The Smiley Smile Message Board

From listening to the lyrics on the released NPP songs, I have noticed something very important to my ears. The lyrics with BW's collaborators are both mature and youthful at the same. It seems BW has really created an album that relates to everybody without harking back to the past or cheesy.

Which was my sole gripe with TWGMTR.  For me it is really what stopped it from being a "perfect album" all the way through but the other aspects of TWGMTR are so strong that it's almost a quibbling point.  For my money, "Spring Vacation" worked, "Daybreak Over The Ocean" and especially "Beaches In Mind" didn't.  Songs like that shouldn't been bumped from that record in exchange for something more substantial. 

Yeah, it's nice not to have completely cringe-worthy lyrics and moon June spoon Loveisms!

Altho perhaps he'd appreciate "take it slow" in The Last Song!

Was it Scott Bennett who did the lyrics for "Somewhere Quiet?" Thought it was a great fit, blended in nicely with the themes of the album. I say more BW/SB collabs!

I always wondered why anyone thought there was a conflict between being "The Beach Boys" and growing up, anyhow. You don't have to be a 16 year old kid cruising for chicks to appreciate the sun, surf and a relaxed life style.  This album seems to be just as sun drenched as any of the band's earlier ones, but with an adult sensibility. I think Brian's always wanted to keep the essence of the Beach Boys but move on at the same time. Looks like he might have finally gotten there, with or without all of the boys.

Well said Cyncie!  Spring Vacation was said by some to be primed for  Viagra commercial, so it was not about being young. . . .
Beaches in Mind was Brian's idea and has nothing to do with youth. Everyone of every age in LA goes to the beach, to walk, to hold hands, etc.--couples in their 70s do the same as teenagers.  I go alone to the beach and hold my own hand for heaven's sake. The LA experience is not just youth. It's something that Brian and Mike each understood.

With that said, I wish Mike and Brian had written Summers Gone, FTTBA and PCH and "whatever happened, and sail away and all those great songs. But they didn't . If Mike still had creative chops and the will to work together, he would write more such contemplative songs that fit Brian's music and display their shared awareness of age and death. Then this would have been a great BB album and collaboration, written in a room, but it is not.

Dearest per'fesser,

How do you think Mike Love would've made these lyrics better, exactly?

He never said that.

Sure! Just wondering what would've improved if he were involved more. I'm glad he didn't write lyrics for those songs!

Summer's dawn
Summer's here to stay
Palms all sway
Like yesterday

Mike Love drones on
Bri and Al go separate ways
set end date denouement
As bald pointing men love to say

Oh my brother Ontor, perhaps I have written ambiguously: I do not mean that I wish Mike had "revised" or written them differently, but rather simply that I wish that these great songs were written by M and B. Put another way, I would be so happy if M and B were together writing great songs like this.  I never meant to imply that M would have made them better. I don't think they could be written better in fact.

Clear now? Thanks.

(Salutes)

Speaking of, has anybody asked Bruce why he never writes with Mike?

Ontor Pertawst
Montecito, California

--

Back to the NPP lyrics... boy, you can just see a quote or two from "The Last Song" adorning quite a lot of Beach Boys-related books from here on in. Closes that story nicely.

So guys, what are your favorite lyrics on NPP so far?

Whatever Happened has my favorite lyrics and like I figured it is my favorite track on the album (unless the bonus tracks surprise me, and Somewhere Quiet may).  I particularly love the rhyming part starry nights/harbor lights and the moon across the bay.  It paints a really pretty picture and the way Brian sings it is great.

I must say Last Song.

If lyrics can make you tear up, the songwriter is doing something right.

Well said frog, I think we all tear up to that song and it's emotion.

Totally agree with this - excluding The Last Song, those are probably my favorite lyrics from the album. On The Island has some really chill and atmospheric lyrics too.

On the Island tells a really engaging story, which is part of the reason the video works so well. Those lyrics caught me right away.  Of course, the lyrics that bring tears are outstanding too, as noted by other posters here.  I frankly haven't noticed any bad lyrics on this record but I'll review them and comment more later if anything needs to be added to the comments posted already.

I really like some of the lyrics on Sail Away. Combining a line about one's life "spinning out of control" with such joyful backing vocals is a pretty typical Brian moment (in a non-clichéd sense), a bit like his "hey hey heys" in 'Til I Die that seem to innocently defy the grave subject matter.