The Smiley Smile Message Board

"Take your time, don't worry how you feel because
You know we've got forever
Maybe I'll come up with some idea and
You'd think that I was clever"

Well, it would be nice to know how much of the previously Brian only stuff was LARGELY Brian - Kiss Me Baby was always down as just him for example.

Going from what is legitimately his then Till I Die would be my choice. Johnny Carson runs it close though  ;)

"some group was playing a musical song"

Like Alan said, if we knew more about Brian's early lyrical work it woudl be easier...but going just on what we know he wrote, I would go with A Day In The Life of a Tree.  "Oh lord I lay me down, my branches to the ground, there's nothing left for me".  Gut-wrenching stuff.

"'Til I Die" is one of the best lyrics written by anyone at any time.

"Til I Die. No contest.

I always took this to be the Beach Boys, true?

My favorite of his lyrics are all of the aformentioned, and most popular ones amongst fans. Though, I will also throw in Let Him Run Wild,  Busy Doin' Nothing, and I'd Love Just Once To See You.

Reason I pick those last two is the numerous bands who have travelled down a similar path, no doubt influenced by those songs very much. Of Montreal, their lyrics get too odd and silly whereas Brian knows what is excess. That's why they're such memorable, yet odd lyrics.

For me it's "The Night Was So Young"

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

"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"

and "I've got a car, and you're not too far, please let me come over to you"

classic Brian...

That's such a romantic song. Shame it wasn't about Brian's then-wife Marilyn.

Yeah, Jason, wasn't it supposed to be inspired by a "girlfriend", Debbie Kiel, or somebody...

I never really bought into that theory, though, or maybe I just didn't want to accept it.

I always felt that Brian was just trying to appeal to his younger audience. That adult/child in him. A 34 year old man writing teenage lyrics. Specifically that line "I've got a car and you're not too far"... We've all been there. Sixteen years old with our first junker. Maybe I'm just too sentimental. It is a romantic song though...

hey doctor, i think i know who "the night" wa written about.....

Damn...beat to it.

Marilyn is so darn shexy, how could anyone have passed her up for some other girl?

marylin was seen by brian as a mother figure, nice legs though

I'm a sucker for "If Mars had life on it, I might find my wife on it".

He had a Mom.

He got a bit dependant on Marilyn as the years grew on but it was still a marriage.

mike8902 mentioned "Let's Put Our Hearts Together", alan brightmore mentioned "Johnny Carson", idigworms mentioned "Solar System", and I mentioned "The Night Was So Young". We probably could've mentioned a couple of more from The Beach Boys Love You. Seems that Brian really connected with a lot of people with that album. I really liked Brian's compositions from that period (1976-1977); his sense of humor was still intact.

Interestingly, around that time, Brian also composed the song "Marilyn Rovell". Who would've predicted that in another 2 years or so, there would be no more Brian and Marilyn. After all they went through. Very sad...

"Well, oh my, oh gosh, oh gee"

Seriously.  It's so dumb it's great.

He likes the way she carries his babies....

i meant Marylin was a suitable "mother" for Brian to carry on his genes

(and not as in Landy) excuse the perversity.

It was indeed about Debbie Keil, with whom Brian had a tumultuous (yet very rewarding) affair with.

Brian was a horny bastard during the 70s. He was even more of a sex machine than our mutual friend Beckner.

Great ones mentioned already. I'll Bet He's Nice is good, too.

How about Don't Back Down, She Knows Me Too Well, Surfer Girl, Time to Get Alone....

How about This Whole World, even?

....many times they just put on a show
 but when they leave, you wait aloooooonne...

Yikes! the story of my life, no wonder i like it!

My favorite:
"Like a tree that's just been planted I found life today".

i'm no botanist, but isnt a tree thats just been planted dead? until you pour water and leave it in the sun?

or is he meaning he's the seeds? A day in the Life of a Tree pt.21!!!!

If it has leaves and proper color it's alive. I thought you were going to the Serge Gainsbourg thread.

i was there, check it out. btw i think BEYONCE would be HOTTTTER than she already is, if she spoke french.

Listen to Les Nubians. They look like Beyonce AND they speak French.

I'm Soooo there, hey Dr. Esquire, book us a flight?

I'll get my cannon ready.

I like the song even more because of that.

Different strokes for different folks.

True. Brians a funny bastard though you have to admit.

Yep. The fatter he got, the funnier he got. BW at 340 lbs should've been doing fat white gangsta rap. Raps about drugs and birthday cake and big grilled steaks.

Maybe Smart Girls was conceived during that period?

Smart Girls isn't fat white gangsta rap. Smart Girls is portly white comedy rap.

No, but it's rap and it's funny.

touche Doc.

Tell 'em, Ian.

SMART GIRLS DOES NOT EXIST!
Never has, never will.

Uh, am I remembering this wrong?  Wasn't it Jack Reilly who wrote the lyrics (and Brian the music)?  I know, I wish Brian had written the lyrics and sang the thing but... ???

"Til I Die"

I knew you'd come over to the dark side, Jeff. It's my favourite too, pretty much goes without saying being a Roller Skating Child nut.
I also like what's immediately before that line:
"We'll make sweet lovin' when the sun goes down
We'll even do more when your mama's not around"

Love You has his most entertaining lyrics.  Till I Die is he greatest personal statement in his own words.

Question, maybe deserving its own thread......

I bought Pet Sounds in London this past weekend and watched the interview with Tony Asher.

I knew that Tony was the chief lyricist but I had been under the impression that he mostly helped Brian flesh out his ideas, put them into verse form, and help fit/set them to music.

But the interview gives the impression that Brian did the music only, that the ideas and lyrics were Ashers..

What is the prevailing wisdom on this topic?

I read a couple of interviews about it, and I THINK it was like this:

Brian and Tony met at Brian's house and talked for a couple of hours about a topic (growing up, new love, dates, break-ups...the whole PS-stuff). To establish a mood and find a topic for a song. Then Brian played a song or melody or some chords on the piano, and Tony went home and wrote lyrics to it. = Idea by Brian AND Tony, Words by Tony. I also read that Brian made Tony correct or change some lyrics now and then.

Correct me if I´m wrong.

Brian could be quite specific on things he didn't like. And he also had lyric ideas that Tony had to work from. Didn't Tony say that Brian "didn't write lyrics, he edited them" or something similar? I think Brian had the same relation to Mike Love with writing. Mike wrote the words, but Brian could tell Mike what the song was supposed to be about, and even edit his lines.

JR

That sounds closer to what I've heard in the past. Tonys spin in the film makes it sound a little more like he was the sole lyricist.

In addition to the other Love You stuff listed here, I have always liked the Brian being Brian line "...pat, pat, pat pat pat her on her butt, butt"   very profound...

But for weighty, contemplative poetic work, 'Til I Die is a no-brainer.

"I try hard to be more
What you want me to be"


Killed me the first time I heard this. Hearing this part in stereo freaked me out. Just the brutal honesty it's conveying.