Best Summation of SMILE.

[Chris Brown]

For those who are into meanings of SMiLE era songs, please help me out on this one.

"Well, you're welcome to come"..... Where? Anywhere? How about "You're welcome to come...on the SMiLE trip." Yes? No? Was it just a throwaway B-side?

Maybe I'm way off base here, but I always considered it a sexual invitation.

Glad I'm not the only one who thought of that...I don't think that's the case, but it has crossed my (apparently dirty) mind.

[Sheriff John Stone]

For those who are into meanings of SMiLE era songs, please help me out on this one.

"Well, you're welcome to come"..... Where? Anywhere? How about "You're welcome to come...on the SMiLE trip." Yes? No? Was it just a throwaway B-side?

Maybe I'm way off base here, but I always considered it a sexual invitation.

Glad I'm not the only one who thought of that...I don't think that's the case, but it has crossed my (apparently dirty) mind.

OK, now I'm re-sequencing Side B of Smiley Smile into Sexy Smile:

1. Gettin' Hungry
2. Good Vibrators
3. Well, You're Welcome To Come
4. She's Going Bald
5. Wind Chimes
6. Whistle In
  

[Bill Tobelman]

Dear BR,

Thanks for your post.

I have say that I totally respect where you are coming from, and I totally respect you as well, and that you are completely correct in what I assert. You are spot on.

When SMiLE was created, at that time, you do have to admit that in order for Brian Wilson to be atop the pop world & keep pace with the Beatles, Brian would have to present the world with a largely LSD based LP. Don't you think that that was what "the moment" demanded?

I mean. If all the Brian Wilson hype is to be believed then Brian was truly ahead of the Fab 4 & SMiLE was to beat them to "the moment" which turned out to be the release of Sgt. Pepper's & the "summer of love." If that moment could have instead been about SMiLE, then SMiLE (if we're to believe the hype) was equally, if not more, suited to be the LSD album for the generation.

From all the readings I've done on LSD & the sixties there is no finer experience than the religious LSD experience. It seems a likely probable scenario that Wilson had such an experience. Such an experience fits with his claims from that period.

The Americana stuff which is a glorified aspect of SMilE, may actually be due to a common LSD experience--that being the "going back in time " bit. If Brain were to combine the location of his LSD experience with this "going back in time" thing, the result could indeed be SMiLE's Americana styled lyrics and musical mood. Clever as well as multi-layered, meaningful, and deep, such lyrics and music would be the source of constant debate as to its true meaning.

True, other interpretations are likely valid in the minds of those who present them (this includes me) but Brian Wilson knows what SMiLE is about (he has never stated differently. Note that such a statement of SMiLE cluelessness would have been a convenient "out" of his persistent being questioned about SMiLE nightmare).

I honestly think that Brian had an LSD trip where he contemplated a "riddle" (a common sixties practice) and had a religious experience. SMiLE is essentially that experience in riddle form (thus capable of inspiring a similar experience).

As far as Brian & Van Dyke keeping this all a secret, they've done a great job, don't you agree?

Let me ask you this. Where did Brian's religious LSD experience take place?

Here's a clue...not even his closest friends know. Why not? What's the problem? Heck, the SMiLE era "best friends" don't know what's up. Why not? Van Dyke will fill us in right?

I mean, if you had the greatest experience of your life at some place you'd let folks in on it wouldn't you?

Okay, so where did Brian Wilson have his super duper great religious, spiritual LSD trip? Check all of your sources and let me know. I'm waiting.

[Bicyclerider]

I'm not sure the place where Brian had his religious LSD experience is all that important - the LSD experience transcends place (and time) - whether it was at a friend's house or his apartment or at Big Sur or wherever.  LSD is about the internal, not the external.  I wouldn't extrapolate from that that the place was a big secret that Brian doesn't want to talk about - again, a little too much conspiracy theory angle for my taste.  If Brian remembers, I'm sure all someone would have to do is ask him - I feel Brian is mostly without guile and is if anything brutally honest in interviews.

I don't think the moment demanded Brian's LP be about anything specific other than being groundbreaking and progressive, just as Pet Sounds had been.  Brian was interested in pop art, mysticism (there's an interview when he talks about Sufism, isn't there?), films, avant garde music, Dylan, the Beatles, and other cultural innovations at the time.  LSD was just one part of the scene.  There's a difference between being inspired by LSD (and let's not forget Brian's use of marijuana and amphetamines) to make an album that's concerned with spirituality (which is a far more inclusive subject than just LSD) and trying to write an album specifically about LSD and your own LSD experiences.
 

[Bill Tobelman]

It has been pointed out that David Anderle's discussion of The Elements was essentially a description of Brian Wilson's spiritual LSD trip. Anderle summed it up as, "...the whole thing was this fantastic amount of awareness of his surroundings. So the obvious thing was to do something that would cover the physical surroundings."

So then The Elements, according to Anderle, were to "cover the physical surroundings" from what is assumed to be Brian's spiritual LSD trip because Brian had this, "fantastic amount of awareness of his surroundings."

This would seem to indicate that the location of Brian's great LSD trip may indeed have had a significant effect upon SMiLE.

Years ago Bob Hanes told me that folks have detailed just about every move that Brian made during the SMiLE era. He also told me that the Pet Sounds promo film was "Big Sur." In other words, when Anderle spoke of Big Sur it actually wasn't Big Sur but rather "the mountainous region above Lake Arrowhead" as Derek Taylor pointed out in his book.

So if you put this info all together you get the idea that the location IS important and that the location was likely NOT Big Sur.

[Custom Machine]

For those who are into meanings of SMiLE era songs, please help me out on this one.

"Well, you're welcome to come"..... Where? Anywhere? How about "You're welcome to come...on the SMiLE trip." Yes? No? Was it just a throwaway B-side?

Maybe I'm way off base here, but I always considered it a sexual invitation.

Glad I'm not the only one who thought of that...I don't think that's the case, but it has crossed my (apparently dirty) mind.

OK, now I'm re-sequencing Side B of Smiley Smile into Sexy Smile:

1. Gettin' Hungry
2. Good Vibrators
3. Well, You're Welcome To Come
4. She's Going Bald
5. Wind Chimes
6. Whistle In
  

Wow! Your post now adds a new dimension to the meaning of the title She's Going Bald - The Beach Boys were so far ahead of their time that this 1967 title was an ode to what was to become modern female grooming in the 2000's.  She's Going Bald song credits go to Brian, Mike, and VDP, but I think it's fair to blame this connotation on Mike, with publicity for the title in the 2000's provided by a few well known "overexposed" female celebrities.