Mike Love's lyrics

[runnersdialzero]

Nothing gets my back up more than when someone implies that the Beach Boys were just a sixties version of ... (insert boyband/Disney jerkoff group here).

At that point, I explain in simple and quick terms. If they're still spouting the same bullshit afterwards, they're not to be taken too seriously.

[Mike's Beard]

True. You can lead a jackass to water but you can't make it drink. 

[bgas]

Nothing gets my back up more than when someone implies that the Beach Boys were just a sixties version of ... (insert boyband/Disney jerkoff group here).

The Beach Boys wrote there own songs, played their instruments (except Mike) and they didn't dance. The Jackson 5 was a lot more like the boy bands of recent years. I hate it when people compare the Beach Boys to them. Much more like REM, who made some of their best albums after Automatic for the People, but they weren't big sellers. Maybe even Radiohead, who is mainly known for their albums up to Ok Computer. I think their best was after that.

Hey!  Mike played a pretty mean SAX!!  And he did some nice dance steps too.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Mike was also a hipster bearded asshole before there was such a thing! 

I think the best way to view Mike is as just ONE of Brian's many great collaborators. I think it's futile trying to prove he's the best of the bunch. Too many people simply hate the guy when no one knows Tony Asher or Gary Usher from the wall.

And if Mike's the king of the "fun and sun" aspect of The Beach Boys: well, there's nothing wrong with that. It's a key part of what makes The Beach Boys THE BEACH BOYS and it created a lot of the momentum the group needed to achieve the clout necessary for Brian to stretch out.

Mike is also unique amongst Brian's collaborators in that he was IN THE FREAKING BAND! He got to sing many of the great lyrics he wrote, and was the band's front man and informed quite a bit of their identity.

But Gary Usher, Tony Asher, Roger Christian, Van Dyke Parks, Jack Reilly (yes) were all great and had unique strengths that Mike perhaps did not. Though, in Mike's defense, he was able to write many different types of lyrics: car songs, surf songs, love song, melodrama, mellow-good-vibe stuff, and the occasional weird bit. But that might just be because he was in the band and writing much longer than the other guys.

[Mr. Cohen]

Van Dyke said Brian was embarrassed by the "carburetor and boy + girl" lyrics that Mike had written and welcomed Van's esoteric imagery.

I think this quote was true around 65-67. At that time, Brian wanted to be a hip intellectual, and with that being his goal, he naturally would've been embarrassed when songs like "409" came up. However, as we can see by the end of the SMiLE, this period didn't work out. For one reason or another, Brian either stopped talking to his hip new friends or they stopped talking to him. The end result is that Brian abandoned those aspirations. Some time after he did that, he probably reevaluated the earlier songs and saw their positive aspects again. People's mind change.

Also, I think the reason Brian preferred writing with Van Dyke over Mike was simple: Van Dyke had taken acid, and would take uppers and smoke marijuana with Brian. Brian wanted people in his "head space" more than anything. After all, look at how he coerced the BBs into taking a ton of drugs when he finally worked closely with them again for Smiley Smile.

Van Dyke also provided the intelligent vibe that Brian wanted. While Mike can be very clever, he never comes off as a genius. Just a clever, hardworking guy.

The reason he had Mike write the lyrics for "Good Vibrations" was because Brian knew that Asher couldn't write lyrics that were commercial enough to take the song to #1. As we know, the perception at the time was the Pet Sounds had bombed. Brian's ultimate goal was to revolutionize the music industry, and to do that he need commercial success. 

And Mike wasn't even Brian's first choice as Asher's replacement for "Good Vibrations". Brian wanted Van Dyke to do it, but Van Dyke refused, probably because he worried that his lyrics wouldn't be right for the song's mood.

[runnersdialzero]

And Mike wasn't even Brian's first choice as Asher's replacement for "Good Vibrations". Brian wanted Van Dyke to do it, but Van Dyke refused, probably because he worried that his lyrics wouldn't be right for the song's mood.

I want to say Van Dyke addressed this at one point, saying the lyric had already had work on it and he didn't feel it was his place to intrude. I don't know if he's talking about Tony's lyrics or Mike's lyric, though.

[Cam Mott]

And Mike wasn't even Brian's first choice as Asher's replacement for "Good Vibrations". Brian wanted Van Dyke to do it, but Van Dyke refused, probably because he worried that his lyrics wouldn't be right for the song's mood.

I want to say Van Dyke addressed this at one point, saying the lyric had already had work on it and he didn't feel it was his place to intrude. I don't know if he's talking about Tony's lyrics or Mike's lyric, though.

Yeah, since Carlin's book it seems to be very much up in the air. If VDP was indeed asked first thing in early Summer '66, it was Asher's lyrics that were the embarassment Brian wanted replaced since by all accounts Mike's lyrics couldn't have been written until late September '66.

I don't doubt who thought who was comfortable with what personal behavior had something to do with Brian mixing it up and having a lyricist's revolving door, I'm still leaning toward just plain ol' variety. Still the operative thing is once the others were out the revolving door they were out where as Mike stayed the go-to.

[Mr. Cohen]

Well, Van Dyke was in the fold early enough for him to claim that he was one of the people that suggested putting cellos on the chorus of "Good Vibrations".

[Jay]

'I don't know where, but she send me there". Now THAT is a GREAT lyric! I don't know if Mike wrote it, but he sings it like he did.  It's  probably the most psychadelic Mike ever got. 

[Cam Mott]

"She goes with me to a blossom world", the next summer we were all encouraged to go to San Francisco with flowers in our hair. Coincidence.....?.........

[Alex]

Nothing gets my back up more than when someone implies that the Beach Boys were just a sixties version of ... (insert boyband/Disney jerkoff group here).

The Beach Boys wrote there own songs, played their instruments (except Mike) and they didn't dance. The Jackson 5 was a lot more like the boy bands of recent years. I hate it when people compare the Beach Boys to them. Much more like REM, who made some of their best albums after Automatic for the People, but they weren't big sellers. Maybe even Radiohead, who is mainly known for their albums up to Ok Computer. I think their best was after that.

Actually, the Lovester danced! Watching him dance make me want to simultaneously  and  !!
And how dare you compare Radiohead to the BBs!  Unlike the BBs, where their post-PS stuff was some of the best music of their career, RH got got boring...only half of each of their first 3 albums is worth listening to, anyway. Nothing more than a Brit-pop band who started taking themselves too seriously and have no sense of joy or fun in their music. Even the BBs at their most depressed (Til I Die, Tree) sang with passion...Yorke does nothing but wallow in his own misery...and his Idioteque dance and head bobbing have nothing on Love's Monster Mash, chicken dance, and various other cheesy and embarrassing yet somehow awesome moves. Wild Honey, IMHO, is a much more satisfying listen than RH's entire back catalog combined. That said, I do like RH's cover of Rhinestone Cowboy. Rant over...I think I went off topic a little.

[guitarfool2002]

Well, Van Dyke was in the fold early enough for him to claim that he was one of the people that suggested putting cellos on the chorus of "Good Vibrations".

I always had a few doubts about this specific claim from Van Dyke, but I don't have the facts and dates in front of me to back it up. Then again, I also think he had more of a hand in creating some of Smile's signature arrangements in 1966 then he has ever taken or received credit for, but that's just a personal opinion.

[Magic Transistor Radio]

Nothing gets my back up more than when someone implies that the Beach Boys were just a sixties version of ... (insert boyband/Disney jerkoff group here).

The Beach Boys wrote there own songs, played their instruments (except Mike) and they didn't dance. The Jackson 5 was a lot more like the boy bands of recent years. I hate it when people compare the Beach Boys to them. Much more like REM, who made some of their best albums after Automatic for the People, but they weren't big sellers. Maybe even Radiohead, who is mainly known for their albums up to Ok Computer. I think their best was after that.

Actually, the Lovester danced! Watching him dance make me want to simultaneously  and  !!
And how dare you compare Radiohead to the BBs!  Unlike the BBs, where their post-PS stuff was some of the best music of their career, RH got got boring...only half of each of their first 3 albums is worth listening to, anyway. Nothing more than a Brit-pop band who started taking themselves too seriously and have no sense of joy or fun in their music. Even the BBs at their most depressed (Til I Die, Tree) sang with passion...Yorke does nothing but wallow in his own misery...and his Idioteque dance and head bobbing have nothing on Love's Monster Mash, chicken dance, and various other cheesy and embarrassing yet somehow awesome moves. Wild Honey, IMHO, is a much more satisfying listen than RH's entire back catalog combined. That said, I do like RH's cover of Rhinestone Cowboy. Rant over...I think I went off topic a little.

Have you even heard Kid A or Amnesiac? Those are their best albums IMO. REM"s best album is Up IMO.

[Magic Transistor Radio]

 

Mike was also a hipster bearded butthole before there was such a thing! 

I didn't realise that was a 'thing'! 

[Don_Zabu]

Mike was also a hipster bearded butthole before there was such a thing!  

I didn't realise that was a 'thing'!  

This guy would not look out-of-place on any given college campus in America.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

I dunno. Look up "Bearded Hipster Butthole" in Google pics and see what you get 

[Magic Transistor Radio]

I just might be that guy. Although, I think my personality is much closer to Carl's then Mike.

[Alex]

Have you even heard Kid A or Amnesiac? Those are their best albums IMO. REM"s best album is Up IMO.

Yes I have...Half the songs on each album are somewhat decent, half are complete merda, all are coma inducing, even the fast ones. Maybe it's just me...but I never really got all the hype...I once owned OK Computer, but I was always skipping over most of the tracks...No Surprises and Electioneering were the only ones that did anything for me. Honestly, I prefer Oasis and Coldplay, as bad as that sounds.