The Smiley Smile Message Board

Last week, I paid a visit to my local used record shop.  As I walked in the door, the owner (who I am good friends with) had just finished buying a stack of LPs off some old hippie dude.  Stuck in the center of the stack was an LP I have spent years looking for- a copy of Van Dyke Parks' "Song Cycle".  I dove at that thing like a fly on hot sh*t.

I've listened to this album a couple of times so far, and I am curious as to what other people think about this album.  To me, this thing is fantastic, and a complete mess... all at the same time.  Its like a crazy guy who has random occasional moments of clarity, and in those moments of clarity, there is sheer brilliance.  Most psychedelic bands tried to make this music by having a four piece group bang on guitars.  Van takes this to the Nth degree with a freaking 40 piece orchestra.

There is so much of "what Smile might have been" in this album, its just plain scary.  It makes me wonder if Smile was Van influencing Brian, or Brian influencing Van.  Did Van take what he learned from Brian and create this album, or did Van just simply bring "his own thing" and mix it with Brian's songwriting and producing?  Perhaps the answer is somewhere in the middle... a meeting of the minds.  Interestingly, there is a photo of Van on the back cover of the LP, wearing very Brian-esque dark-rimmed glasses.

And to end this rant, I will use a quote I saw on a review of this album from amazon.com that really made me laugh:

"Parks sounds like a hallucinating midget."

What do you guys think about this album?

I use this album in anecdotes more than I actually listen to it. I like how one track is "Van Dyke Parks" credited to "Public Domain" followed by a song called "Public Domain" credited to "Van Dyke Parks". Or is it the other way around? Either way, I think that's funny.

It definitely has its moments of brilliance, The All Golden and By The People in particular. That said, I prefer VDP's style being contrasted with BW's pop sensibility. To me, Song Cycle is not at all a display of what Smile could have been and probably even less so than Smiley Smile. It's still quite a terrific listen from time to time but it also serves as kind of a reminder to me that Smile was clearly more than the mere sum of its creators' abilities.

I really like Donovan's Colours -- bit like wendy carlos

I find it hard to listen to on vinyl or CD.
Very dense instrumentation with a lot going on and those vocals......

Some friends of mine who REALLY like it got into it under the lysergic influence back in the 60s.
They still love it. Song Cycle that is.

The first time I listened to it was some weeks after it was released. I’d read in the music papers that he’d worked on Smile, but that the whole project was abandoned. I played the record in the music shop and I was instantly knocked out. All those great sounds; was this we had missed with Smile? It became my Smile substitute back then and it is still one of the best albums from that era, IMO. People back then were wondering whether Van Dyke Parks was a brilliant musician and would become one of the important composers of the century, or a name no-one would remember in a couple of years.....
Some five years ago after one of his rare concerts I met him back stage and told him Song Cycle was my all-time favourite album, he smiled and wanted me to be his son. He’s a great musician and a person with his heart in the right place.

I love Song Cycle. I found it on cassette for $1.00 at a local record shop. It stood out like a piece of gold in a pile of sh*t in a box full of cassettes of forgotten substandard music.

I seldom listen to it nowadays, but when i do it still blows me away. One of my all time favorites

There are probably about 6-7 songs on Song Cycle I really, really like. But like any Van Dyke album, there are always some songs where I just don't feel his vibe. I just don't always connect with him musically or lyrically, but when the stars align, he really knocks me out. Some of the songs on Song Cycle, I believe, are amongst the greatest achievements of the whole 60s psychedelic musical movement. "All Golden" is like tripping through time, really an amazing song with its changing structures and whimsical, wistful feel. All the musical colors are just right, from the strings, to the horns, to the harmonica... man, it's just perfect. "Donovan's Colours" is another great song, and the title really fits, with all those beautiful textures weaving with each other in different combinations. It's like a patchwork quilt of musical adventures. "Laurel Canyon Blvd. 1/2" has a wonderful jumping bass line at the end, and with the whistles and crazy strings and everything else, really reminds me musically of a busy city. "Palm Desert" has some wonderful transitions, like the "By palm desert..." part to the "I... came... west... unto Hollywood!" part, and it just keeps going on like that with brilliant transitions. The horns and sound effects are really fun (and psychedelic) on that song, reminds me of the early recordings of "Rhapsody in Blue" that Gerswhin actually took part in, before other composers insisted on turning into a grand symphony, taking out some of the swing (hear the original here: http://www.archive.org/details/rhapblue11924 (http://www.archive.org/details/rhapblue11924) & http://www.archive.org/details/rhapblue21924 (http://www.archive.org/details/rhapblue21924)). I could go on and on...

It really has a cinematic scope and feel, and I think coupled with the tape splices and numerous sections, makes it sound a lot like SMiLE.

Some interesting quotes from Van Dyke on Song Cycle:
"[referring to Song Cycle/SMiLE lyrics]  Yes, those days of free association in lyrics are over for me. When I looked at the sales report from the songs I wrote, I decided I would not do that again. So I retired from that, but I still think it's a valid idiom. Certainly one for James Joyce, who influenced my decision to enter that in a poetical attempt."

"The albums I've done--if that's what you mean by my music--are really unpremeditated by-and-large. Looking back on them (one, on average, every five years, since I was 23 years old), I see something in common in them: the all appear to be thematic, and have an unintended "cinematic" quality ("synesthetic" might be a better word!). They're all demanding in many ways as well, although this too is unintended. They're thicker with thought than most album experiences that are built with disconnected free-standing songs. I don't apologize for that. I wish there were more artists who pursued this path, as it leads to different places.

Yet, it's fair to say: the age of the "concept" album, (at least as far as low-brow music goes, is passe). Sure, that's in part due to a ravenous audience need for instant info. Comedy has taken the same hit really, with the triumph of the one-liner over the tale of the shaggy dog. "Tail wags dog". "Dog bites man"." Headless woman in topless bar". Short ideas are easy to sell and digest. The single is still the ultimate sound-bite-freeze-frame, and what drives the recording industry."

We can see that the failure of the whole SMiLE period and the subsequent release Song Cycle left an unsatisfied mark on more than just Brian WIlson.

Like it just fine. Prefer Discover America, though.

Love it......It's a bit hectic in places, but in a good "Zappa-ish" kind of way. You were fortunate to find
a copy on vinyl, congrats.

I have almost every word (and note) of it engraved on my brain in an utterly delightful way. It is a unique
effort and possesses a sweet effervescence that rejuvenates my gradually deteriorating cranial processes with each occasional indulgence in its decadently atmospheric essence.

It's rich stuff!! ;D

Bought this yesterday, and I just listened to it... Twice, actually, and rarely have I been this puzzled by any record. It felt like some mischievous elf hammering my brain with an oversized cartoon hammer and making me see stars. Good thing I was sober, I'm sure Song Cycle would be a horrendous experience under any kind of influence.

I didn't understand anything, but I'm hooked. I promise to listen to it everyday, until I get it, whatever it means in this case. Fascinating and disturbing.

You'll get it - it's one of the most fascinating works by any artist. It helps to have the lyrics handy, too. I for one didn't quite get his insistence on it being an elegy of sorts for his late brother (he was stationed in Germany and VDP believes he was a casualty of Cold War espionage) until I had the lyrics on my vinyl copy, it clarifies some of the deliberately obscured vocals and the wordplay a bit. It's a very dark record despite the fantasia going on in the sound.

Also worth picking up if you see it is the 33 & 1/3rd book on the record - a really great piece of work.

it's genius but Bizarre, I have to be in the right mood to listen to it..personally I like "Jump" better..

When I listen to this record, I'm distracted by how much I dislike his voice.

I love this record, though I don't really associate it with the BB's anymore because it's such a great departure in many ways from SMiLE.  At first, I was terribly perplexed by it, but after listening to it over time, I began to develop the "music memory" for the songs (meaning I could actually remember a song well enough to play it in my head lol).

I was already in bed, but this record tortured my mind so I had to get up and give it a spin... I can't say I love yet, but the whole thing is like some sort of beautiful riddle I want to solve. So much going on. I'm definitely in awe.

By the way, does anyone know if the opening "tape that didn't make the grade" is a real thing (an old demo from VDP's past) or recorded purposefully for the album?

Vine Street was written by Randy Newman. Parks is covering it on this record. So, if such a tape does exist, it would be from Randy's past, not Van Dyke's.

It's a recording of the old folk tune 'Black Jack Davey' recorded by his friend Steve Young, and 'dirtied up' in the studio to make it sound older. Steve Young is credited as playing 'Folk'. Steve Young is also the subject of The All Golden, too.

Randy Newman's demo of Vine Street is on Youtube - I prefer Harry Neilson's version of the song as compared to VDP.

Song Cycle is masterful and confusing at the same time - pull it out every so often for a listen.

I definitely prefer "Discover America" for it's fun-soaked giddy goofiness that puts a smile on your face... but "Song Cycle" is so dense, baroque, and brilliant that it's hard not to appreciate and be in awe of. It's great to suddenly pick out a pun or reference and after all those years, still go "oh yeah! That's what that means."

Also, prolonged exposure to this record makes me sing along in a hallucinatory helium VDP voice...

The odd thing about Van Dyke's singing voice is that it sounds even more affected than his speaking voice. With most singers of any kind, that's reversed.

I bought Song Cycle in 1989 when i was 21 and had been Smile obsessed for 3 years. Blew me away then, blows me away now. I can understand the comments about Van Dyke's  vocals , they are not to everyone's taste but i like them. Beats Pariah Scary and Britney Pukesome any day of the week. The arrangements are fantastic , the lyrics puntastic. For a few weeks i even liked it more than Smile - probably something to do with being able to listen to it from beginning to end without missing pieces and all that stuff i smoked....and the sugar lumps i ate.
If you like Smile you really need to buy Song Cycle and listen to it at least a few times. Van Dyke Parks was and is a tremendous talent. A real shame those 2 didn't finish Smile and make more records together but you knew that already.

LOLOL

It's a perfect record.

One of the few that he's made that I find listenable.

***** (+*)