Thread for various insignificant questions that don't deserve their own thread!

[sockittome]

I don't post often. I'm more interested in reading, learning and finding new BB-related videos on YouTube that I've missed. However, I have an insignificant tidbit that I'd like to share and this is one of the few places on the planet where someone else might appreciate it.

I'm outside yesterday morning having my pre-get ready to go to work cigarette. One of my neighbors, a woman in her early 50s, tends her granddaughter (who's three-ish) during the day while her daughter's at work. She and her granddaughter are outside in their backyard, don't know what they're doing, doesn't matter. Perched in the tree in their backyard is this crow that's squawking away as crows will do. I hear the woman ask her granddaughter, "What does the crow say?" (Do I even have to finish this?) I don't say it aloud, but it runs through my head: "The crow says, over and over, uncover the cornfield."

I'm not a fan of The Beach Boys or anything.

As you were.   

There's only one problem.  We don't know exactly what the crow is saying.  We just know that the cries of the crow is what causes the uncovering of the cornfield.  It's all in how you interpret the line.

[Komera]

I don't post often. I'm more interested in reading, learning and finding new BB-related videos on YouTube that I've missed. However, I have an insignificant tidbit that I'd like to share and this is one of the few places on the planet where someone else might appreciate it.

I'm outside yesterday morning having my pre-get ready to go to work cigarette. One of my neighbors, a woman in her early 50s, tends her granddaughter (who's three-ish) during the day while her daughter's at work. She and her granddaughter are outside in their backyard, don't know what they're doing, doesn't matter. Perched in the tree in their backyard is this crow that's squawking away as crows will do. I hear the woman ask her granddaughter, "What does the crow say?" (Do I even have to finish this?) I don't say it aloud, but it runs through my head: "The crow says, over and over, uncover the cornfield."

I'm not a fan of The Beach Boys or anything.

As you were.   

There's only one problem.  We don't know exactly what the crow is saying.  We just know that the cries of the crow is what causes the uncovering of the cornfield.  It's all in how you interpret the line.

I personally interpret it as a member of the Crow Nation telling 'em White Folks to get off the land...

[Andrew G. Doe]

Do any pictures exist of Dennis with Manson?

is this one a fake?

That's a picture of Dennis circa 1977. What do you think ? 

[debonbon]

I finally got to see Love and Mercy and I'm sure this has been answered but I was shocked at the solo'd GV vocals, I was under the impression these were lost. So, whats the deal there?

[Ebb and Flow]

I finally got to see Love and Mercy and I'm sure this has been answered but I was shocked at the solo'd GV vocals, I was under the impression these were lost. So, whats the deal there?

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,21958.msg522078.html#msg522078

[debonbon]

Thank you! We can only hope one day the full tapes show up.

[Loves The Sunflower]

... Over and over the crow cries... "screw this; I'm tired of flying."

Nice.

... We just know that the cries of the crow is what causes the uncovering of the cornfield.  It's all in how you interpret the line.

No, we don't know that the cries of the crow actually result in the uncovering of the cornfield. There's no resolution of the matter stated -or even implied- in the song. (Please take that as the abysmal attempt at humor that it was intended to be.)

I personally interpret it as a member of the Crow Nation telling 'em White Folks to get off the land...

Don't know if you're kidding or not or what, but given the nature of some of the Smile material, i.e., a thinly-veiled journey through Americana, this could be true, as it would certainly be part of the story. Interesting.

I don't know what Van Dyke Parks meant, if anything, by the line. What I do know is that it sounds right in the context of Cabinessence. Sometimes that's all that matters. I also know that hearing my neighbor ask the question she did made be think of it. Beyond that, I got nothing.    

[Mike's Beard]

I always thought it meant that as the field was being plowed the crows gathered to eat the seeds being planted and the worms in the earth.

[Andrew G. Doe]

The first line of the tag is pretty straightforward... but what about "Over and over/The thresher/And hover the wheat field" ?

Hmmmmmm... ?

[Mike's Beard]

Chop the two lines up and the half of each other fits.

Over and over/The thresher/Uncover the cornfield
Over and over/The crow cries/And hover the wheat field

[Bicyclerider]

Maybe Van was into the William Burroughs "cut and paste" literary method?

[Komera]

The first line of the tag is pretty straightforward... but what about "Over and over/The thresher/And hover the wheat field" ?

Hmmmmmm... ?

Thresher... best I can do is the threshing machine used to separate grain from husks and stalks.  Wheat is a grain.

As for the crow, I had been interpreting it as the bird crow until the day I had to explain race and enthicity to him my son (about why he looks indistinguishable from his classmates (takes after his father side in looks) but still has to mark down "Asian" on school tests).  After that talk, I thought about it for a bit more.  I do have a tiny sliver of Choctaw in me, so I thought... Choctaw, Apache, Cherokee, Navajo, Chinook, Mohawk, Crow... Crow?  And then suddenly I had a picture in my head of a Crow member facing a business tycoon and pointing at a filthy conglomeration of buildings and infrastructure sitting in the middle of open prairie.

Edit: Just realized my brain was running faster than my fingers.  Corrected "him" to "my son".

[SBonilla]

The first line of the tag is pretty straightforward... but what about "Over and over/The thresher/And hover the wheat field" ?

Hmmmmmm... ?

Thresher... best I can do is the threshing machine used to separate grain from husks and stalks.  Wheat is a grain.

As for the crow, I had been interpreting it as the bird crow until the day I had to explain race and enthicity to him (about why he looks indistinguishable from his classmates (takes after his father side in looks) but still has to mark down "Asian" on school tests).  After that talk, I thought about it for a bit more.  I do have a tiny sliver of Choctaw in me, so I thought... Choctaw, Apache, Cherokee, Navajo, Chinook, Mohawk, Crow... Crow?  And then suddenly I had a picture in my head of a Crow member facing a business tycoon and pointing at a filthy conglomeration of buildings and infrastructure sitting in the middle of open prairie.

No wheat in the Americas. I can see it hovering over the maize.

[NateRuvin]

I have a question

I heard that Bruce played (or mimed?) guitar at a 2011 gig. Is this true? And if so, does anyone have any pictures???

[undercover-m]

I always thought it meant that as the field was being plowed the crows gathered to eat the seeds being planted and the worms in the earth.

Are there vegetables being planted? And does the crow like worms?

[Jay]

OK, here's something that's been bugging me for some time now. There are two different edits of the "Better Get Back In Bed" track. One has Cal singing the line "Pied Piper, I'd better get back in bed, I hope I see you again" a few times, then as the track is fading out Carl changes the words to something that sounds like "Pied Piper, I'll be rollin' along". This version is from the twofer version of the Mt. Vernon and Fairway fairytale. Then there is another edit that has Carl sing the line " Pied Piper, I'd better get back in bed, I'd better get back in bed". Can anybody explain why there are two distinctly different edits?

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Ooh...good question

[Jay]

Ooh...good question

The version where Carl repeats the "better in get in bed" line is from the "Fairy Tale Music" track on the Good Vibrations box set. It's bothered me for years. 

[Jason Penick]

Two things I seem to remember reading, but can't recall where... Can anyone help me with the exact quotes?

Brian saying that he always intended "Sloop John B" to be part of Pet Sounds.

Van Dyke recalling a story of Dennis giving Charles Manson a beatdown in front of a bunch of very hip people.


Thanks in advance!

[Mike's Beard]

Two things I seem to remember reading, but can't recall where... Can anyone help me with the exact quotes?

Brian saying that he always intended "Sloop John B" to be part of Pet Sounds.

Van Dyke recalling a story of Dennis giving Charles Manson a beatdown in front of a bunch of very hip people.


Thanks in advance!

I think I read on here once someone disputing the beatdown story, for his size Manson was a pretty tough customer.

[Jason Penick]

I think I read on here once someone disputing the beatdown story, for his size Manson was a pretty tough customer.

Interesting, thanks. Any information on why the story was disputed would be welcome as well.

[Aomdiddlywalla]

Ooh...good question

The version where Carl repeats the "better in get in bed" line is from the "Fairy Tale Music" track on the Good Vibrations box set. It's bothered me for years. 

Bump ....
Anyone ?

[Andrew G. Doe]

Two things I seem to remember reading, but can't recall where... Can anyone help me with the exact quotes?

Brian saying that he always intended "Sloop John B" to be part of Pet Sounds.

He says that in a Pet Sounds-related podcast from a few years ago... plus. of course, it was included in the original (and incomplete) list of tracks he handed in to Capitol late February 1966:

Wouldn't It Be Nice
Caroline No
Good Vibrations
You Still Believe In Me
That's Not Me
Hang On To Your Ego
Sloop John B
The Old Man And The Baby (= Let's Go Away For A While)
Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)
I Just Wasn't Made For These Times.

[Jason Penick]

Thanks, Andrew-- I knew I had seen/heard definitive proof that he wanted Sloop on there somewhere before.

[SMiLE-addict]

I just learned that a friend of mine's nephew plays volleyball with Mike Love's son Christian. They're really good, too, winning tournaments and stuff.

One of those 6 degrees of separation things!