Mark Linett Billboard Interview About SMiLE

[Roger Ryan]

i find it weird that people think that the lyric is "wadoo".

I always heard it as 'water' and I don't have the intention to change my perception just because a few nutters on the internet are going off the deep end because they can't bear the terrible void in their lives suddenly brought about by a certain announcement the validity of which can only be empirically tested at the precise moment when delivery trucks will arrive at numerous record stores and solidified versions of the fantasies as yet merely describable as 'pipedreams' of said nutters will be unloaded and offered for purchase.

I don't want to be a "nutter" about it, but I always assumed it was "water, water, water, oooh" until I listened to the SOT session disc. There you can hear the first vocal overdub (there's around three or four vocal overdubs) and it is very clearly sung as "wa-doo, wa-doo, wa-doo". The overdub of the "aahs" help to give the impression of the "er" sound.

Seriously, at some point, I think the Beach Boys decided it sounded close enough to "water" to stick it in "Cool, Cool Water" and be done with it! As we know, lyric sheets can't be wholly trusted (case in point: Bryan Ferry's CD reissue of THE BRIDE STRIPPED BARE actually contained lyrics taken from a fan site that were hilariously mis-transcribed). Of course, this is really only a problem for those who demand to know what Brian was thinking in '66/'67. If everyone in the Beach Boys decided that was the "Water" chant in the ensuing years...well, it's the "Water" chant. Then again, maybe Brian thought "wa-doo" sounded more like water than "water"!

[The Heartical Don]

i find it weird that people think that the lyric is "wadoo".

I always heard it as 'water' and I don't have the intention to change my perception just because a few nutters on the internet are going off the deep end because they can't bear the terrible void in their lives suddenly brought about by a certain announcement the validity of which can only be empirically tested at the precise moment when delivery trucks will arrive at numerous record stores and solidified versions of the fantasies as yet merely describable as 'pipedreams' of said nutters will be unloaded and offered for purchase.

I don't want to be a "nutter" about it, but I always assumed it was "water, water, water, oooh" until I listened to the SOT session disc. There you can hear the first vocal overdub (there's around three or four vocal overdubs) and it is very clearly sung as "wa-doo, wa-doo, wa-doo". The overdub of the "aahs" help to give the impression of the "er" sound.

Seriously, at some point, I think the Beach Boys decided it sounded close enough to "water" to stick it in "Cool, Cool Water" and be done with it! As we know, lyric sheets can't be wholly trusted (case in point: Bryan Ferry's CD reissue of THE BRIDE STRIPPED BARE actually contained lyrics taken from a fan site that were hilariously mis-transcribed). Of course, this is really only a problem for those who demand to know what Brian was thinking in '66/'67. If everyone in the Beach Boys decided that was the "Water" chant in the ensuing years...well, it's the "Water" chant. Then again, maybe Brian thought "wa-doo" sounded more like water than "water"!

Hi roger -

please don't take my irony too serious. And thank you for your interesting insights...

[Micha]

Even if it was "wadoo", that sounds more like "Water" than "wa-wa-ho-wa" does! 

[Cam Mott]

I get the "nutter" ref, saucy Don.

Anyway, the point is it does not say "water".  Does its inclusion in a track years later make it mean "water" years before? Was it even recorded years before?

Does the inclusion of the "woodshop" make a track about rebuilding after a fire? Maybe but probably not.

Seems like a lot is taken for granted with very little known, but that's just me.

[The Shift]

i find it weird that people think that the lyric is "wadoo".

I always heard it as 'water' and I don't have the intention to change my perception just because a few nutters on the internet are going off the deep end because they can't bear the terrible void in their lives suddenly brought about by a certain announcement the validity of which can only be empirically tested at the precise moment when delivery trucks will arrive at numerous record stores and solidified versions of the fantasies as yet merely describable as 'pipedreams' of said nutters will be unloaded and offered for purchase.

I don't want to be a "nutter" about it, but I always assumed it was "water, water, water, oooh" until I listened to the SOT session disc. There you can hear the first vocal overdub (there's around three or four vocal overdubs) and it is very clearly sung as "wa-doo, wa-doo, wa-doo". The overdub of the "aahs" help to give the impression of the "er" sound.

Seriously, at some point, I think the Beach Boys decided it sounded close enough to "water" to stick it in "Cool, Cool Water" and be done with it! As we know, lyric sheets can't be wholly trusted (case in point: Bryan Ferry's CD reissue of THE BRIDE STRIPPED BARE actually contained lyrics taken from a fan site that were hilariously mis-transcribed). Of course, this is really only a problem for those who demand to know what Brian was thinking in '66/'67. If everyone in the Beach Boys decided that was the "Water" chant in the ensuing years...well, it's the "Water" chant. Then again, maybe Brian thought "wa-doo" sounded more like water than "water"!

I'd be happy with the theory that Brian substituted "Wah-der" for "Water" for the simple reason that the letter "t" in "water" would have made for an awful noise click-spitting into the microphone.  I've always heard it as "wah-der" but understood it to mean "water". 

I'm sure there are other examples of this in rock history and indeed in drama productions (though I can't think of any of the top of my head).

[The Heartical Don]

I get the "nutter" ref, saucy Don.

Anyway, the point is it does not say "water".  Does its inclusion in a track years later make it mean "water" years before? Was it even recorded years before?

Does the inclusion of the "woodshop" make a track about rebuilding after a fire? Maybe but probably not.

Seems like a lot is taken for granted with very little known, but that's just me.

This reads like a quite slight post, but I think there is a  lot of wisdom in it. SMiLE mythology has built up to such an extent that I myself discover on a regular basis that what I take to be set in stone is in fact quite fluid and open to debate - exactly because over time, ideas turn into suggestions turn into assumptions turn into dogmas turn into 'fact'.

[Les P]

i find it weird that people think that the lyric is "wadoo".

I always assumed it was "water."  But in the sheet music from BWPS, it is irrefutably printed as "wa-doo".  But since that was 2004, let the argument begin that it has no bearing on what they were singing in 1966.

And FWIW, the BWPS "Surf's Up" lyrics include the phrase "to a handsome mannered baton" instead of "to a handsome man and baton" in the 1971 sheet music.   The latter always made sense to me; the former not so much.

[bgas]

i find it weird that people think that the lyric is "wadoo".

I always assumed it was "water."  But in the sheet music from BWPS, it is irrefutably printed as "wa-doo".   But since that was 2004, let the argument begin that it has no bearing on what they were singing in 1966.

And FWIW, the BWPS "Surf's Up" lyrics include the phrase "to a handsome mannered baton" instead of "to a handsome man and baton" in the 1971 sheet music.   The latter always made sense to me; the former not so much.

If you need a definitive answer ( "to a handsome mannered baton"  or  "to a handsome man and baton")  ask Fishmonk.

[Mahalo]

  I'm sorry, but that was hilarious...With all due respect to Fishmonk I can appreciate a good analysis of VDP lyrics...but there is no definite meaning to it all; which imo was the point of the lyrics- an abstractness/amiguity...

I always sing it as "Handsome mannered baton..." it is a smoother line, and I like it because of it's abstractness.

[buddhahat]

I didn't realise it was printed as wa-doo in the BWPS lyrics!

Surely this chant has to be based on water. Brian did the underwater chant with anderle etc. (referenced in one of the articles in LLVS) then said he was planning to do a similar thing with The Beach Boys. I always assumed that the 'water chant' was the result of that thinking. I guess as Don points out, everything is fluid when it comes to Smile!

[pixletwin]

Does it need to have "water" in the lyric to be about water? Isn't it enough that the darned track bloody well sounds like water? 

[Jeff]

Does it need to have "water" in the lyric to be about water? Isn't it enough that the darned track bloody well sounds like water? 

Also, if it is indeed "wa-doo," that still suggests water.

What do people do after a fire burns up their stuff?  Naturally, they cry.  And what are tears made of?  Water.  Not just water of course, but the chant wouldn't really have sounded right if it had included "mineral salts" and "enzymes."

In any case, at the risk of being savaged by the literalist crowd, a double entendre like this would not be unusual for Smile.

[A Million Units In Jan!]

i find it weird that people think that the lyric is "wadoo".

I always assumed it was "water."  But in the sheet music from BWPS, it is irrefutably printed as "wa-doo".   But since that was 2004, let the argument begin that it has no bearing on what they were singing in 1966.

And FWIW, the BWPS "Surf's Up" lyrics include the phrase "to a handsome mannered baton" instead of "to a handsome man and baton" in the 1971 sheet music.   The latter always made sense to me; the former not so much.

If you need a definitive answer ( "to a handsome mannered baton"  or  "to a handsome man and baton")  ask Fishmonk.

What does it mean, though? I mean, you're reading it as 'a handsome mannered baton', or 'a handsome man and baton', but you aren't really listening to it! You're ignoring the obvious here. What does he mean by 'baton'? Do you think he's being literal about it? I don't, I think he's talking about the 'passing' of a baton, like the 'passing' of a joint. You guys aren't really listening to the music, man!

[Roger Ryan]

i find it weird that people think that the lyric is "wadoo".

I always assumed it was "water."  But in the sheet music from BWPS, it is irrefutably printed as "wa-doo".   But since that was 2004, let the argument begin that it has no bearing on what they were singing in 1966.

And FWIW, the BWPS "Surf's Up" lyrics include the phrase "to a handsome mannered baton" instead of "to a handsome man and baton" in the 1971 sheet music.   The latter always made sense to me; the former not so much.

If you need a definitive answer ( "to a handsome mannered baton"  or  "to a handsome man and baton")  ask Fishmonk.

What does it mean, though? I mean, you're reading it as 'a handsome mannered baton', or 'a handsome man and baton', but you aren't really listening to it! You're ignoring the obvious here. What does he mean by 'baton'? Do you think he's being literal about it? I don't, I think he's talking about the 'passing' of a baton, like the 'passing' of a joint. You guys aren't really listening to the music, man!

I assume you're being sarcastic here; while I can't speak to the "handsome mannered baton", the "handsome man and baton" would be the Drum Major, the leader of a marching band.

[Andrew G. Doe]

i find it weird that people think that the lyric is "wadoo".

I always assumed it was "water."  But in the sheet music from BWPS, it is irrefutably printed as "wa-doo".   But since that was 2004, let the argument begin that it has no bearing on what they were singing in 1966.

And FWIW, the BWPS "Surf's Up" lyrics include the phrase "to a handsome mannered baton" instead of "to a handsome man and baton" in the 1971 sheet music.   The latter always made sense to me; the former not so much.

If you need a definitive answer ( "to a handsome mannered baton"  or  "to a handsome man and baton")  ask Fishmonk.

What does it mean, though? I mean, you're reading it as 'a handsome mannered baton', or 'a handsome man and baton', but you aren't really listening to it! You're ignoring the obvious here. What does he mean by 'baton'? Do you think he's being literal about it? I don't, I think he's talking about the 'passing' of a baton, like the 'passing' of a joint. You guys aren't really listening to the music, man!

I assume you're being sarcastic here; while I can't speak to the "handsome mannered baton", the "handsome man and baton" would be the Drum Major, the leader of a marching band.

Or in this precise example, the conductor of the orchestra. Here's Brian's own explanation of what the lyric of "Surf's Up" means, just days after the Columbia 12/15/66 session:


At home, as the black acetate dub turned on his bedroom hi-fi set, Wilson tried to explain the words.

"It's a man at a concert," he said. "All around him there's the audience, playing their roles, dressed up in fancy clothes, looking through opera glasses, but so far away from the drama, from life—'Back through the opera glass you see the pit and the pendulum drawn.'"

The music begins to take over. 'Columnated ruins domino.' Empires, ideas, lives, institutions—everything has to fall, tumbling like dominoes.

He begins to awaken to the music; sees the pretentiousness of everything. 'The music hall a costly bow.' Then even the music is gone, turned into a trumpeter swan, into what the music really is.

'Canvas the town and brush the backdrop.' He's off in his vision, on a trip. Reality is gone; he's creating it like a dream. 'Dove-nested towers.' Europe, a long time ago. 'The laughs come hard in Auld Lang Syne.' The poor people in the cellar taverns, trying to make themselves happy by singing.

Then there's the parties, the 'drinking, trying to forget the wars, the battles at sea. "While at port a do or die.' Ships in the harbor, battling it out. A kind of Roman empire thing.

'A choke of grief.' At his own sorrow and the emptiness of his life, because he can't even cry for the suffering in the world, for his own suffering.

And then, hope. 'Surf's up! . . . Come about hard and join the once and often spring you gave.' Go back to the kids, to the beach, to childhood.

"'I heard the word'—of God; 'Wonderful thing'—the joy of enlightenment, of seeing God. And what is it? 'A children's song!' And then there's the song itself; the song of children; the song of the universe rising and falling in wave after wave, the song of God, hiding the love from us, but always letting us find it again, like a mother singing to her children."

The record was over. Wilson went into the kitchen and squirted Reddi-Whip direct from the can into his mouth; made himself a chocolate Great Shake, and ate a couple of candy bars.

"Of course that's a very intellectual explanation," he said. "But maybe sometimes you have to do an intellectual thing. If they don't get the words, they'll get the music. You can get hung up in words, you know. Maybe they work; I don't know." He fidgeted with a telescope.

[The Shift]

i find it weird that people think that the lyric is "wadoo".

I always assumed it was "water."  But in the sheet music from BWPS, it is irrefutably printed as "wa-doo".  But since that was 2004, let the argument begin that it has no bearing on what they were singing in 1966.

And FWIW, the BWPS "Surf's Up" lyrics include the phrase "to a handsome mannered baton" instead of "to a handsome man and baton" in the 1971 sheet music.   The latter always made sense to me; the former not so much.

If you need a definitive answer ( "to a handsome mannered baton"  or  "to a handsome man and baton")  ask Fishmonk.

What does it mean, though? I mean, you're reading it as 'a handsome mannered baton', or 'a handsome man and baton', but you aren't really listening to it! You're ignoring the obvious here. What does he mean by 'baton'? Do you think he's being literal about it? I don't, I think he's talking about the 'passing' of a baton, like the 'passing' of a joint. You guys aren't really listening to the music, man!

I assume you're being sarcastic here; while I can't speak to the "handsome mannered baton", the "handsome man and baton" would be the Drum Major, the leader of a marching band.

or the orchestra conductor...

[Roger Ryan]

Thanks for sharing Brian's explanation again - that's always cool to read and it's probably the most detail Brian has ever given on what a song's subject matter meant to him!

While the orchestra conductor interpretation is more than likely what Brian took from the lyrics (even though he didn't mention this directly), I am struck by how Parks uses the term "handsome". With his back to the audience, the physical appearance of the orchestra conductor would not seem to matter much whereas a Drum Major as the front man for a civilization (?) marching behind him would benefit from being handsome. Given the surreal combination of images going on (a pit and pendulum would not actually be seen in a theatre where an orchestra is performing a concert, right?), I don't see it as contradictory to Brian's interpretation that a Drum Major is leading a procession.

Yep, no need to get "hung up on words"...but it's fun to discuss the potential associations the songs elicit  

[Andrew G. Doe]

I've often wondered if Brian pointed Van Dyke in the direction of this poem by his childhood favourite, Edgar Allan Poe (note the first stanza):

  The Conqueror Worm

    Lo! 'tis a gala night
    Within the lonesome latter years!
    An angel throng, bewinged, bedight
    In veils and drowned in tears,
    Sit in a theatre to see
    A play of hopes and fears,
    While the orchestra breathes fitfully
    The music of the spheres.

    Mimes, in the form of God on high,
    Mutter and mumble low,
    And hither and thither fly—
    Mere puppets they, who come and go
    At bidding of vast formless things
    That shift the scenery to and fro,
    Flapping from out their Condor wings
    Invisible Wo!

    That motley drama—oh, be sure
    It shall not be forgot!
    With its Phantom chased for evermore,
    By a crowd that seize it not,
    Through a circle that ever returneth in
    To the self-same spot,
    And much of Madness, and more of Sin,
    And Horror the soul of the plot.

    But see, amid the mimic rout
    A crawling shape intrude!
    A blood-red thing that writhes from out
    The scenic solitude!
    It writhes!—it writhes!—with mortal pangs
    The mimes become its food,
    And seraphs sob at vermin fangs
    In human gore imbued!

    Out—out are the lights—out all!
    And, over each quivering form,
    The curtain, a funeral pall,
    Comes down with the rush of a storm,
    And the angels, all pallid and wan,
    Uprising, unveiling, affirm
    That the play is the tragedy, “Man,”
    And its hero the Conqueror Worm.

[buddhahat]

 
Wind Chimes - he did a mix of this on acetate described by Vosse but it's not been found, unless it shows up on The Smile Sessions


Correction:  no Fire mono mix.
And he did edit the Wind Chimes multitrack sections together - leavinga couple of seconds of empty air space between two sections that Linnett edited out for the GV box set mix.

I often wonder if this edit of windchimes with the syncopated counting in between sections is the version Vosse was talking about. That counting definitely sounds like it was edited to sound the way it does - it's not just an accident. Admittedly the version Vosse describes sounds incredible and had them in fits apparently but remember those guys were smoking a lot at the time.

[brother john]

i find it weird that people think that the lyric is "wadoo".

I always assumed it was "water."  But in the sheet music from BWPS, it is irrefutably printed as "wa-doo".   But since that was 2004, let the argument begin that it has no bearing on what they were singing in 1966.

And FWIW, the BWPS "Surf's Up" lyrics include the phrase "to a handsome mannered baton" instead of "to a handsome man and baton" in the 1971 sheet music.   The latter always made sense to me; the former not so much.

If you need a definitive answer ( "to a handsome mannered baton"  or  "to a handsome man and baton")  ask Fishmonk.

What does it mean, though? I mean, you're reading it as 'a handsome mannered baton', or 'a handsome man and baton', but you aren't really listening to it! You're ignoring the obvious here. What does he mean by 'baton'? Do you think he's being literal about it? I don't, I think he's talking about the 'passing' of a baton, like the 'passing' of a joint. You guys aren't really listening to the music, man!

I assume you're being sarcastic here; while I can't speak to the "handsome mannered baton", the "handsome man and baton" would be the Drum Major, the leader of a marching band.

Or in this precise example, the conductor of the orchestra. Here's Brian's own explanation of what the lyric of "Surf's Up" means, just days after the Columbia 12/15/66 session:


At home, as the black acetate dub turned on his bedroom hi-fi set, Wilson tried to explain the words.

"It's a man at a concert," he said. "All around him there's the audience, playing their roles, dressed up in fancy clothes, looking through opera glasses, but so far away from the drama, from life—'Back through the opera glass you see the pit and the pendulum drawn.'"

The music begins to take over. 'Columnated ruins domino.' Empires, ideas, lives, institutions—everything has to fall, tumbling like dominoes.

He begins to awaken to the music; sees the pretentiousness of everything. 'The music hall a costly bow.' Then even the music is gone, turned into a trumpeter swan, into what the music really is.

'Canvas the town and brush the backdrop.' He's off in his vision, on a trip. Reality is gone; he's creating it like a dream. 'Dove-nested towers.' Europe, a long time ago. 'The laughs come hard in Auld Lang Syne.' The poor people in the cellar taverns, trying to make themselves happy by singing.

Then there's the parties, the 'drinking, trying to forget the wars, the battles at sea. "While at port a do or die.' Ships in the harbor, battling it out. A kind of Roman empire thing.

'A choke of grief.' At his own sorrow and the emptiness of his life, because he can't even cry for the suffering in the world, for his own suffering.

And then, hope. 'Surf's up! . . . Come about hard and join the once and often spring you gave.' Go back to the kids, to the beach, to childhood.

"'I heard the word'—of God; 'Wonderful thing'—the joy of enlightenment, of seeing God. And what is it? 'A children's song!' And then there's the song itself; the song of children; the song of the universe rising and falling in wave after wave, the song of God, hiding the love from us, but always letting us find it again, like a mother singing to her children."

The record was over. Wilson went into the kitchen and squirted Reddi-Whip direct from the can into his mouth; made himself a chocolate Great Shake, and ate a couple of candy bars.

"Of course that's a very intellectual explanation," he said. "But maybe sometimes you have to do an intellectual thing. If they don't get the words, they'll get the music. You can get hung up in words, you know. Maybe they work; I don't know." He fidgeted with a telescope.

But then this is only Brian's interpretation (unless Van Dyke told him that it means this, which as far as I know he didn't.)

I don't think there's much mileage to be had trying to work out what the lyrics mean. VDP was an arch ironicist, joker and knave, and almost certainly - given the amount of time he spent writing them (what did BW say - whole song written in an hour, half an hour?) didn't intend any specific meaning for the words at all. VDP is a very sharp, intelligent guy with an obvious love of the absurd, and the whole Surf's Up lyric is basically a series of puns, jousts, juxtapositions, amusing rhymes and clever, tricksy word play. It's basically just demonstrations of how clever and witty its author is. Its the author having some fun. I don't really believe that it was ever intended to mean anything. It's just a piece of art created from words to be set to music.

[A Million Units In Jan!]

I assume you're being sarcastic here; while I can't speak to the "handsome mannered baton", the "handsome man and baton" would be the Drum Major, the leader of a marching band.

Um, yeah. I was being sarcastic 

[Les P]

Does it need to have "water" in the lyric to be about water? Isn't it enough that the darned track bloody well sounds like water? 

Also, if it is indeed "wa-doo," that still suggests water.

Now here's another clue for you all...in the "Cool Cool Water" sheet music, the lyric given for the chant is "wa-ter, wa-ter".   And yes, I agree whether it's wa-doo or not, the track is likely about water.

[Chocolate Shake Man]

I've often wondered if Brian pointed Van Dyke in the direction of this poem by his childhood favourite, Edgar Allan Poe

Yes! My hunch is that Parks was similarly a Poe fanatic as most of his lyrics from that time period tend to be in that style.

Check out this line from The Coliseum:

"Here, where a hero fell, a column falls!"

Damn Poe and his acid alliteration.

[pixletwin]

Oooo now that is an illuminating cross reference, no mistake. Nicely done. 

[Roger Ryan]

I've often wondered if Brian pointed Van Dyke in the direction of this poem by his childhood favourite, Edgar Allan Poe

Yes! My hunch is that Parks was similarly a Poe fanatic as most of his lyrics from that time period tend to be in that style.

Check out this line from The Coliseum:

"Here, where a hero fell, a column falls!"

Damn Poe and his acid alliteration.

This reminds me that I was reading Thoreau's WALDEN a few years back and noticed, within about 15 pages of each other, several phrases, ideas and combination of words that would show up as SMiLE lyrics! I can't remember specific examples, but I believe "Wonderful", "Cabin Essence" and "Surf's Up" appeared to reference them.

As to Parks' intent in writing the lyrics: even in free-form, stream-of-consciousness writing, the author's ideas or preoccupations are going to emerge regardless of whether the author has planned for this or not. It's just the way people communicate. In other words, it's not necessarily calculated but intuitive, which is the way Brian works as well. We've certainly seen where Brian has combined a set of lyrics with one of his "feels", then went about arranging a song that evokes a particular idea or emotion that Brian himself has trouble explaining in an interview after the fact. Just because Brian has difficulty relating the idea verbally doesn't mean he's incapable of relaying that idea via the song. Parks, on the other hand, is very articulate, but his intuitive, stream-of-consciousness writing style may actually relay ideas and emotions he's not sure how to articulate in an interview. You can call the SMiLE lyrics amusing nonsense, but in combination with the music and arrangements, those lyrics are going to evoke ideas and associations that come directly from the author's brain no matter how hard he tries to not say something.