Transcendental Meditation on 'Fire' (- or vise versa)

[rasmus skotte]

There seems to be a Beach Boys-fans consensus not to care for Transcendal Meditation(?) Personally I've always found it beautifull in all its quirkiness.
If you like the T.M. words but not the music, here's a way out: You can actually sing the T.M. lyrics to the tune of Woodpecker Symphony/Mrs. O'Leary's Cow (vocal parts) like this:

Tran--scendental
Me--ditation
can -- emanci-
pate -- the man and
get -- you feeling grand
(it's cool)
Fu--sion of the
ne--ver changing
with -- the ever
chan--ging with the
ne--ver changing world
(it's cool!)

If you like the T.M. tune but not its words, you can use a set  of 'Fire' words with the T.M. melody - like so:

Late one night
when we were all in bed
Old Lady Leary left
a lantern in the shed
[it's cool]
Her cow kicked
it over and then klicked
its heels and cried: "there'll be
a hot night in my town tonite"
[it's hot... it's hot, it's hot!]

Talk about a 'cool fusion'!...

[runnersdialzero]

wat

[Mr. Cohen]

Thanks to "The Tm Song", I achieved levitation in 1 hour! Fantastic results! It works more, much more than I thought it would!

[Magic Transistor Radio]

We'e their really lyrics for fire? Or were you just making them up?

Interesting musical thought though. TM does sort of have a musical similarity to Mrs Oleary's Cow.

[rasmus skotte]

Not at all. Those lyrics came from an old folk song written shortly after the Chicago Fire called something like :' Hot night in the old town tonight' or 'Mrs. O'Leary's Cow'.

[Mr. Cohen]

Interesting musical thought though. TM does sort of have a musical similarity to Mrs Oleary's Cow.

Both have chromatic, jazzy feels. In "Fire" you hear it in the driving bass run going up and down a chromatic scale, and I know that "Transcendental Meditation" has some similar elements, although I can't remember the musical elements of the song as well in my head. I believe, at least, that some of the background vocals do similar progressions. It's jazzy in the sense that jazz musicians liked to incorporate these more discordant sounds into their music to add color.  That's why the songs seem similar.

[adamghost]

It's weird this song came up today, because I was going to relay something from Alan Boyd about this song that goes back to the Definitive Vocal Credits thread....I went out on a limb when we were putting that together by suggesting that all the vocals on that song are Brian's.  Alan just sent me this e-mail which confirms this:

"Mark and I were going through all of our BB digital multitrack backups, and when we came across "Transcendental Meditation" we stopped and pulled up the eight tracks.... the vocals on that are, indeed, all Brian.  Triple--tracked.  Wonderfully weird harmonies on that tune...."

I told ya so.    Seriously, the song is one of those cool little loopy things that, even if you don't like it, enriches the band's wonderfully kooky discography.

[phirnis]

No wonder Friends used to be BW's favourite album for quite a while.

Personally, I've always loved this song and if you listen to the whole record from start to finish you'll realise how much it actually adds to the overall album experience. Now lots of people tend to criticise Friends for essentially being a very low-key record when in fact the closing triplet of "Busy Doin' Nothin'", "Diamond Head", and "Transendental Meditation" suggests this might be one of the more experimental records ever put out by a major pop group.

[Jason]

Friends does have its moments of wild experimentation - of course not on a Pet Sounds, Smile, or Smiley Smile level, but there are definitely some left turns. The aforementioned closing trio of songs is one. And I don't know if it's just me but there is a sort of an ominous feel on this album, on par with Smiley Smile.

[Fall Breaks]

Fascinating, Adam! "Transcendental Meditation" is indeed a special little song. The lyrics consist of no more than 27 words - the rest are repeats. Hm, wonder how many of them Mike wrote? 

What about the musicians for "TM"? Could we have a BW solo song (i.e. not featuring any other Beach Boys) here?

[Jason]

Highly doubt it.

[Fall Breaks]

Well, yes, me too, but it could be worth checking out for those with access to that kind of information. Just a thought.

[The Heartical Don]

Friends does have its moments of wild experimentation - of course not on a Pet Sounds, Smile, or Smiley Smile level, but there are definitely some left turns. The aforementioned closing trio of songs is one. And I don't know if it's just me but there is a sort of an ominous feel on this album, on par with Smiley Smile.

Agreed. As for me, if Friend would have had 'I Went To Sleep', 'Time To Get Alone', 'Sail Plane Song' and 'Cool Cool Water' on it, I would have qualified it as an unqualified masterpiece, on a par with Pet Sounds (erm, forgive me the turn of phrase here).

[Mr. Cohen]

You really think that "Time To Get Alone" would fit? It was always too big of a production, I felt, to really be placed on Friends. It would clash with the vibe. A lot of people agree with you, though, I'm just curious about how you feel about that. In a different form I could see how "Time To Get Alone" could fit, in fact, I once heard a demo that was closer to the feel of Friends, but it still wasn't quite there.

[The Heartical Don]

You really think that "Time To Get Alone" would fit? It was always too big of a production, I felt, to really be placed on Friends. It would clash with the vibe. A lot of people agree with you, though, I'm just curious about how you feel about that. In a different form I could see how "Time To Get Alone" could fit, in fact, I once heard a demo that was closer to the feel of Friends, but it still wasn't quite there.

You are completely right. In fact, I was pondering, just before writing: should I, or should I not? The coin fell the way it did, eventually. TTGA indeed has a grandeur production-wise that is at odds with the rest of Friends. So: let's agree on a pared-down TTGA.

The resulting LP would have been something to die or kill for. Let's make it: kill, because even in jail one can listen to Friends...

I expressly added four tracks, because Friends is so short. At some 40 minutes, in my dream version, it would be a keeper for life. A real one.

[Sheriff John Stone]

Side 2 of Friends is one of the most eclectic Beach Boys' sides - ever:

1. Anna Lee, The Healer
2. Little Bird
3. Be Still
4. Busy Doin' Nothin'
5. Diamond Head
6. Transendental Meditation

what the hell?

[Mr. Cohen]

I expressly added four tracks, because Friends is so short. At some 40 minutes, in my dream version, it would be a keeper for life. A real one.

How about adding the stereo version of "Let the Wind Blow"? It could work next to "Be Still", or something.

[runnersdialzero]

Leave Friends alone. The other songs ended up on other records, and Friends is perfect as is.

"Mark and I were going through all of our BB digital multitrack backups, and when we came across "Transcendental Meditation" we stopped and pulled up the eight tracks.... the vocals on that are, indeed, all Brian.  Triple--tracked.  Wonderfully weird harmonies on that tune...."

YAYUH. I always, always, always thought it might be all him.

[Jay]

Friends does have its moments of wild experimentation - of course not on a Pet Sounds, Smile, or Smiley Smile level, but there are definitely some left turns. The aforementioned closing trio of songs is one. And I don't know if it's just me but there is a sort of an ominous feel on this album, on par with Smiley Smile.

To me, Meant For You has always sounded a little spooky to me. Don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful song, and has one of the more underrated Mike Love vocals. But to me, there seems to be some kind of unnerving, forboding factor to it, right as it's fading into all those "do, do, do" harmonies. Like there is something not quite right, lurking in the distance. 

[PaulTMA]

Friends does have its moments of wild experimentation - of course not on a Pet Sounds, Smile, or Smiley Smile level, but there are definitely some left turns. The aforementioned closing trio of songs is one. And I don't know if it's just me but there is a sort of an ominous feel on this album, on par with Smiley Smile.

To me, Meant For You has always sounded a little spooky to me. Don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful song, and has one of the more underrated Mike Love vocals. But to me, there seems to be some kind of unnerving, forboding factor to it, right as it's fading into all those "do, do, do" harmonies. Like there is something not quite right, lurking in the distance. 

See also: Passing By.