The Smiley Smile Message Board

Okay two totally un-related questions. But firstly (this might not seem important and its probably not) but what is Nik Venet's actual name (I remember reading that he had some greek sort of name) And ive seen it spelt nik and nick venet.. but its definately nik venet isnt it?

Also Im sure everyone knows that chant in Do You Like Worms (mahalo lu lei - quoted from Priore's latest book) but does anyone know what this translates to in English and what the rest of the lyrics (in hawaiin and english) are?

Not too sure about the Hawaiin lyrics but the engish lyrics are:

Waving from the ocean liner
Beaded Cheering indians behind them.

Rock, Rock, Roll. Plymouth Rock roll over.

Ribbon of concrete, just see what you've done now
To the church of the American Indian.

Once upon the Sandwhich Isles
The social structure steamed upon Hawaii


Rock, Rock, Roll. Plymouth Rock roll over.

Bicycle Rider, just see what you've done now
To the church of the American Indian.

Mahalo lu le, Mahalo lu la, Keeni waka pula. (according to Van Dyke, is a chant of Thanksgiving)

Hope that helps.  ;D

Mikeyj - Here's a link to an essay on this site that MacAndrew wrote about the Hawaiin lyrics:

http://www.smileysmile.net/library/index.php/SMiLE_and_Hawaii_-_No_gibberish_after_all

Enjoy!

Nik Venet - born Nikolas Kostantinos Venetoulis, (12 December 1936 - 2 January 1998)

Many, many years ago, when the first Smile started leaking out, I asked an Hawaiian friend of mine what this chant meant. He took one listen and said it was gibberish - cod-Hawaiian, that it sort of sounded like the language but was actually nonsensical.

Man, that Smileysmile Wiki is freakin awesome. Great job, Chuck!

The DYLW Hawaii chant was put together by Brian. Van Dyke had given him a book with Hawaiian words ( something like poems or a dictionary maybe?). It is gibberish of course but it's supposed to be a blessing of some kind.

 8)

Quite recently, someone (here ? A.N. Other MB ?) delivered a 'translation' of the passage in question by taking the words in isolation and using a dictionary, ignoring all rules of grammar & syntax. If you juggled the word's multiple meanings enough, something vagely coherent emerges.

One question - why does it read "Mahalo" in the printed 2004 lyric when Brian is patently singing "Wahala" ?

You know, I always thought it was "Wahala" until those printed lyrics came out.  I never heard it as "Mahalo" until then, but after I saw those lyrics I started hearing it as "Mahalo", even if it isn't.  I still can't really tell, especially since Brian doesn't really pronounce things as well when he sings anymore.  But I think you are right as far as the old '66 version, he's most definitely singing "Wahala" there. 

Of course there are other "SMiLE" lyrics that are not sung the same way they are printed in the BWPS CD booklet: in "Surf's Up", the printed lyrics read "handsome mannered baton" whereas Brian clearly sings "handsome man and baton" (which is the way the lyric was printed on the original "Surf's Up" album). Also, the famous nonsense word "columnated" again appears in the CD booklet, but Brian & company actually sing the gramatically correct "colonnaded".

I was floored when I saw how they actually played that drum beat during the recording of Smile featurette on the DVD. DYLW/Roll Plymouth Rock has the coolest beat to it. Sometimes while I'm conversing with somebody, I'm not really paying attention to the conversation, but I'll be playing that beat in my mind...boom ba DADA boom boom.....

What you guys are saying about the lyrics only adds to the allure....they work on so many different levels. They have so many different pronunciations, meanings, etc....they are like the rubicks cube of song lyrics...!

.. I think it was Kenny Mac, AGD.

Barnyard comes to mind... In the 1966 demo Brian sang "Out in the Barnyard the chickens drew their number. Out in farmyard the cook is chopping lumber." Where in BWPS he sings barnyard for both lines.

Also changing "Upper Country" to "Agriculture" in "Great Shape".

I think that "boomboom DADA boom boom" drum beat is among the most UNDERESTIMATED pieces of Brian Wilson music.....I LIVE for that drum beat.....

"Also, the famous nonsense word "columnated" again appears in the CD booklet, but Brian & company actually sing the gramatically correct 'colonnaded'."

"Columnated" appears because that is what Van Dyke wrote.  Nonsense word or not, the phrase has always been "columnated ruins domino".  This has been quoted several times, even spoken by Van Dyke in one of the docs.  I doubt they would change probably the most famous line of Smile on a small technicality like that.  Brian only sings "colonnaded" because he can't pronounce things as clearly as he used to. 

I agree that "columnated" has gone down in history as Park's chosen lyric for "Surf's Up", but "colonnaded" is the gramatically-correct term for architectural columns erected next to each other (just waiting for time to allow them to collapse like dominos!). Sure, Brian's enunciation isn't what it used to be, but I find it hard to believe that he would slur the pronunciation of a made-up word and make it sound exactly like the gramatically-correct version of the term that Parks was playing off of. The choice to sing "colonnaded" on BWPS had to have been a conscious one.

I would add that Parks fools around with other lyrics in the printed booklet accompanying BWPS as well. The previously-mentioned "handsome-mannered baton" sounds like one of those misheard lines that show up on internet lyric searches. Did Parks really want that to be the correct lyric? I think "handsome man and baton" works a bit better, don't you? Also, according to the official BWPS booklet, the "Cabin-Essence" lyric reads "field of rain" which is, as someone on this board once pointed out, a marsh! I'll stick with "field of grain" thank-you-very-much... and so does Brian on the track itself.

For what it's worth, after reading the "I'm In Great Shape" lyric as "...of the agriculture", I went back to listen to that '66 demo and it sounds like Brian does sing "agriculture" on that as well...just not very well-enunciated!

Hmmm...It's definitely "agriculture" in BWPS, but try listening to the demo with headphones.  Whatever it is, it's a little hard to hear, but you can clearly hear the hard "p" sound in "upper country".

Well thats what it says on the original lyric sheet that came with the Surf's Up LP

I like handsome mannered baton....