If Van Dyke would have written lyrics for GV....

[JRauch]

The thread about changing SMiLE, and the discussions about the different lyrics for GV inspired me to ask this:

What would Van Dyke´s lyrics for "Good Vibrations" have been like?


I´m hoping for some funny or inspiring answers.

[Day Tripper]

Wow, I just asked the same thing on the change Smile thread.  I wonder if Brian ever asked him or was GV composed before he started hanging out with Brian? I think Van Dyke could have written some trippy lyrics for it. Since it was thought of as a R&B type of song I wonder what direction he would have taken it in?

[JRauch]

Uhm, it was actually your post which inspired me for this thread. 

Anyway, Brian DID ask Van Dyke to rewrite the lyrics, but he refused, because he thought that the old ones were already perfect for the song.

[Aegir]

The Mike Love ones or the Tony Asher ones?

[JRauch]

The Mike ones.

[Day Tripper]

Which version did Van Dyke say was perfect - Van Dykes or Mikes? I always thought "she comes with me to a blossom world" uncharacteristic of Mikes writing.  Think he ever got a sympathetic contact buzz hanging around a stoned Brian?  Van Dyke could have written it in a story mode (H&V) or metaphors (Surf's UP). What if Van Dyke had written for Pet Sounds? I think Asher was probably better suited for that type of album.

[Chris Brown]

As I recall, Van Dyke didn't accept Brian's offer because he "didn't want to step into somebody else's problem"...I don't ever recall him calling the lyrics "perfect".  In all actuality, he probably refused because he didn't want to piss off Mike.  Either way I think it all worked out for the best, as Mike's lyrics were far more accessable than Van Dyke's probably would have been.  Still, I wish he'd at least taken a crack at it, just so we could see what he would have done.

[Aegir]

Which version did Van Dyke say was perfect - Van Dykes or Mikes? I always thought "she comes with me to a blossom world" uncharacteristic of Mikes writing.  Think he ever got a sympathetic contact buzz hanging around a stoned Brian?  Van Dyke could have written it in a story mode (H&V) or metaphors (Surf's UP). What if Van Dyke had written for Pet Sounds? I think Asher was probably better suited for that type of album.

Or for that matter, what if Asher or Mike had written Smile? What if Van Dyke wrote the new songs on the Little Deuce Coupe album? I don't even want to think about "smart" car songs.

And Mike has admitted that he did use marijuana for a few months ("to relax"), but stopped after he went to India. And wasn't the period before he went to India (late '66/early '67) when he wrote Good Vibrations? Eh?

[I. Spaceman]

Terrible.

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

I think a Van Dyke penned GV wouldn't have been as big a hit.

See, you gotta have that boy/girl thing. That's what people relate to. That's why Kokomo went to #1. Mick Jagger is too chickensh*t to get on stage with the Beach Boys.l

[Reverend Joshua Sloane]

I'd not like it as much if he had penned words for it.