Tag: Pet Sounds

When I graduated in 1985, The Beach Boys were on my tape deck in my car. Although the music was 20 years old I could identify with them more than the music I was hearing on top 40 radio.

This was the leadoff track to The Beach Boys’ legendary Pet Sounds album. While the “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” and “God Only Knows” singles sold very well, the album had very disappointing sales when it was first released in America. The UK appreciated it much more along with Paul McCartney and John Lennon. America wanted more surf songs but Brian Wilson had moved into a different place.

I was very surprised to read that as of 2021, “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” is the Beach Boys’ most streamed song on Spotify. I would have thought Good Vibrations or one of their early surf songs.

Brian Wilson wrote the song with contributions from vocalist Mike Love and lyricist Tony Asher. Asher wrote all of the lyrics except for the “Good night, my baby, sleep tight, my baby” lines at the end of the song, which was Love’s contribution.

Pet Sounds peaked at #10 in the Billboard Album Charts, #2 in the UK. Wouldn’t It Be Nice peaked at #8 in the Billboard 100, #4 in Canada, #12 in New Zealand, and #58 in the UK in 1966.

Mike Love has said that Brian Wilson made him do his part over 30 times. He started to call Wilson “Dog Ears” because he could hear something that no one else could.

Mike Love: “Brian must have been part canine because he was reaching for something intangible, imperceptible to most, and all but impossible to execute,”

Nick Kent journalist: “This time [he] was out to eclipse these previous sonic soap operas, to transform the subject’s sappy sentiments with a God-like grace so that the song would become a veritable pocket symphony.”

Tony Asher (Lyricist) “It was a great joy making music with him but that any other relationship with Brian was a great chore. I found Brian’s lifestyle so damn repugnant. I mean, for say, every four hours we’d spend writing songs, there’d be about 48 hours of these dopey conversations about some dumb book he’d just read. Or else he’d just go on and on about girls… his feelings about this girl or that girl… it was just embarrassing.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lD4sxxoJGkA

Wouldn’t It Be Nice

Wouldn’t it be nice if we were older
Then we wouldn’t have to wait so long?
And wouldn’t it be nice to live together
In the kind of world where we belong?

You know it’s gonna make it that much better
When we can say goodnight and stay together

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could wake up
In the morning when the day is new?
And after having spent the day together
Hold each other close the whole night through?

Happy times together we’ve been spending
I wish that every kiss was never ending
Oh, wouldn’t it be nice?

Maybe if we think and wish and hope and pray
It might come true (run run ooo)
Baby, then there wouldn’t be a single thing we couldn’t do
We could be married (we could be married)
And then we’d be happy (and then we’d be happy)
Oh, wouldn’t it be nice?

You know it seems the more we talk about it
It only makes it worse to live without it
But let’s talk about it
Oh, wouldn’t it be nice?

Good night, oh baby
Sleep tight, oh baby
Good night, oh baby
Sleep tight, oh baby

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