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Author Topic: "Surf's Up mmmmmmm board a tidal wave" query.  (Read 7360 times)
willy
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« on: September 30, 2010, 12:14:55 PM »

Me the last person to question a lyric by VDP but was that mmmmmmm a 'gap' that might have been filled by something else? A lyric yet at the time to to be written? Always seemed a bit awkward to me.
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« Reply #1 on: September 30, 2010, 12:34:03 PM »

It's "Surf's up aboard a tidal wave". One of my favorite parts of the song. The lyrics are great! Can you imagine surfing on the top of a tidal wave? What a ride!!
« Last Edit: September 30, 2010, 04:29:46 PM by Mikie » Logged

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« Reply #2 on: September 30, 2010, 12:44:08 PM »

Never surfed meself but the point was the mmmmmmm bit. Was it a 'filler' before an actual lyric was to be written?
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« Reply #3 on: September 30, 2010, 03:34:03 PM »

i dunno.  i guess not cause he would have finished it if so
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« Reply #4 on: September 30, 2010, 04:06:31 PM »

It's not like Van Dyke was hard up on lyrics during the 60's. It's a wonderful line and not a placeholder for more words, I'd say.
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« Reply #5 on: September 30, 2010, 04:37:05 PM »

Maybe during the Surf's Up writing session in the sand box, Van Dyke got pissed after stepping in dog crap and he went home and they left the song unfinished like that. 

If you don't like the "Mmmmmm", just fill it in with your own lyrics.  Personally, Willy, I like the "Mmmmmm".
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I, I love the colorful clothes she wears, and she's already working on my brain. I only looked in her eyes, but I picked up something I just can't explain. I, I bet I know what she’s like, and I can feel how right she’d be for me. It’s weird how she comes in so strong, and I wonder what she’s picking up from me. I hope it’s good, good, good, good vibrations, yeah!!
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« Reply #6 on: September 30, 2010, 04:50:46 PM »

Me the last person to question a lyric by VDP but was that mmmmmmm a 'gap' that might have been filled by something else? A lyric yet at the time to to be written? Always seemed a bit awkward to me.

I've wondered the same thing since Van was never one to waste words.  For example, had he penned the words to Good Vibrations, there would have been no "oom bop, bop" or "hum-de-dum-de-dum", etc.  It just wasn't his thing.  It may have been just a temp thing for Brian at the time, but the thing of it is, it is written in stone and a permanent part of the song.  I find it to be charming; sort of a human touch in a technically mindblowing narrative.
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« Reply #7 on: September 30, 2010, 04:55:54 PM »

BTW, while we're on the subject of that line, has anyone else seen a double meaning in it (or I should say, two ways to phrase the same meaning)?

"......aboard a title wave"

".......a board (as in surfboard), a title wave"

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« Reply #8 on: September 30, 2010, 05:15:16 PM »

I always thought the line to be heavy on the irony, considering it was coming from a group that only very recently was primarily known for being a "surf group".
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« Reply #9 on: September 30, 2010, 06:13:38 PM »

I always heard the lyric as "Surf's Up mm-hmm mm-hmm mm-hmm mm-board a tidal wave".

Note: Trying to write this phonetically is very difficult.  Grin
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« Reply #10 on: September 30, 2010, 06:55:51 PM »

The notations that Jasper dug up from the "Inside Pop" tapes had the line "takes guts to catch a wave" inscribed.
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« Reply #11 on: September 30, 2010, 08:06:20 PM »

Me the last person to question a lyric by VDP but was that mmmmmmm a 'gap' that might have been filled by something else? A lyric yet at the time to to be written? Always seemed a bit awkward to me.

I've wondered the same thing since Van was never one to waste words.  For example, had he penned the words to Good Vibrations, there would have been no "oom bop, bop" or "hum-de-dum-de-dum", etc.  It just wasn't his thing.  It may have been just a temp thing for Brian at the time, but the thing of it is, it is written in stone and a permanent part of the song.  I find it to be charming; sort of a human touch in a technically mindblowing narrative.

What about 'Vega-tables'? "Da da dala da da da da" - after the "Eat a lot, sleep a lot" section. Plus, the dreadful intro of 'My Hobo Heart' ("yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah, ooooohhhh, no no no no no no" - granted they are common words but they don't say much.

I don't think a little 'hmmmmmmm' would have bothered him too much.
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« Reply #12 on: September 30, 2010, 08:14:04 PM »

I always heard the lyric as "Surf's Up mm-hmm mm-hmm mm-hmm mm-board a tidal wave".

Note: Trying to write this phonetically is very difficult.  Grin

Me too.  Like someone going "uh huh", or "surf's up, that's right".
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« Reply #13 on: October 01, 2010, 01:36:33 AM »

I love that BBC interview from a few years ago in which VDP said that Brian gave him a melody and VDP would fill it with words and that Brian did not write 'Surf's Up' but wrote "da, da".
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« Reply #14 on: October 01, 2010, 01:46:21 AM »

BTW, while we're on the subject of that line, has anyone else seen a double meaning in it (or I should say, two ways to phrase the same meaning)?

"......aboard a title wave"

".......a board (as in surfboard), a title wave"



Interesting... never saw it this way. I'm an 'aboard' man myself, but your idea is valid. VDP loves ambiguity. On 'Song Cycle', he sings:

'Dreams Are Still Born In Hollywood'. For 35 years now, I took it both as a hopeful line (they're not over, they still emerge) and as a harsh judgment: stillborn, as in 'born dead' (referring to the decadence, e.g. in the Sunset Boulevard movie).

Also on Song Cycle, there's: 'I should think he'd fade away the way that Bohemians often bare the frigid air.' Strange and mystical... not 'cold air', or 'fresh air', but 'frigid air'. Like in 'frigidaire'. Frigid also is: sexually insensitive.

Well, it's poetry. Not exactly: 'Woke up this morning, mah' booze done gone. Mah' baby left me, I'm on my own'.

About the Surf's Up line: I always loved it. Never missed any words there.

Perhaps it really was meant to be: 'Surf's up, mm mm mm mm mm mm mm mm mm I'm bored, I'm tired old Dave'?
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willy
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« Reply #15 on: October 01, 2010, 01:55:33 AM »

'Surf's Up' wasn't the only part of SMiLE to have not been finished.
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« Reply #16 on: October 01, 2010, 10:04:19 AM »

...And yet the line perfectly fits the accepted metaphor of the song. "Surf's up" means the tide is high and yet, this time, it's REALLY high - a tidal wave that will wipe out the past (the colonnaded ruins will fall) making way for the future - the children who will reinvent society.

There is another interpretation of the line I had never considered before reading this thread: by dropping the "a" (if it is, in fact, dropped), the lyric could be an invitation, as in "Surf's up (people)...board a tidal wave (while you can)".
« Last Edit: October 01, 2010, 10:05:15 AM by Roger Ryan » Logged
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« Reply #17 on: October 01, 2010, 10:21:48 AM »

Van Dyke has repeatedly said that he wrote the words even down to the syllable to order for the notes of the melody as played by or more likely sung by Brian.  So yes, I find it odd that he wouldn't have written something for that spot - Van Dyke was not a "mmmm mmmmmm" or "da da" filler writer.  Could he have written something for that spot that Brian didn't like and substituted the wordless "mmmmmmm?"  He did change the lyrics to Vegetables from the original Van Dyke version (cornucopia).

Another possibility is Brian changed how he played the line on the piano from when he and Van Dyke composed it, lengthening the line, and didn't have Van dyke write extra words and had to fill in.

Third possibility:  Brian wanted that mmmm mmmmm in the song from when they originally wrote it, for some reason.

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« Reply #18 on: October 01, 2010, 10:23:43 AM »

(the colonnaded ruins will fall)
That's "columnated" ruins... police
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« Reply #19 on: October 01, 2010, 10:32:11 AM »

Reading you guys' Surf's Up lyric interpretations is like reading and trying to interpret the bible.

Reminds me of the Smile-o-Phile's posts on the old Smile Shop board.   Everybody has their own ideas. It can be whatever you want it to be!

The one that made me laugh above: "Tidal" and "title".  Don't know if that was intentional or a misspelling.  Grin
« Last Edit: October 01, 2010, 11:26:04 AM by Mikie » Logged

I, I love the colorful clothes she wears, and she's already working on my brain. I only looked in her eyes, but I picked up something I just can't explain. I, I bet I know what she’s like, and I can feel how right she’d be for me. It’s weird how she comes in so strong, and I wonder what she’s picking up from me. I hope it’s good, good, good, good vibrations, yeah!!
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« Reply #20 on: October 01, 2010, 11:35:14 AM »

Title wave? Actually that misspelling creates another meaning. Now the wave can be imagined as a wave of titles, the names of authority we once held dear washing ashore.

As for the 'mmmhhhhmmmm' part, the only thing I could imagine replacing it is a quick vocal round that echoes the phrase "surf's up". There's no way you could cram new lyrics in there and have it flow.
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Mikie
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« Reply #21 on: October 01, 2010, 12:14:55 PM »

Yeah, but was that part "mmmmmmmmmmm" or "mmmhhhhmmmm"?
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I, I love the colorful clothes she wears, and she's already working on my brain. I only looked in her eyes, but I picked up something I just can't explain. I, I bet I know what she’s like, and I can feel how right she’d be for me. It’s weird how she comes in so strong, and I wonder what she’s picking up from me. I hope it’s good, good, good, good vibrations, yeah!!
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« Reply #22 on: October 01, 2010, 01:34:33 PM »

Title wave? Actually that misspelling creates another meaning. Now the wave can be imagined as a wave of titles, the names of authority we once held dear washing ashore.

As for the 'mmmhhhhmmmm' part, the only thing I could imagine replacing it is a quick vocal round that echoes the phrase "surf's up". There's no way you could cram new lyrics in there and have it flow.

Surf's up, Mike Love is scared to surf, aboard a tidal wave
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« Reply #23 on: October 01, 2010, 01:48:45 PM »

This entire thread needs to get reported.
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Roger Ryan
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« Reply #24 on: October 01, 2010, 01:54:45 PM »

(the colonnaded ruins will fall)
That's "columnated" ruins... police

Yeah, well the official lyrics to "Cabin Essence" are "Find a meadow filled with rain there...", but that's not the way the lyric is sung, is it? I completely agree that "columnated"* looks a lot cooler on the printed page (or the computer screen) than "colonnaded", but I'm convinced the latter is what Brian sings on BWPS...and I suspect Carl sang it this way on the '71 version as well.

Now don't get me started on "I'm in the great shape of the agri-culture"! Wink

*I also understand that this is a real word with roughly the same meaning as "colonnaded".
« Last Edit: October 01, 2010, 01:59:25 PM by Roger Ryan » Logged
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