The "Let's Put Our Hearts Together" Appreciation Thread

[Justin]

This is my kind of melody....so beautiful and delicate.  Those verses just kill me.  What a wonderful track.  Anyone else fancy this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPQ38p4yPMo

[Myk Luhv]

I almost like the piano demo better -- Brian's phrasing is appreciably different and frankly I think he sings it better. Plus, it's always nice to hear him pound the keys like that!

[hypehat]

This song is so good. One of my favourites on Love You....

[cablegeddon]

I bet he's nice, The night was so young > LPOHT

[stack-o-tracks]

Great song. Super awkward. It's like vinegar and honey

[Justin]

You hit the nail on the head...stack!

Definitely awkward, isn't it?  Some of the word choices are weird..."I know you've had so much experience" and one that startled me "Let's see what we can cook up between us"...haha  "cook up between us"??  In fact, that last part..(chorus or bridge) doesn't sit well with me.  Thankfully, the song fades out by then.  But overall, it's a sweet song with nice interplay between Brian and Marilyn.

[Ron]

Yeah, I really like that song. 

[Roger Ryan]

Great music with unexpected twists and turns...plus mediocre production and terrible vocals. I guess you take what you can get during this period.

[oldsurferdude]

Often wondered why it would even be faintly considered for release. In fact, with the exception of Mona, Good Time, TNWSY, IBHN, and IWPYU, the effort was sub par at best imho.

[Nicko1234]

Often wondered why it would even be faintly considered for release. In fact, with the exception of Mona, Good Time, TNWSY, IBHN, and IWPYU, the effort was sub par at best imho.

I Wanna Pick You Up is reprehensibly awful.

[I. Spaceman]

Let's Put Our Hearts Together and I Wanna Pick You Up are both brilliant, entirely. Anyone who doesn't realize that the very soul of Brian Wilson is encoded in every note of those songs is more into technique and polish than true feeling. And Brian and the Boys at their best were pure feeling put into music and sound. Everything else was beside the essential point.

[Justin]

Interesting to get some mixed feelings towards this one.  It's taken me a while to work on "Love You" (still working at it, really).  But this track jumped out at me.  Parts of the album is hard for me to swallow..ahem..."Solar System."  

[RollPlymouthRock]

Great music even if it is kind of awkward listening to the marriage counselling set to music lyrics.

[Myk Luhv]

Obviously this song would've been improved if sung as a duet with Diane or... that woman Brian wrote "The Night Was So Young" about (whose name escapes me currently)!

[mikeyj]

Obviously this song would've been improved if sung as a duet with Diane or... that woman Brian wrote "The Night Was So Young" about (whose name escapes me currently)!

Debbie Kiel isn't it? Not 100% certain about the spelling.

[I. Spaceman]

Marilyn's voice on Hearts is beautiful, humble, and above all, real. There wouldn't even be a point to it with any other singer. "Better" singing is always what is most heartfelt where the Beach Boys are concerned. If the song is "marriage counselling set to music", then Pet Sounds is psychoanalysis set to music. What matters is if the songs are great.

[Newguy562]

I bet he's nice, The night was so young > LPOHT

i agree

[Jay]

I've never thought that Marilyn was all that good of a singer. 

[anazgnos]

Something that's always struck me about the song is that it didn't seem like Brian wrote it as a duet.  Like, the lines don't respond or answer to each other as two people were singing to each other, rather, they seem like they're all being sung from the same perspective, or by the same "character" within the context of the song.  So it's like Marilyn is just there for practical reasons, to hit the high notes Brian can't reach.  I love it all the same, of course.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Marilyn's voice on Hearts is beautiful, humble, and above all, real. There wouldn't even be a point to it with any other singer. "Better" singing is always what is most heartfelt where the Beach Boys are concerned. If the song is "marriage counselling set to music", then Pet Sounds is psychoanalysis set to music. What matters is if the songs are great.

Amen

[Ron]

This is truly a 'different strokes for different folks' type of thing.

I think what some people don't get is that there are some (me!) that not only like hearing the song, but think it's sung well, well written, and well produced! 

I think people who aren't into it think "Oh, they just like that it's quirky and ignore how badly it's sung".... but what's really going on is some people appreciate it and enjoy how it's sung. 

I can see though where people could come down on either side. 

[Justin]

I think Brian's work fine.  A little scratchy yes but they get the job done.  The sweet melody covers up the rough vocals.  As explained wonderful above, Marilyn's voice passes.  It's very real and accessible.  It fits the song so well.

Anyone know the instrument that comes in at 00:49...sounds like processed/manipulated steel drums.  Or chimes?

[Amazing Larry]

It just sounds like the moog to me.

[Mr. Cohen]

The thing about Love You is... while I think it's a GREAT album, I just can't listen to it everyday like I can with most of my favorite albums.  And I do think that has something to do with the performances. It feels like Brian's not always as "in" on the joke as I'd like to believe he was. There are times where I think he's putting us on, and most likely he really is. But then there's other times, although I'm pretty sure that I think he's putting on, he actually really wasn't. And, most likely, there's also times where he's putting us on where I'd never guess. That's the mystery of Brian.

That said, I think the reason I cherish this album is because it has the most moments of Wilson Magic™ per square second of music than any other Brian did after, and the most than any in song he did in the 3 or 4 years before it. Admittedly, I was high when I first heard Love You, but I kept getting this feeling from certain moment in the songs... like, "I thought Brian couldn't do stuff like this anymore!" But sure enough, whether it's the Switched on Bach magic of "I'll Bet He's Nice", or the surprising coda at the end of "Airplane", the magic of Brian is alive.

For me, only Brian Wilson 88 even comes close to Love You in Brian's latter half of his career when it comes to magical moments, and still it's a distant second. Yeah, That Lucky Old Sun is a good album, but there's maybe only one song that has a moment that can make my jaw drop, and that's "Midnight's Another Day". Oh, and I guess the "That Lucky Old Son" outro at the end of the album is pretty jaw-dropping, too. "Goin' Home" gets close to that level, but falls a little short.

So, yeah... I suppose this is where I press that Post button down there.

[Runaways]

Often wondered why it would even be faintly considered for release. In fact, with the exception of Mona, Good Time, TNWSY, IBHN, and IWPYU, the effort was sub par at best imho.

I Wanna Pick You Up is reprehensibly awful.

i wanna pick you up is awesome.