clipped from www.usatoday.com

He also wrote the bulk of the lyrics. Wilson didn't alter a syllable. "Brian told me, 'It's like you're in my brain.' Writing as if I'm Brian was tricky. It has to be interesting but not so clever that a 66-year-old guy goes, 'What's this?'

"We kept a lot of Brian's lyrics. He wrote the lion's share of the vibe of Oxygen," he adds. "It was invaluable to have him address his lost chapters."

Bennett quickly learned that Wilson functioned best as the alpha male and that his composing and arranging gifts haven't faded. When Bennett was at an impasse, Wilson's change of key "was like driving into a vat of butter," he says. "That's the money chord. He's still got it."

clipped from www.pitchforkmedia.com

The opening minute or so of our exchange didn't record properly, but during this time he explained to me that he didn't have much at all to do with the themes or concept of the record, that his role was primarily the composition of the music. At this point, given his long history and struggles, perhaps writing and performing music is what Brian Wilson wishes to be the extent of his involvement in the industry. Just a guess. But if so, he's certainly earned that right.

Pitchfork: Were you involved much in the discussion of how the words would flow and the themes and so on? Was that something you had talked about with Van Dyke Parks?

BW: Not really, no. He just rattled off five sets of 35-second narrations. I didn't tell him what to write about. I just said, "Call it the 'Heartbeat of L.A.'".