Beach Boys – Don’t Worry Baby

This is my fourth song pick for Hanspostcard’s song draft. The Beach Boys Don’t Worry Baby.

Those who follow my blog and know me…know I like older music than my generation. I was once told by a co-worker that it’s “unnatural” to like music before you were born…which I think is hilarious and totally idiotic. I go through phases with music. When Hans and I talk about The Beatles I tend to listen to them and nothing else for a while…and the same with other bloggers.

I have done this my entire life…I get into something and I’m obsessed. I never really discard anything after my obsession dies down…it keeps coming back and in the case of the Beatles and others… never goes away.

In my senior year of high school I went through a surf music phase. I wore Hawaiian shirts and coco butter everywhere. I was  looking forward to the Florida trip my friends and I were planning in spring. I would roll in the high school parking lot with Jan and Dean, Dick Dale, or The Beach Boys blaring out of my Mustang. I had a hell of a stereo system in my car. When Jan and Dean’s “Surf City” can drown out The Scorpions coming from another car…the system is loud.

During this time surf music hit the musical spot in me. The musicians on those surf records were incredible. This song dug deeper…much deeper. I still listen to the song. Don’t Worry Baby is about a girl and a car…when you are an 18 year old boy…a girl and a car are the two most important topics…at least they were to me. It has always stuck with me and I’ll never forget that year. My first serious girlfriend, a 66 Mustang, and Don’t Worry Baby… 1985 was a good year.

We did go on that spring trip to Cocoa Beach Florida. A fifteen-hour drive one way in a Celica Sports Coupe with 4 guys packed in there. We picked the name (Cocoa Beach) because it sounded great…Yep pretty stupid because we could have driven 7 hours to Pensacola instead.

It was written by Brian Wilson and DJ Roger Christian. This was conceived as a follow-up to the Ronettes #2 hit “Be My Baby.” When Brian Wilson heard the Be My Baby on the radio, he wondered aloud if he could match it. Wilson’s wife Marilyn reassured him, saying, “Don’t Worry, Baby.”

This is pop perfection by the Beach Boys.

Don’t Worry Baby

Well it’s been building up inside of me
For oh I don’t know how long
I don’t know why
But I keep thinking
Something’s bound to go wrong

But she looks in my eyes
And makes me realize
And she says “don’t worry, baby”
Don’t worry, baby
Don’t worry, baby
Everything will turn out alright

Don’t worry, baby
Don’t worry, baby
Don’t worry, baby

I guess I should’ve kept my mouth shut
When I started to brag about my car
But I can’t back down now because
I pushed the other guys too far

She makes me come alive
And makes me wanna drive
When she says “don’t worry, baby”
Don’t worry, baby
Don’t worry, baby
Everything will turn out alright

Don’t worry, baby
Don’t worry, baby
Don’t worry, baby

She told me “Baby, when you race today
Just take along my love with you
And if you knew how much I loved you
Baby, nothing could go wrong with you”

Oh what she does to me
When she makes love to me
And she says “don’t worry, baby”
Don’t worry, baby
Don’t worry, baby
Everything will turn out alright

Don’t worry, baby
Don’t worry, baby
Don’t worry, baby

Advertisement

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball fan, old movie and tv show fan... and a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

49 thoughts on “Beach Boys – Don’t Worry Baby”

  4. This is in my top 3 Beach Boys songs (Barbara Anne and I get Around – the other 2). It has that train rhythm pulsing through it. I never get sick of listening to this. Just a brilliant pop song and wonderful harmonies as usual.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. I couldn’t agree more. Great harmonies. My kids love that song.
        How about Ohtani’s season so far??? Incredible. I bought a season MLB subscription today. Looking forward to seeing more games. I will watch some of the Dodgers later tonight.

        Liked by 1 person

      5. About 2 weeks back I posted on Twitter that Blue Jays fans might grudgingly have to admit Ohtani was the AL MVP this year, and that was before Vlad started to slump some. No one disagreed. Above average pitcher, above average hitter…. neither would make him a superstar by itself. But together- we’ve never seen anything like that in our lifetimes

        Liked by 1 person

  6. To me The Beach Boys first and foremost were about the harmony singing, and this tune is a great example of what they were able to do. A ’66 Mustang with a high power stereo – sounds like you were a pretty cool dude in high school, Max! 🙂

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  8. Posting here since a bit less crowded. 😀. Awesome pick Max. I’m sitting in dark listening to this on headphones (ok AirPods) and it is pop perfection. Random thoughts that come to mind – how would those harmonies sound acapella? Like if a doowop did it? The insecurity and then affirmation reminds me of some of Roy Orbison songs. And the guy with his car taking it racing reminds me of Springsteen’s Racing in the Streets. Not a bad trip for one song 😀

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Yes I do see a Springsteen connection in there. He had to be influenced some by these songs.

      It would sound great acapella…songs like I Get Around is the same way.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      3. LOL…I’ve never been THAT guy but I’ll take it! The Fonz I’m not… I do like when all of you mingle…that is cool.

        Like

    1. I thought so but I don’t know if everyone else did.
      Man I sure wish I still had that car…My mom bought me that car…that was NOT a good car to be a first car for a teenager. I didn’t wreck it much…just wore it out.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      2. Oh I didn’t either…I just made a fact…it drowned out the Scorpions…it cold have been Van Halen or any loud band. For once there was no insulting there lol.

        Like

      6. Yep that is the one…in 5th grade I watched this…they released a lot of damn records.

        Like

  10. Don’t Worry Baby is sheer gorgeousness, second only to God Only Knows I think in The Beach Boys incredible back catalogue. Brian Wilson’s fave record of all-time is Be My Baby, which is a classic by any standard, and he was always trying to match the 60’s greats, especially The Beatles – and they returned the compliment by trying to match his standards, both upping their games.

    Re: “un-natural” to like music from before you were born, hah, that must be great news to Classical Music fans, talk about shallow trend-following. Being desperate to fit in with the crowd is such a cliche for teenagers. Don’t get me wrong, I have always loved new music, my entire life, but the vast back catalogue of great music I don’t know is still something I’m discovering all the time and it doesn’t matter at all how old it is. The Beach Boys are def cooler than The Scorpions, and driving to Cocoa Beach listening to classic surf music is fine by me, I’ve driven there at least 20 times on Orlando holidays to see Shuttle launches, Kennedy Space Center, or to shop at Ron Jon’s Surf Shop – so it must be cool 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I envy you on liking new music. There is some I like…but I have to hunt it down…it’s usually not in the mainstream. I grew up in the 80s and I just couldn’t take all of the synths…I’m a musician also so maybe that had something to do with it. I like guitar, bass and drums. Some keyboards are fine if it’s not dominating…but yea…I didn’t fit into the 80s very well….and I stayed with my Beatles, Who, Stones etc…

      I do hear some rock bands today that I like…I found many on blogs…

      Oh I love Florida…Iive around 7 hours from it and I always have a good time going down there.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Some of my friends are also of the guitar-bass-drums fanclub, and hate over-produced music or synths, I just say that’s fine whatever works for anyone – the important thing is to be passionate about music of whatever genre 🙂 Some current great/decent tracks that fit into the guitar genre? God Only Knows (not Beach Boys) for King & Country/Dolly Parton, Lost (Jake Bugg), I Like It (Eagle Eye Cherry), You Can Call Me (Texas), Can’t Let Go (Alison Krauss/Robert Plant), Pressure Machine (Killers). Granted none of them are cool new guitar bands, they are a bit thin on the ground these days…oops!

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Now….saying that…that doesn’t mean I don’t like some…like Cars by Gary Numan…I love it. So it depends on the song really.
        The Foo Fighters are one of the only mainstream rock bands left that you can hear on a daily basis. I hope that changes.

        Liked by 2 people

  11. to reiterate what I noted on the other site, a great pop tune (to me, kind of like PopchartFreak, second in their catalog behind ‘God Only Knows”) and a very cool writeup about your personal connection which would only be better if accompanied by a pic of you in the Hawaiian shirt and 66 car!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. I tend to lean toward their Pet Sounds but I do like those earlier ones also…I love I Get Around. I inherited the single somehow and would listen to it for hours.

      Like

      Reply

      3. Yeah. Linked up above (you saw it). Richard Hatch (during his Battlestar Galactica fame) and Bruce Davison (from Summer of My German Soldier/Hunter/X-Men). Good movie.

        Like

Leave a Reply

Please log in using one of these methods to post your comment:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

%d bloggers like this: