How Bruce Johnston devestated me musically.

[Mr. Cohen]

I sipped my steaming black organic English breakfast tea, and put my vinyl copy "Tears In The Morning" on the turntable. I was moody, petulant, and disenchanted - only the strained emotions and devastating artistry of Bruce Johnston could keep me in orbit.

And what a peculiar record it is. Listen closely. The guitars, the vibes, the voices, the accordion - they seem subtly warped, as if they're playing in a dream.  Women come, women go... but the tears last forever. A single tear, reflecting all the colors of the rainbow. Somewhere within there is Bruce's pain, and my pain as well.

"So you moved down up to Europe." First of all, what does it mean to move down up? Did she really even move? Or does her heart flutter on the enchanting arpeggios of the accordion to the clustered streets of gay Paris, whilst her subtle body recoils from the tender embrace of Bruce? So many questions. The only answer we have is that accordion, drawing us to the backstreets of Europe.

The accordion would've been enough to floor me. But then, like birds on a wing, come the harpsichord and mandolin. What ancient Italian hillside magic is Bruce conjuring now? Couple that with the succulent harmonies in the chorus, and you've got tears in the morning, afternoon, and night. And the strings! The strings during the bridge are so romantic, alluring, and seductive. Yes, I said seductive. Bruce is a seductive man. These strings - so playful, and so adventurous with their sudden twists and turns like two bodies in coital bliss - DAMN.  From this musical breakdown, the song builds back up to an ever greater crescendo, with Bruce shouting with every fiber of his being!

Really, though, it's the ending that truly knocks me out. Out of nowhere, we're treated to a b flat minor chord. It seems to resolve the song, although it hadn't been there before. Is this the narrator commuting suicide? Falling asleep? Or just moving on? Then, somewhere faint in the distance, we hear a lonely piano playing a classical tune. It seems to constantly build itself up, only to fall back apart, all within a matter of seconds. Is this a lost record from 1930, or Bruce Johnston? Suddenly, we hear a harmonica, a horn, and some kind of marimba/vibes, building to a something. But then it disappears, without playing that resolving chord again, even though it seemed to promise it would.

So now I can only wonder if we really found answers at all. It's just so mysterious. Damn you, Bruce.

[bossaroo]

I wish I could share in your wonder and enjoyment, but I'm unable to sit through this song. I don't even have it on my computer.

I can listen to the song about Bruce bathing with his daughter no problem though. go figure

[Jason]

I always thought the quiet piano coda in Tears in the Morning was a brilliant touch. I don't know why the song gets so much hatred. Maybe if Brian wrote it...?

[bossaroo]

if Brian wrote it... it would be a completely different song then wouldn't it?
i doubt Brian wishes he wrote it.

it gets hatred from me because it's complete schlock.

just awful.

[runnersdialzero]

I always thought the quiet piano coda in Tears in the Morning was a brilliant touch. I don't know why the song gets so much hatred. Maybe if Brian wrote it...?

I like "dramatic" when it comes to music, but for ages I could not get into this song because I thought it was too dramatic. Like very, very much over-the-top too dramatic.

A friend convinced me to re-listen to it, and while it still makes me giggles from being so over the top sometimes, I've grown to like it. Maybe not love, but like? Like quite a bit? Absolutely.

[buddhahat]

I sipped my steaming black organic English breakfast tea, and put my vinyl copy "Tears In The Morning" on the turntable. I was moody, petulant, and disenchanted - only the strained emotions and devastating artistry of Bruce Johnston could keep me in orbit.

Awesome post!

I always thought the quiet piano coda in Tears in the Morning was a brilliant touch. I don't know why the song gets so much hatred. Maybe if Brian wrote it...?

I have grown to love this song. Everything about it screams 'ephemeral' yet its appeal grows stronger with every listen. I kind of wish Bruce had recorded more with The Beach boys during this period as Deidre, Tears In The Morning and particularly Disney Girls have a lot going for them.

[I. Spaceman]

The original post is brilliantly satiric. Bravo.

[hypehat]

I was gonna say.

[willy]

The song is perfect. The poster with his hugely negative title is not. Why not just say you do not like the song? Did Bruce really devastate you musically, you negative destructive critic?

[Caroline, Now]

I personally like this song. It all depends on how you look at it.  When I was down, this song seemed very emotional and I felt so sad with the uncertain ending.  Now, it seems over the top... But still no reason to hate it.  Melodramatic, absolutely. But still a fine piece IMO.

[Mr. Cohen]

I love Bruce, and the only thing satiric about any of this is the people calling this topic satiric. Can we back to discussing Bruce, please? Expect a post about "The Nearest Faraway Place" later.

[doc smiley]

 
always liked that song.. over the top production or not, Sunflower would be lesser without it!  (IMHO)

[stack-o-tracks]

It's a good song. Kind of sappy for sure. But agree it goes well with the Sunflower album. Fits the mood well.

As for that one line I believe it's "moved out up to Europe." And I believe that "up" line goes with the line afterwards about "packed your warmth" because of the latitudinal differences between Europe and SoCal. Instead of surfing and cars and fun in the sun you have uh. Two World Wars. Oh that's cold.

[D409]

It's a good song when played as part of Sunflower, like the halfway point, a bit of theatrical light and shade...

[Micha]

This is the only song from Sunflower that I didn't like instantly. Although I've come to appreciate its musical content (especially the complex arrangement), the lyrics are just that little bit schmaltzy enough that I don't like them. Actually I was a bit annoyed to later learn the song that I don't like was recorded the day I was born.

The wordless coda is the best part of it.

[Margarita]

I can listen to the song about Bruce bathing with his daughter no problem though. go figure

"Deirdre" is about Bruce's daughter?

I thought it was about his Irish Setter.  

[GuyOnTheBeach]

Fantastic song, I think it is one of the best Beach Boys that was written by Al, Bruce or Mike (even higher if just between Al and Bruce)

Not to derail, but talking about Bruce, I think that Disney Girls is one of the Beach Boys most successful songs outside of the 60's, think within a few years of it being released it had gotten 2 covers by major recording artists, which not being amazing ,I think is 2 more than 99% of most of their other tracks from the later period?

[b00ts]

It's a good song when played as part of Sunflower, like the halfway point, a bit of theatrical light and shade...

For sap, "Forever" beats out "Tears" any day of the week, and it is not as musically interesting. People give Dennis a pass on his mushy, sappy music, but since Bruce is a square and not a Wilson, he gets blasted.

I love Tears in the Morning. It is a bit over-the-top and I can see why people may not like it... but what is with people thinking the original post is sarcastic/satiric? Are we that anti-Bruce here on SS? He is actually a very good, if not prolific, songwriter.

Someone upthread said that perhaps if Brian wrote TITM, people would like it more. I think if Brian or someone else had sung it, these people would like the song better  - Bruce's vocal is very emotional, which adds to the drama, although I happen to love his voice on this tune.

For God's sake, you're listening to a band with very little quality control post-1976. These people put "Hey Little Tomboy" as track number three on MIU Album. Whilst "Tears in the Morning" may be a bit sappy, it destroys a lot of other Beach Boys songs.

[Mr. Cohen]

To be fair, I like to use colorful language to make my posts a little more fun. That said, I really do like the song.

[I. Spaceman]

I love Bruce, and the only thing satiric about any of this is the people calling this topic satiric. 

Oh dear.

[Mahalo]

I'd have Tears in the Morning too if I had willingly chosen to compose or listen to this ever again...

[Jim McShane]

It's "moved OUT up to Europe", not "moved down up to Europe".

[Mr. Cohen]

"The Nearest Faraway Place"

Now this is an instrumental, folks. As the Beach Boys commercial fortunes were reaching their all-time low, and Brian Wilson was retreating from the band, Bruce wrote this little ode to a dreamy, magical getaway, where pain and misfortune have ceased to be. I actually like to imagine that "The Nearest Faraway Place" was Bruce's response to "Let's Go Away For Awhile". Certainly, such musical paradises had to seem appealing at the time - what, with Dennis Wilson recording himself f*cking in the studio and playing it over the endings of songs! The band was in turmoil.

Bruce was probably the only one in the group at the time, sans Brian, who really appreciated the artistry of Pet Sounds. The rest of the group was too caught up in their public image. Remember, it was Bruce who stuck around to help Brian get the tag to "God Only Knows" right. Carl bailed. "The Nearest Faraway Place" sounds like a Pet Sounds track that married Ennio Morricone, and then had a one-night stand with Tchaikovsky. Oh, and it happens to be a fan of jazz.

This is probably the most classically influenced song Bruce did. The chords are quite adventurous, with some of the sustained and sixth chords recalling Brian at his best. The arrangement is lush and very apropos, with the Rhodes piano mixing perfectly with the vibes to give off a shimmering sound. The relaxed strings, ringing guitar strumming, and harp flourishes complete the astral atmosphere. And the melodies themselves are also relaxing too, never straining too high, or staying too stagnant. They move along peacefully, like dappled summer sunlight on a quiet stream.

Whereas Bruce's songs on a underlying sense of melancholia and longing, this song is almost pure in its escapist bliss. I imagine Bruce taking a single hit off a joint - coughing profusely - and then sipping pink champagne as he stares out into a lake. That's Bruce going as far out as he knows how. Brian would mine this same sound for Imagination. But with Brian, it came off as artificial and forced. For all his brilliance, Brian could never conjure up something this relaxed. With Brian, there's always something else lurking in the background, whether it be sadness, ecstatic joy, lunacy, or some other wilder emotion.

That's Bruce's gift, and his curse. He's a genius too, but he never had that manic streak great artists do. Still, he was one hell of a composer, wasn't he?

[b00ts]

"The Nearest Faraway Place"

Now this is an instrumental, folks. As the Beach Boys commercial fortunes were reaching their all-time low, and Brian Wilson was retreating from the band, Bruce wrote this little ode to a dreamy, magical getaway, where pain and misfortune have ceased to be. I actually like to imagine that "The Nearest Faraway Place" was Bruce's response to "Let's Go Away For Awhile". Certainly, such musical paradises had to seem appealing at the time - what, with Dennis Wilson recording himself f*cking in the studio and playing it over the endings of songs! The band was in turmoil.

Bruce was probably the only one in the group at the time, sans Brian, who really appreciated the artistry of Pet Sounds. The rest of the group was too caught up in their public image. Remember, it was Bruce who stuck around to help Brian get the tag to "God Only Knows" right. Carl bailed. "The Nearest Faraway Place" sounds like a Pet Sounds track that married Ennio Morricone, and then had a one-night stand with Tchaikovsky. Oh, and it happens to be a fan of jazz.

This is probably the most classically influenced song Bruce did. The chords are quite adventurous, with some of the sustained and sixth chords recalling Brian at his best. The arrangement is lush and very apropos, with the Rhodes piano mixing perfectly with the vibes to give off a shimmering sound. The relaxed strings, ringing guitar strumming, and harp flourishes complete the astral atmosphere. And the melodies themselves are also relaxing too, never straining too high, or staying too stagnant. They move along peacefully, like dappled summer sunlight on a quiet stream.

Whereas Bruce's songs on a underlying sense of melancholia and longing, this song is almost pure in its escapist bliss. I imagine Bruce taking a single hit off a joint - coughing profusely - and then sipping pink champagne as he stares out into a lake. That's Bruce going as far out as he knows how. Brian would mine this same sound for Imagination. But with Brian, it came off as artificial and forced. For all his brilliance, Brian could never conjure up something this relaxed. With Brian, there's always something else lurking in the background, whether it be sadness, ecstatic joy, lunacy, or some other wilder emotion.

That's Bruce's gift, and his curse. He's a genius too, but he never had that manic streak great artists do. Still, he was one hell of a composer, wasn't he?

Indeed he was. Your post inspired me to listen to "The Nearest Faraway Place" again, and I am enjoying the hell out of it. For some reason, I never compared "The Nearest Faraway Place" to "Let's Go Away For Awhile," but the comparison is perfectly apt. Thanks Dada, great post.

[Jeff]

If I thought more than a tiny fraction of the posters on this board agreed with the above two posts, I would never come here again.