Inside Pop Reels

[bossaroo]

Sometimes the simple, direct route is the best. I just listened to Endless Harmony again

i can hear the long "o" and the "n" ...it's OPEN for crying out loud


from Dictionary.com

o·pen    (ō'pən)   
adj.
 
1. Affording unobstructed passage or view: open waters; the open countryside.


Related Words for: open

clear, open air, out-of-doors

[bossaroo]

it just occurred to me that "fresh clean air" could just as easily have been "fresh clear air"

but Brian sings neither in the demo

[Mr. Cohen]

I think "freshen air" works as a weird, unexpected play on words. Perhaps it was really "freshen the air" but Brian forgot a word, or it was really "freshened air"? Sounds like a canny reference to pot, such as we see with "Cabinessence" (switch the B and the N around and you get "Canibessence"). Judging by the somewhat nonsensical lyrics of "I'm in Great Shape" and "Barnyard", I can guess that a lot of cannabis was consumed before Van Dyke brought out his pen the night those songs were written. Basically, though, to me, the lyric gives the impression that the air around the narrator's head is being freshened. Perhaps by the typical smells of the morning... bacon sizzling on the grill, bread being toasting and the damp smell of the Earth as the dew rolls off of the husks of corn outside. Or, maybe, it describes the aroma of really good pot as the narrator "wakes n bakes" in earnest. It's probably all of those things in this case.

[Mr. Cohen]

Other theories while my brain is rolling... the word air, in this case, could also be a reference to music. An air can be a tune or melody. An air can also refer to a demeanor. Perhaps our narrator has a fresh demeanor, a new way of looking at things. There's a reason, I think, that the word "clean" or "clear" was not used. Or, it could be a mispronounced reference to the Friesian breed of horse, a popular breed in ye olde days (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friesian_horse), but then again, I could just be getting silly.

[grillo]

hahaha... ok

i live in the Appalachias and I've never heard anyone use the term "upper country"

the album is partly about westward expansion and this great land of ours.

That's because its a term used by the French for their land west of the Appalachians BEFORE the westward expansion, thus making it a historical (but not hysterical) reference. I don't get why 'open country' makes more sense. Big sky country maybe, but who says open country? The Upper Country was an actual place in what became the USA, a place the Bicycle Rider would've traveled through. So, just like we don't discuss the 'iron horse' anymore (yet it was a real thing) so goes the Upper Country.

[cutterschoice]

That's because its a term used by the French for their land west of the Appalachians BEFORE the westward expansion, thus making it a historical (but not hysterical) reference. I don't get why 'open country' makes more sense. Big sky country maybe, but who says open country? The Upper Country was an actual place in what became the USA, a place the Bicycle Rider would've traveled through. So, just like we don't discuss the 'iron horse' anymore (yet it was a real thing) so goes the Upper Country.

'Open Country' is a phrase I've heard before. as in, "ah, the open country".
I grew up by the countryside, it's not uncommon. As someone mentioned earlier, it basically referencing a expansive countryside, fresh air etc.
And it definitely sounds like Brian says Open, not Upper.

Let me get Van Dyke on the phone to clear this up

[runnersdialzero]

I think "freshen air" works as a weird, unexpected play on words. Perhaps it was really "freshen the air" but Brian forgot a word, or it was really "freshened air"? Sounds like a canny reference to pot, such as we see with "Cabinessence" (switch the B and the N around and you get "Canibessence").

I'd say that's a stretch, especially about "Cabinessence".

[bossaroo]

i like the Cannibessence theory... it never occured to me! 

[Mr. Cohen]

I'd say that's a stretch, especially about "Cabinessence".

I agree that the whole "freshened air/freshen the air" bit is pure conjecture, but I thought that my "Cabinessence" theory was pretty sound. The fact that they combined the two words into one, IMO, says something. Why else would Van Dyke have done that? Just for the hell of it? Say cabinessence five times fast and see what it sounds like it. Would be a good question to ask Van Dyke, I suppose.

[cutterschoice]

I think "freshen air" works as a weird, unexpected play on words. Perhaps it was really "freshen the air" but Brian forgot a word, or it was really "freshened air"? Sounds like a canny reference to pot, such as we see with "Cabinessence" (switch the B and the N around and you get "Canibessence").

I'd say that's a stretch, especially about "Cabinessence".

Frank Holmes (a friend of VDP, and the Smile cover artist) said that “Cabinessence” is a pun on ‘cannabis.’
I think he's a reliable source. VDP even gave him some lyrics from cabinessence to help inspire the cover art, hence how he knew the unused lyrics in ESQ '97

[runnersdialzero]

Every Beach Boys songs is about drugs when you get right down to it, apparently.

[Mr. Cohen]

"Surfer Girl" is an anagram for "Rufies Grrl". Coincidence? I think not.

[cutterschoice]

"Surfer Girl" is an anagram for "Rufies Grrl". Coincidence? I think not.

well, we all know that one.

[Bill Tobelman]

A lot of Brian's language circa 66 can be traced to the album HOW TO SPEAK HIP.
http://howtospeakhip.com/

Just a few minutes of listening will catch Brian fans' attention with the "just relax, me and this cat" and "world peace" stuff that Brian was doing during the "Ego" recording sessions.

If Brian got his pronunciation of "Zen" from the album it might sound more like "zan" because when Geatz Romo spouts "Like in Zen" it sounds like "like in zan."
You can hear this for yourself in the section entitled THE HANG UP at http://howtospeakhip.com/

[cutterschoice]

I listened to How to Speak Hip a while back. The bit where he mentions nearly falling into the mic (something like that) seemed like the basis for some of Brian's skits.

[Jay]

"Hey man, get on the horn, call some freaky people and we'll have a scene". 

[rogerlancelot]

Ummmm....now that we're completely off-topic, can we agree that these reels will never be seen again?

[runnersdialzero]

Ummmm....now that we're completely off-topic, can we agree that DRUGS, MAAAAAAAAAAAN

[smile-holland]

Ummmm....now that we're completely off-topic, can we agree that DRUGS, MAAAAAAAAAAAN

I happen to suffer from a lack of humor sometimes.... but I assume that was meant to be funny, runnersdialzero?

[Andrew G. Doe]

Ummmm....now that we're completely off-topic, can we agree that these reels will never be seen again?

Never say never - movies long considered lost are turning up... well, not all the time, but certainly now and then. For example, Napoleon vu par Abel Gance (1927) - before Kevin Brownlow embarked upon his crusade to restore it in the 60s, the longest known version was about 90 minutes/two hours. The current print runs slightly over five and a half hours.

[Mooger Fooger]

Not only that but a near complete print of "Metropolis" by Fritz Lang from 1927 was discovered 2 years ago in Argentina. In Germany they premiered the near complete cut featuring restored footage not seen for 80+ years in March. A blu-ray is due out any time.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Not only that but a near complete print of "Metropolis" by Fritz Lang from 1927 was discovered 2 years ago in Argentina. In Germany they premiered the near complete cut featuring restored footage not seen for 80+ years in March. A blu-ray is due out any time.

Seen the 'new' footage: be prepared to be very disappointed - some of the footage is like looking at the film through a tropical downpour. Here's what I mean:

http://scientific-media.de/showroom/metropolis/

[king of anglia]

i like the Cannibessence theory... it never occured to me! 

That's brilliant.

There's another similar trick in Cabinessence. The end bit "over and over the crow cries...".
Swap the second half of each line around and it makes more sense:
Over and over the crows cries and hovers the wheatfield
Over and over the thresher uncovers the cornfield

Maybe if Van Dyke Parks explained that to Mike Love (who famously demanded "what kinda doolally, cockamamie lyric is this??!?!?") instead of flouncing off like a ponce, history would've have been very different....

e.g SMiLE would have been completed

[bossaroo]

that's a nice thought, but i don't think we can blame SMiLE's downfall on Van Dyke "flouncing off like a ponce"

[king of anglia]

No, I agree. There were other factors:
Mike Love acted like a dingus.
Brian Wilson went man-mental.

Al Jardine probably did something bad too.