Why does Brian like the number five?

[send me a picture and i'll tell you]

it's also the number of toes he has on each foot.

After reading this, I had to do a quick count of my toes, because 5 seemed unusually high.  But I think that's how many I have too.

[18thofMay]

My LPN is 5, should I change anything??

[rn57]

This liking of the number five on Brian's part may explain why, even after Bruce could be contractually shown on the covers of Beach Boys records, there were still a lot of photos that had either Brian or Bruce with the other four but not both, extending into mid 1968.

[Shady]

5 letters in BRIAN

 

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

A person with Life Path number 1 is hard working, a natural born leader, has a pioneering spirit that is full of energy, and a passion for art. They have a strong desire to be number one, which means a person with this number can manifest very easily. Due to their determination and self motivation, they won't let anything stand in their way of accomplishing a goal. Their drive allows them to overcome any obstacle or challenge they may encounter, and they have the desire to accomplish great things in their lifetime. Their only need is to focus on what they want in order to achieve it.

Because Ones are critical of themselves, they can also be very critical of others. The Ones will not tolerate laziness from the people they spend their time with.

People with Life Path 1 are very independent and feel the need to make up their own mind about things and follow their own personal convictions. All this drive and determination means that they can easily become irritated when things don't go their way.

Innovation and creativity also are characteristics associated with this path. These folks are very good at starting new projects, and often take a unique or inventive approach to solving problems. Because of these qualities, and because multitasking is something they tend to be very good at, they are well suited to self employment and can be happiest being their own boss. A Life Path of One also means that they may possess the qualities to be a political or military leader.

On the negative side, if you are of Life Path 1 you can have a tendency to be self centered, egotistical and demanding. Because you feel a strong desire to be number one and to appear successful, you can easily become arrogant or boastful. Though you excel as a leader, you may have a difficult time being a follower, and are reluctant to seek help, which can cause you to be quite unhappy if you are in a situation where you are not in charge. While you are great at starting projects, you quickly tire of detailed tasks.

Your life path tells you what your life tools and lessons are about. Life path number 1 is a strong vibration, one of individuality and invention, and below are some key points you might want to take into consideration to help you on your path …

Be true to your path. You are quick on the draw and you usually see the opportunity in an idea faster than most people. Use that and you'll be happier.

Aim for a career that lets you be your own boss. You're better working alone than with a group and you don't take orders well.

Avoid getting lazy just because you're frequently quicker than other people. Use that energy to explore and achieve further on your own.

Take charge, step out and risk it all on a new venture. Nobody will do that better than you.

I don't believe in numerology, but yikes...that's scarily accurate.

[Magic Transistor Radio]

Not exactly the type of responses I was hoping for.

I do not believe in astrology, numerology, horoscopes, or whatever else in any way shape or form.
Brian Wilson however at one point had an astrologer whom he consulted about major life decisions. He consulted the I Ching. He read pop-philosophy books, and engaged with pseudo-religious mysticism. He believed that the number of flowers in the background of a portrait of himself had numerological significance....

In light of all that, I don't see the possibility of him placing a special significance on the number five as being especially far fetched.

It's also possible that it relates to an obsessive-compulsive disorder which Brian has, where multiples of 5 are seen as "neat" or "orderly".

I don't expect the answer to my question to provide a definitive understanding of Brian Wilson, and it may be the case that the two quotes I listed are just completely random examples of Brian talking out of his ass.

However I think it's equally plausible that Brian assigned some special value to the number 5 after reading a book on numerology or astrology, or speaking with a "professional" astrologer. I don't know very much about numerology or astrology unfortunately. It's all BS to me, but that maybe wasn't the case for Brian. I think it's a perfectly valid question to ask, if Brian spend time in 1966/67 drawing up horoscopes for his friends or determining the numerological "life path" of various people he knew, then understanding what exactly those systems told him would only help us understand his general outlook during the SMiLE period.

This being the 5th post on this thread is very significant.

[?]

I don't believe in numerology, but yikes...that's scarily accurate.

Ha, it usually is.

[shelter]

The classic Beach Boys line-up had five members. The family that Brian grew up in had five members. The Beach Boys reached their creative peak after five years (Pet Sounds/Good Vibrations/early Smile sessions)

[Gertie J.]

The classic Beach Boys line-up had five members. The family that Brian grew up in had five members. The Beach Boys reached their creative peak after five years (Pet Sounds/Good Vibrations/early Smile sessions)

Nice call.

[Rocker]

The 5th song on the Beach Boys' 5th album is "The warmth of the sun" (5 words). So now we know: Brian shot Kennedy

[Jaco]

Also SMiLE has 5 letters, and in numerology, 18+12+9+11+5=55

Um, 19+13+9+12+5 = 58?  Unless numerology has no letter K, or something.

k is not number 11 but 10, if you follow an old numerology system. The answer in this can be found in a quote from http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/arts/dbachfanfare.htm

Bach was also well known for his use of various self-referential word and number games within his pieces. For example, the last subject of the final fugue of the Art of the Fugue has as its four-note theme BACH (in old style German notation "B" stood for b-flat and "H" for b natural). Bach used the BACH theme in other pieces as well. Among his favorite numbers were 14 (=BACH with B=2, A=1, C=3, H=8) and 41 (=JS BACH -in old German notation, as in Latin, "I" and "J" were the same letter).

(so I=J=9 & I might add U=V=20 & for example IVLIVS=Julius in old roman times)



about magic pentagrams and pentangles:
http://isisinvestigations.com/isis-blog/tag/pentangle/
http://www.angelfire.com/id/robpurvis/pentagram.html
(penta=greek for 5)

The five points on the star represent the elements, air, fire, water, and earth as well as Akasha, the combination of all of the elements and the representation of the human spirit.

[Theydon Bois]

k is not number 11 but 10, if you follow an old numerology system. The answer in this can be found in a quote from http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/arts/dbachfanfare.htm

I must confess that I grew sceptical of this source once I got to:

The following are useful web site links containing photographs of Bach

[Jaco]

BACH is the most simple and known way to explain numerology a=1 b=2 etc
Google BACH and numerology you'll find hundreds of sites! I just took one of the first sites I found as example. It's not science but composers long before Bach used numerology in their music. No you cannot hear it, yet they put it in the notes.

[Theydon Bois]

BACH is the most simple and known way to explain numerology a=1 b=2 etc
Google BACH and numerology you'll find hundreds of sites! I just took one of the first sites I found as example. It's not science but composers long before Bach used numerology in their music. No you cannot hear it, yet they put it in the notes.

I'm aware of this (and if you want a masterpiece of flinging the number 23 around the place, there's no substitute for Berg's Violin Concerto); I just found it amusing that an academic website would make such a silly statement about photos of Bach.  Though admittedly a Google Image Search for 'bach photographs' yields some fun results.

[Micha]

5 letters in BRIAN

 

And WILSON has 6, which is amazingly close to 5!

[PongHit]

A: If take #5 of a song is a good one, he can go home early.

B: Mike has been married 5 times.

[Quzi]

This isn't answering the OP's question, but I've noticed that Dennis has six letters in his name, and depending on how thick your accent is, "six" can sound like the word sex  it explains so much

[Mendota Heights]

Brian is obsessed with the number five since his favorite vocal group is The Five Freshmen.

[Dunderhead]

BACH is the most simple and known way to explain numerology a=1 b=2 etc
Google BACH and numerology you'll find hundreds of sites! I just took one of the first sites I found as example. It's not science but composers long before Bach used numerology in their music. No you cannot hear it, yet they put it in the notes.

I don't think musical analysis of Brian's music has progressed to this point yet. It's not an especially uncommon thing for composers to encode words or names into their music. Schumann did it quite a bit, not in a numerological sense though. Whether there's any element of that in Brian's music is something that hasn't really ever been considered in anything I've read.

Does anyone know what Diane's life path number was?

Is there a "method" in numerology to determine your personal "lucky number"?

[Jason Penick]

5 letters in BRIAN

 

There were 5 classic Beach Boys?

I think this is the answer you're looking for right here.

[mr_oleary]

Just listen to his music and you can tell he likes the number 5.  There are 5ths everywhere.

[Jason Penick]

Just listen to his music and you can tell he likes the number 5.  There are 5ths everywhere.

Excellent point. Add it to the list.

[Jaco]

Some more of this number 5 fetishism. I stumbled upon this today: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcPjQVDwZPY&t=1m33s

[Dunderhead]

Some more of this number 5 fetishism. I stumbled upon this today: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcPjQVDwZPY&t=1m33s

I quoted that in the first post. 

[Rocky Raccoon]

He likes Subway's five dollar foot long deal.