What Smile songs sound good together?

[buddhahat]

Personally I totally believe that Fire is supposed to be followed by I wanna be around/Friday night. I remember reading the bit in the Priore book about it, trying it and thinking that those songs really belong together.

Are there any other of the Smile pieces that people believe were meant to go together, or just sound great together? The following things work for me:

Our Prayer+Accapella dit dit+Heroes and Villains (alt) - Our prayer straight into Heroes sounds a bit abrupt so the accapella bit smooths the transition

Barnyard + Swedish Frog - that chanting just sounds like a muddy pigpen to me

OMP/YAMS + Cabinessence - I know this is from BWPS but the melt of the cellos into the beginning of Cabinessence is beautiful. Plus they both feel like nightime songs

Dum dum whistle distrotion + Great shape - I can totally imagine this transition if Great Shape had been part of H&V. The Dum dum whistle also sounds cool before mrs O leary's cow

Western theme + Flutter horn + Wonderful - this just sounds good to me, I guess because it's all in the same key or something.

Wonderful + Look + Child + Surf's Up - I can't seem to get past the BWPS sequence as it works so well, especially wonderful into look - does anyone  believe that those songs might have belonged together? Seems feasible to me.

Vegetables + Love to say da da - the chanty bit at the end of Vegetables sounds kind of under water to me and sounds good going into da da

Anyone got any dream Smile combos, or just want to poo poo mine? Actually don't - I've just burned this mix to cd

 

[Sheriff John Stone]

"You're Welcome" followed by "Do You Dig Worms" to start the CD. I know "You're Welcome" was just a B side, and didn't make the final cut on BWPS, but it works so well as an opener - You're welcome to come on the trip, the SMiLE trip. And then it goes right into "Do You Dig Worms", and we're off on the voyage.

"Cabinessence" followed by "Workshop" followed by "Vegetables". After they land, "I'll give a home on the range" and use the sound effects of "Woodshop" as the construction of the home, or cart. How to pay for the home? Sell the vegetables. After you uncover the corn field, cart off and sell the vegetables.

"Barnyard" followed by "The Old Master Painter" followed by "Fire". The fire was in the barn at night, right? So you start in the "Barnyard", and go right into "The Old Master Painter". Don't take my sunshine away away - it's now night and it's dark. The sound of the descending string part is the lantern falling, being kicked over, "timber", and ignites the fire.

"Water Chant" followed by "Good Vibrations". I use the water chant from Sunflower to utilize the wind sounds. I immediately follow the chant with "Good Vibrations" - I hear the sound of a gentle word, on the wind that lifts her perfume through the air. I alternate between "Wind Chimes" or "Look" as the follow-up to "Good Vibrations".

"Our Prayer" followed by "Surf's Up". This is usually the CD closer. I always felt that "Our Prayer" was a nighttime song, used more near the end than the beginning, kind of the way it was utilized near the end of BWPS.

Sometimes I employ a hidden track at the end of the CD. I take a 30 second snippet from the Carl coda/message on the Hawthorne CD 2, the boy/girl boy/girl part taken from "Heroes  And Villains". It's recorded at a lower volume and just adds a nice unifying touch to end the SMiLE saga...

[buddhahat]

Hey this is great to hear such a different perspective on the sequence of tracks. It's cool to have a story that binds it all together.

I always thought that Good Vibrations sounds great coming out of the Water Chant too.

Our Prayer does seem better suited to a more serious song like surf's up rather than H&V. I think a lot of people (me included) assume that Heroes should follow Our Prayer, but what's the logic of this? In my mind, I imagine that Heroes would be early on the album as it's the biggest hit (bar GV I guess). It's also a great punchy start. I don't think it works straight after Our Prayer though.

[Sheriff John Stone]

"Heroes And Villains" is always a tough one to place. Musically, it sounds great as an opener, it really gets the CD moving. However, lyrically, the song is actually a review. "I've BEEN in this town SO LONG", "fell in love YEARS AGO", "but she's STILL DANCING in the night", "my children WERE raised", and "they started slow LONG AGO".

But what really throws me is the line "I'm fit with the stuff, to RIDE in the rough". It says RIDE, not sail; which means you already reached land, and would place "Heroes And Villains" AFTER "Do You Dig Worms".

I have tried "Heroes And Villains" at the beginning like BWPS, and in the middle after "Vegetables" - after carting off and selling the vegetables is when he ran into the cantina, Margarita, and the villains - and I have closed the CD with it, using it as a SUMMARY, and utilizing the "false barnyard" as a closing fade.

I realize, however, that it's impossible to set up SMiLE "lyrically", it covers too much diverse ground. But it's fun to try...

[Reverend Joshua Sloane]

Sheriff John Stone is the best thinker i've read when it comes to the placement of certain songs on the album. In a few days i'm just going to compile all of your thoughts and make something of them on disc.  Unoriginal it would be to copy, but your ideas are too great to miss.

[Sheriff John Stone]

Thanks HeroesandVillains!

I'd like to hear yours and others' ideas and combinations as well. What did you start with and end with? What did you keep on and leave off? Do you stick to the basic songs or do you include "snippets"?

[Old Rake]

Personally I totally believe that Fire is supposed to be followed by I wanna be around/Friday night. I remember reading the bit in the Priore book about it, trying it and thinking that those songs really belong together.

I totally agree. I've always been fond of an edit that I have that sandwiches those songs together under the single aegis of "Fire." It sounds really right on together, and its about 3 minutes and slightly more, just the length you'd hope "Fire" would be when all was said and done.

[Sheriff John Stone]

Personally I totally believe that Fire is supposed to be followed by I wanna be around/Friday night. I remember reading the bit in the Priore book about it, trying it and thinking that those songs really belong together.

I totally agree. I've always been fond of an edit that I have that sandwiches those songs together under the single aegis of "Fire." It sounds really right on together, and its about 3 minutes and slightly more, just the length you'd hope "Fire" would be when all was said and done.

Interesting. I often consider "I Wanna Be Around/Friday Night" after "Fire" also; like "rebuilding" the barn after the fire. But I usually end up putting the "water chant" immediately after "Fire". I'm curious where you guys put the "water chant"?

[JRauch]

But what really throws me is the line "I'm fit with the stuff, to RIDE in the rough". It says RIDE, not sail; which means you already reached land, and would place "Heroes And Villains" AFTER "Do You Dig Worms".

But what if that guy in "Heroes And Villains" is looking back, to the past? I mean, he IS looking back on his life, that´s what the song is about. A little bit like "Citizen Kane". It starts with the end and then goes back to the beginning.

[JRauch]

I realize, however, that it's impossible to set up SMiLE "lyrically", it covers too much diverse ground. But it's fun to try...

That´s because the lyrics don´t follow a chronological or narrative order. It´s more some kind of "stream of consciousness"-thing.

[Sheriff John Stone]

But what really throws me is the line "I'm fit with the stuff, to RIDE in the rough". It says RIDE, not sail; which means you already reached land, and would place "Heroes And Villains" AFTER "Do You Dig Worms".

But what if that guy in "Heroes And Villains" is looking back, to the past? I mean, he IS looking back on his life, that´s what the song is about. A little bit like "Citizen Kane". It starts with the end and then goes back to the beginning.

Good analogy, JRauch. That's obviously what they had in mind with the song placement.

I also agree with your point about chronological order and the "stream of consciousness" thing. As I mentioned above, it's very hard/nearly impossible to do it. That line "my tennie flew right off" throws me off track every time. Where (chronologically) do I insert a line about a tennis shoe. I have to talk to a history major!

[Aegir]

Heroes and Villains could follow Our Prayer, if you put Heroes and Villains Part. 2 in between.. it even begins with Gee and ends with the horn, just like in BWPS.