That thread about Mike, Bruce and Al writing new words for SMiLE at their current age is pure gold. One for the BB Messageboard HOF.
Normally, I would say a thread pitching Mike Love in 2025 writing new lyrics for "Smile" is what the younger folks call "ragebait", like those cooking video shorts on Instagram/TikTok where they prepare purposely gross/messy/dumb recipes and pretend that they're a genius and that it tastes amazing.
But there are a few select folks over the years who are professional at "Missing the Point", so it's anybody's guess how serious the premise of that thread was/is. Can someone's brain turn to mashed potatoes to the point of truly incredulously asking if Mike Love (and Bruce Johnston and David Marks and Al Jardine) in the year 2025 should re-write Brian and Van Dyke's "Smile" lyrics? Can someone really ignore that many layers of improbability and unreality?
I think someone had a jealous delayed reaction to VDP's sudden ability in 2003 to write "simple" lyrics for BWPS and wanted all the others to get the piece of the pie they left to molder in MacArthur Park, recognizing that they'd never have that recipe again once Van could cover their work as well (to wit: "Is it hot in here or is it me? It really is a mystery...")
But the mystery is why any of those guys would even consider such a thing, even for a nanosecond. Now, of course, it's a whole different matter if we're talking Stanley Shapiro...
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