Saddest Beach Boys Song :/

[pixletwin]

Day in the Life of a Tree
Still I Dream of It
Lonely Sea
Warmth of the Sun

[Sheriff John Stone]

Gotta agree with the Stebbins. Thoughts Of You by far.

.... or "Moonshine". When Dennis sings, "It was you who said there won't be tomorrow. You said you love me now in another way...", it gets me every time.

[keysarsoze001]

"Our Favorite Recording Sessions"? Juuuuuust kidding.

"Day in the Life of a Tree" is pretty manipulative, in that it DEMANDS you to feel badly for that tree, dammit, but somehow even as I cynically go through the first couple of verses, by the time it gets to "Oh Lord, I lay me down" I like have to pull the car over and think about all the branches I've broken over the years or times I've let my dog pee on some roots, and I invariably end up in a glass case of emotionnnnnnnn!

"Til I Die" is actually the most perfect expression of despair I think I've ever heard in a pop song. It's my frame of reference whenever I feel my skin crawl with Scott's too on-the-nose lyrics in "Midnight's Another Day". When you're at the end of your rope, the imagery used in "Til I Die" is exactly what it feels like (at least for me), like you're reduced to a speck in a larger tumultuous environment that you can't control. In particular the image of the leaf trying to keep from being blown off its branch, asking "how long will the wind blow", just nails it perfectly. It's an unbelievably moving song.

"Don't Worry Baby" actually I find to be quite sad, because the melody and the delivery is so aching. I mean, yeah, it's about biting off more than you can chew and fearing that you'll lose a drag race, but it works enough on other levels that I think it's very sad. Especially in light of the fact that Brian seems to be always worried, like every minute of the day.


The ending of "When I Grow Up to Be a Man" gets me every time too as being so melancholic, "won't last forever", and all that.

[Runaways]

caroline no or day in the life of a tree.  I'd probably give it to caroline no cause it has my favorite lyric.  the "you break my heart, i wanna go and cry, it's so sad to watch a sweet thing die, oh caroline why?"

[onkster]

The new Summer's Gone seems to come pretty close.

But I'd say It's Over Now, probably.

Getcha Back has a very sad, wistful, vibe, but there's hope there too, so I gotta discount that one.

[pixletwin]

The ending of "When I Grow Up to Be a Man" gets me every time too as being so melancholic, "won't last forever", and all that.

Forgot about that one, but 100% agree with you.

[rab2591]

"Our Favorite Recording Sessions"? Juuuuuust kidding.

"Day in the Life of a Tree" is pretty manipulative, in that it DEMANDS you to feel badly for that tree, dammit, but somehow even as I cynically go through the first couple of verses, by the time it gets to "Oh Lord, I lay me down" I like have to pull the car over and think about all the branches I've broken over the years or times I've let my dog pee on some roots, and I invariably end up in a glass case of emotionnnnnnnn!

"Til I Die" is actually the most perfect expression of despair I think I've ever heard in a pop song. It's my frame of reference whenever I feel my skin crawl with Scott's too on-the-nose lyrics in "Midnight's Another Day". When you're at the end of your rope, the imagery used in "Til I Die" is exactly what it feels like (at least for me), like you're reduced to a speck in a larger tumultuous environment that you can't control. In particular the image of the leaf trying to keep from being blown off its branch, asking "how long will the wind blow", just nails it perfectly. It's an unbelievably moving song.

"Don't Worry Baby" actually I find to be quite sad, because the melody and the delivery is so aching. I mean, yeah, it's about biting off more than you can chew and fearing that you'll lose a drag race, but it works enough on other levels that I think it's very sad. Especially in light of the fact that Brian seems to be always worried, like every minute of the day.


The ending of "When I Grow Up to Be a Man" gets me every time too as being so melancholic, "won't last forever", and all that.

This is exactly what I was going to write!

'Don't Worry Baby' is a like WIBN: It's incredibly happy yet achingly sad for some reason.

[Kirk]

There's a book somewhere in which Greil Marcus compares in "In My Room" to the Beatles' "There's a Place" complaining that while Brian wallowed in sadness Lennon went and did something about it (It's in my miiinnnddd....). It always struck me as a weird passage and not at all convincing ... sorta like GM felt compelled to do a take-down of Brian's reputation. "There's a Place" is such a minor Beatles track (however enjoyable). Anyway, my point is, when I want to hear a sad Brian song, I WANT to wallow in it. It feels good.

I definitely think "Caroline, No" and "Til I Die" are my 1 and 2, but "Let Him Run Wild" is 3.

[pixletwin]

There's a book somewhere in which Greil Marcus compares in "In My Room" to the Beatles' "There's a Place" complaining that while Brian wallowed in sadness Lennon went and did something about it (It's in my miiinnnddd....). It always struck me as a weird passage and not at all convincing ... sorta like GM felt compelled to do a take-down of Brian's reputation. "There's a Place" is such a minor Beatles track (however enjoyable). Anyway, my point is, when I want to hear a sad Brian song, I WANT to wallow in it. It feels good.

I definitely think "Caroline, No" and "Til I Die" are my 1 and 2, but "Let Him Run Wild" is 3.

Seeing how "There's a Place" was recorded several months before "In My Room" I don't see how you can feel as though George Martin was trying to take down Brian's reputation... which in February of 1963 (when "There's a Place" was recorded) was pretty non-existent.

[Kirk]

No... I meant GM as in Greil Marcus in his book, not George Martin in the studio. Sorry---should'a been clearer. I can't imagine Martin taking Brian down on anything....

[pixletwin]

No... I meant GM as in Greil Marcus in his book, not George Martin in the studio. Sorry---should'a been clearer. I can't imagine Martin taking Brian down on anything....

Or even attempting. He has always seemed pretty in awe of Brian.

[runnersdialzero]

"A Day In The Life Of A Tree", for me. All songs from the BB universe included, agreed that "Thoughts Of You" either tops "Tree" or comes pretty close. "Thoughts Of You", if you've ever been there, just says it way too well and is too real. A lot of songs try to do the same, and a lot of them are certainly good, but not many get it just right like that one does.

[Sound of Free]

Lot of good choices have already been mentioned. I know it's technically a solo track, but since it saw its first release on a Beach Boys compilation, "All Alone" is in the running.

[Chris Brown]

"A Day In The Life Of A Tree", for me. All songs from the BB universe included, agreed that "Thoughts Of You" either tops "Tree" or comes pretty close. "Thoughts Of You", if you've ever been there, just says it way too well and is too real. A lot of songs try to do the same, and a lot of them are certainly good, but not many get it just right like that one does.

Agreed on all counts.  Just listened to both today on a long car ride, and I was just blown away by the raw emotion that Denny just spills all over the place on "Thoughts of You."  It makes me feel a bit uneasy listening to it, to be honest - I feel like I'm prying on the innermost thoughts of a troubled soul without permission.  How many artists out there have the sheer balls to put something like that out there? 

[I. Spaceman]

"A Day In The Life Of A Tree", for me. All songs from the BB universe included, agreed that "Thoughts Of You" either tops "Tree" or comes pretty close. "Thoughts Of You", if you've ever been there, just says it way too well and is too real. A lot of songs try to do the same, and a lot of them are certainly good, but not many get it just right like that one does.

Agreed on all counts.  Just listened to both today on a long car ride, and I was just blown away by the raw emotion that Denny just spills all over the place on "Thoughts of You."  It makes me feel a bit uneasy listening to it, to be honest - I feel like I'm prying on the innermost thoughts of a troubled soul without permission.  How many artists out there have the sheer balls to put something like that out there? 

Syd Barrett, Bob Dylan, Marvin Gaye, John Lennon, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Judee Sill, Nick Drake, Pete Townshend, Elliott Smith, Fiona Apple, Jason Pierce and many others. But Dennis is surely among the best.

[runnersdialzero]

Among those, I'm most familiar with Syd and Elliott. Elliott Smith I'll give you - extremely descriptive, real, and honest with his work. Syd, though, what are some examples you're thinking of? The best I can come up with would be something like "Jugband Blues", which is certainly expressing something real, but it doesn't really cut to the bone like "Thoughts Of You" or several of Elliott's song do. Same goes for a lot of the stuff by the other d00dz listed, but as I said, I'm not as familiar wit them.

[Chris Brown]

"A Day In The Life Of A Tree", for me. All songs from the BB universe included, agreed that "Thoughts Of You" either tops "Tree" or comes pretty close. "Thoughts Of You", if you've ever been there, just says it way too well and is too real. A lot of songs try to do the same, and a lot of them are certainly good, but not many get it just right like that one does.

Agreed on all counts.  Just listened to both today on a long car ride, and I was just blown away by the raw emotion that Denny just spills all over the place on "Thoughts of You."  It makes me feel a bit uneasy listening to it, to be honest - I feel like I'm prying on the innermost thoughts of a troubled soul without permission.  How many artists out there have the sheer balls to put something like that out there? 

Syd Barrett, Bob Dylan, Marvin Gaye, John Lennon, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Judee Sill, Nick Drake, Pete Townshend, Elliott Smith, Fiona Apple, Jason Pierce and many others. But Dennis is surely among the best.

Okay fair enough, I shouldn't have made such an overly broad statement.  Out of all those artists you listed I'm really only familiar with Lennon and Joni Mitchell, and they have their moments for sure, but for me, Dennis just takes it somewhere else.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

End Of The Show does it for me every time!

You don't want POB to end because you know how the story of Dennis goes from there and it's just heartbreaking.

[Myk Luhv]

I think Brian's second piano demo of "It's Over Now" is pretty sad -- he sounds downright forlorn -- and it's up there for me with "Tree" and "'Til I Die".

[Amazing Larry]

"A Day In The Life Of A Tree", for me. All songs from the BB universe included, agreed that "Thoughts Of You" either tops "Tree" or comes pretty close. "Thoughts Of You", if you've ever been there, just says it way too well and is too real. A lot of songs try to do the same, and a lot of them are certainly good, but not many get it just right like that one does.

Agreed on all counts.  Just listened to both today on a long car ride, and I was just blown away by the raw emotion that Denny just spills all over the place on "Thoughts of You."  It makes me feel a bit uneasy listening to it, to be honest - I feel like I'm prying on the innermost thoughts of a troubled soul without permission.  How many artists out there have the sheer balls to put something like that out there? 

Syd Barrett, Bob Dylan, Marvin Gaye, John Lennon, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Judee Sill, Nick Drake, Pete Townshend, Elliott Smith, Fiona Apple, Jason Pierce and many others. But Dennis is surely among the best.

You forgot Daniel Johnston.

[keysarsoze001]

"A Day In The Life Of A Tree", for me. All songs from the BB universe included, agreed that "Thoughts Of You" either tops "Tree" or comes pretty close. "Thoughts Of You", if you've ever been there, just says it way too well and is too real. A lot of songs try to do the same, and a lot of them are certainly good, but not many get it just right like that one does.

Agreed on all counts.  Just listened to both today on a long car ride, and I was just blown away by the raw emotion that Denny just spills all over the place on "Thoughts of You."  It makes me feel a bit uneasy listening to it, to be honest - I feel like I'm prying on the innermost thoughts of a troubled soul without permission.  How many artists out there have the sheer balls to put something like that out there? 

Syd Barrett, Bob Dylan, Marvin Gaye, John Lennon, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Judee Sill, Nick Drake, Pete Townshend, Elliott Smith, Fiona Apple, Jason Pierce and many others. But Dennis is surely among the best.

Good call. For anyone looking for confessional aching music, look no further than Joni. She's exquisite. And Elliott's "Pretty (Ugly Before)" breaks my heart every time, especially since it was released posthumously.

[filledeplage]

Leaving This Town

This is an interesting topic.  A lot of the stuff might be introspective but there is a certain healthy acceptance of a bad situation. Lay Down Burden, Brian's solo, sort of finds a place that is one of the cycle of life.  I feel reluctant to call it all sad.  Most people have a sort of balance between being happy and not so, and the music has a way of finding that balance, and I think Pet Sounds broke ground with finding a "place" to put universal bad experiences.  It seems to me, or at least my experience has been that I learn most when things go badly, and now, if it almost a reflex, I try to step back and look at a disaster and want to "turn it around," and learn or make it a positive one.

Til I Die is brilliant, because it seems to take the rock in the landslide, leaf on a windy day, and cork in the ocean, and define life, both good and bad.  Part of Brian's genius is that he took those emotions, and first, wrote about them, which is therapeutic, instead of bottling them up, and published them, allowing the listeners a place to share experiences and growth opportunities. And, I wonder if women look at the music differently...

Does it fit with the earlier fun-in-the sun?  Maybe...at dusk.  

[pixletwin]

Among those, I'm most familiar with Syd and Elliott. Elliott Smith I'll give you - extremely descriptive, real, and honest with his work. Syd, though, what are some examples you're thinking of? The best I can come up with would be something like "Jugband Blues", which is certainly expressing something real, but it doesn't really cut to the bone like "Thoughts Of You" or several of Elliott's song do. Same goes for a lot of the stuff by the other d00dz listed, but as I said, I'm not as familiar wit them.

"Dark Globe" and "Feel" definitely come to my mind as two of Syd's really honest (and excellent) songs. I am sure there are more if I put some more thought into it.

[Sam_BFC]

Has 'Oh Lord' been mentioned?

This is surely the saddest unreleased recording...

[BillA]

If you include outside projects I would have to go with "I Wish for You".