/lyrics whatsoever. The extended mix even less so. Ditto "...Life of a Tree". But LET'S hear Add Some, to my money he said it best:


On subject, I agree with "Pacific Coast Highway". I used to think "Summer's Gone" is the saddest suite song, now it is. And also lately, I found "From There to Back Again" to be quite a downer. I mean there's still sth. positive, but those 1st lines, they kind of make me feel sad, musically.

Lyrically the song is about being a speck of nothing in a world in which you have no control over.  To some that feeling of insignificance could be inconsequential, to others it's truly sad....there's nothing wrong with either perception.

As for the overall mood of the melody and instrumentals, the Desper mix does a perfect job of creating an atmosphere of void. Each note played on the vibraphone rings out beautifully then vanishes into emptiness (which could be construed as sad - depends on the listener).

Woodstock mentioned earlier that the outro sounds more like a mantra, the narrator comes to grips with the reality of life and finds peace. The melody/chord progression in this section sounds very uplifting, so one could definitely argue that the song's coda is meant to be uplifting. But this is Brian Wilson we're talking about here - his music sometimes never reflects the nature of the lyrics....thus allowing varied interpretations for each listener to choose from (which is part of the brilliance of Brian's songwriting). There is no right or wrong answer, it just depends on the listener.

You explained it better than I did. That's certainly how I feel when I listen to it.  It's a damn good song. 

Good. Coz I stand by what I said. Extended mix is gentle, mild, anything similar, but nope, I don't hear 'sad' stamped all over it.

Not kidding at all, and the extended mix is even sadder, rab's description is very good. If you don't hear how desperate and sad it is - don't worry, that doesn't matter, but don't think your position is more valid than ours.

Don't worry, I don't worry about my hearing.

Where you folks get this stuff? (rhetorical question) See what happens when you forget to add "imo" to your post.

Don't tell people you think what you think about what people can think, bro. Just not cool, imo.  :police:

Let me rephrase: My advice to you is not to think your position / opinion is more valid than those of others. This is not an order. This is an advice.

She voiced her opinion like anyone else. Just because she didn't add "IMO" doesn't mean her opinion is above anyone else's. How many times on a forum does someone need to take the moral high ground and tell other people they don't speak for everyone. Obviously it's just her opinion...that's why she said it.

I wasn't trying to change your opinion, rather I was trying to help you understand the perspective of other members here...because, yes, implying that other members' opinions are a joke does make it seem like you think your opinion is more valid than others.

You said it better than I did.

Til I die is not sad. How can one of BW's most perfect songs make you sad. Ridiculous.  Inconceivable.

It's not very romantic. I'll give you that.

Doublepost.

2Micha 'n' rab: I know that opinions vary, I was kind of taken aback by your assertion of "'Til I Die=sad song". I couldn't disagree more, so it turned hyperbolic. Y'know, the common thing for hypehat or Erik H, to name a few. It's just a form of expression. It's not about competition 'mine opinion is valid over others'. *You* said that, not me.

I think "The Ballad of Ole' Betsy" (curious punctuation aside) deserves a mention. Poor Betsy's ready for the scrapyard... it can't get much sadder than that.

Summer's Gone
Til I Die
Caroline, No

Maybe that "space" is built-in to allow your mind to wander.  They say that the kids who "stare out the window" in school are often the most creative because they find places to let their minds wander, in an institutional setting, which often fosters creativity.  My take is that Brian realizes that we are a small spot in the larger cosmos, regardless of our stature (whether worldly, high-profile, or not.)

And, I love the Endless Harmony Alternate Mix (Mr. Rockin' Desper!) with its deliciously long and undulating melody section, and I agree that it is a lyric that is a "coming to terms" with life...

Happy Friday the Thirteenth!   :beer

To say a song is sad is not the same as saying it makes you the listener sad :)

For me, it's 'Midnights Another Day' - mainly for the line - 'All these people, make me feel so alone'

Carry Me Home - especially the utterly haunted cover by Primal Scream - one of the best BB covers.......

Again, I mention the BLW Carl  material released after his passing.    that stuff just brings tears sometimes.    Like he knew the end was near.    final statements.  I know he didn't write it all but is SO fits, and never fails to move me

Haunted is the word! An extraordinary EP all round:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ4x1YB88_s
 

I find yearning and wistfulness in Brian's music far more often than I find misery or depression. Take Til I Die. On one level this is existentialist and sad but it can be read differently - though perhaps not as Brian intended. I often remember the rhymes about shape shifting, like 'I will go into a hare....' (and no, it isn't meant like THAT!). Also in this song, Brian includes all but one of the four elements - air, earth, water - missing out only fire.

Perhaps the saddest thing for me wasn't actually a song but the sound effects at the end of Pet Sounds: the dogs barking, the sound of a train. I remember seeing Pet Sounds live at the Royal Festival Hall in 2002. The audience beginning to applaud and then falling silent in surprise as those sounds began - soon to be followed by an even greater standing ovation and massive audience R E S P E C T.