Best Beach Boys song? [Archive] - Straight Dope Message Board

Acorns...but not Bacon

10-26-2010, 02:40 PM

I adore The Beach Boys, I Get Around is the first song I remember hearing. And still love it. I voted for that and also God Only Knows, Sloop John B, Wouldn't It Be Nice, Do You Wanna Dance, Help Me Rhonda, Don't Worry Baby, Surfin' USA, Fun Fun Fun....

Brian Wilson is a musical genius and I would have voted for Good Vibrations but the version on Brian's Smile album blows The Beach Boys version out of the water.

I'd also put up there, Then I Kissed Her, Do It Again.

EDIT: I forgot to vote for California Girls :D Oh and also, Heroes and Villians on the Smile album is also a lot better than the Beach Boys version, otherwise I would have voted for that aswell.

bienville

10-26-2010, 02:45 PM

silenus

10-26-2010, 02:58 PM

God Only Knows in a walk. The rest are good to great, but GOK is transcendent.

WordMan

10-26-2010, 03:03 PM

God Only Knows in a walk. The rest are good to great, but GOK is transcendent.

I was torn between that and Good Vibrations, with I Get Around for the early BB's entry...

FoieGrasIsEvil

10-26-2010, 03:14 PM

I think "Don't Worry Baby" just has beautifully rendered and recorded harmonies. Plus the melodic progression of the chorus from "Don't worry baby..." to "...everything will turn out all right" is a really nice set of melodic notes strung together.

FoieGrasIsEvil

10-26-2010, 03:18 PM

Plus the video off of Youtube is great for the dancing alone: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QCZ_bv9aLc

DCnDC

10-26-2010, 03:19 PM

Not really a very comprehensive list.
I suspect as the Thread gets more views we'll see a lot of other votes for "Other". The Beach Boys had a lot of really good songs. And lots of their really great songs would not be among the 20 biggest hits.

I know, but I wasn't going to put up a list of 100 songs, most of which would only get a few votes. I put up what I believe are the most well-known songs, as those would most likely be the heaviest vote-getters.

pulykamell

10-26-2010, 03:23 PM

"God Only Knows." Not only the best Beach Boys song, but the best love song ever recorded.

Biffy the Elephant Shrew

10-26-2010, 04:26 PM

Of the songs listed, it would be a toss-up between "God Only Knows" and "Good Vibrations" (the latter being so overexposed it's easy to forget how brilliant it is). But I marked "Other" for "Surf's Up."

Llama Llogophile

10-26-2010, 05:10 PM

1. God Only Knows
2. Don't Worry Baby
3. Surfer Girl

All great songs, presented beautifully. But most of their other songs are just slightly better than typical pop stuff to me.

akrako1

10-26-2010, 05:25 PM

"Feel Flows" should be included. Carl's most beautiful Psychedelic work.

President Johnny Gentle

10-26-2010, 05:29 PM

I voted "Heroes and Villains" before realizing I was really voting for a bootleg version that I've heard. The actually released single is good, but not as good. Sloop John B was my close second.

jsc1953

10-26-2010, 05:35 PM

On an intellectual level, I know that "God Only Knows" and "Good Vibrations" are really really excellent songs.

Of those listed, though, "Sloop John B" is my favorite.

But I voted for Other, because I have an inexplicable but overwhelming fondness for "Do It Again". Just looooove that song.

fusoya

10-26-2010, 06:43 PM

Flight of the Navigator was my favorite film when I was 6, so I Get Around will always hold a special place in my heart.

Manduck

10-26-2010, 06:55 PM

I voted for Fun Fun Fun, but I like the whole list.

koeeoaddi

10-26-2010, 07:38 PM

Other: "Shut Down"

panache45

10-26-2010, 08:51 PM

I Get Around
Surfin' USA
Fun, Fun, Fun
Surfin' Safari

I HATE HATE HATE Barbara Ann.

Thudlow Boink

10-26-2010, 09:01 PM

The list doesn't have nearly enough post-Pet Sounds stuff. I second "Surf's Up," "Feel Flows," and "Do It Again," and add "Darlin."

I seem to recall we've done threads like these before, in which "Good Vibrations" and/or "God Only Knows" was the clear winner, with "Wouldn't It Be Nice" also making a strong showing.

Ms Boods

10-26-2010, 09:44 PM

I'm in the midst of a Beach Boys phase at the moment, which means the symposium paper I'm giving in London next week has a Beach Boys song title as part of its title (neither the paper, presentation, nor entire symposium have anything to do with Brian Wilson or the Beach Boys.) My PowerPoint presentation also includes references to them, including pictures.

I also have tickets to go see Brian's Surf 'n' Gersh concert next September at the Royal Festival Hall :3

I ticked off a number of songs on the list above, but admit I enjoy listening to a lot of the out-takes and rehearsals from 'Good Vibrations' and 'Heroes and Villains.' I also really like the instrumental-only and vocal-only versions of the songs; a number of those get played and analysed in my rock music class (Brian Wilson appears in three of my lectures, now that I think about it.) I had a chance to contribute the updated entry on surf and the Beach Boys in the Grove Encyclopedia of American Music, but someone with seniority pipped me to the post, unfortunately.

Mmm, Brian -- bonkers, but a genius.

Argent Towers

10-26-2010, 10:02 PM

Mine is Gonna Hustle You (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkMbF4pOTlQ) - the original version, not one of the numerous ones with bastardized lyrics.

multimediac17

10-26-2010, 10:23 PM

God Only Knows is my favourite, Surf's Up deserves a mention, Kokomo is amazing and I too dislike Barbara Ann.

Thudlow Boink

10-26-2010, 10:43 PM

a number of those get played and analysed in my rock music class (Brian Wilson appears in three of my lectures, now that I think about it.)I would love to take your rock music class. Or, failing that, I would love to see an "Ask Me About My Rock Music Class" thread.

Markxxx

10-26-2010, 11:14 PM

Fun, Fun, Fun is my favourite song by them. But I like most of them.

Jilaad

10-27-2010, 12:54 AM

Good To My Baby

cochrane

10-27-2010, 01:20 AM

"Shut Down" was my favorite Beach Boys song for a long time, because it was the first BB song I heard when I was 7. Since then, I have to nominate a few that aren't on the list: "Getcha Back," "All Summer Long," and "Rock & Roll To the Rescue" have become some of my favorite Beach Boys songs.

footballisplayedwithyourfeet

10-27-2010, 04:48 AM

It would have been a toss up between God only knows and God vibrations, but I've had the latter as my ringtone for some years know and I'm really getting fed up with it*; so God only knows it is :D

*but obviously not to the extent that I'm going to take the trouble to change it ;)

multimediac17

10-27-2010, 05:07 AM

'Good Vibrations' is used (with different lyrics) as the jingle for a big electronics company here in Australia, and I've heard it so many times over the years that no matter how good I know it is, I just can't listen to it. It is most certainly not one of those songs that "never gets old". Try it once an ad break for years of TV-watching and it gets old.

don't ask

10-27-2010, 06:33 AM

I came here to vote for God Only Knows but started listening to The Beach Boys - 20 Good Vibrations and discovered that Good Vibrations is packed full of musical ideas that, due to the time, they had to keep to less than 4 minutes. And they had very few electronic aids. They piss away fantastic stuff over a few bars.

Meurglys

10-27-2010, 08:18 AM

Agghh! Too many to list.
But let's say Deirdre from the Sunflower album.

Ms Boods

10-27-2010, 08:40 AM

I would love to take your rock music class. Or, failing that, I would love to see an "Ask Me About My Rock Music Class" thread.

If people were interested, sure. It'd be fun. (I'd be hesistant because the threads I've started die after one or two posts :( ) Maybe when I get back from these two conferences (Kinks' paper in DC on Friday, then this other thing at the British Museum next week).

I came here to vote for God Only Knows but started listening to The Beach Boys - 20 Good Vibrations and discovered that Good Vibrations is packed full of musical ideas that, due to the time, they had to keep to less than 4 minutes. And they had very few electronic aids. They piss away fantastic stuff over a few bars.

Don't look at it that way, as pissing away a lot of ideas, but rather as taking something huge and unfinished, and narrowly honing it down -- Brian deliberately edited down 90 hours' worth of music (riffs and ideas) to create a 3:35 'pocket symphony' -- it's why I find listening to the various rehearsals and practices fascinating. It was also probably the most technologically advance single released to date (November 1967); It cost $50,000 to produce that one single :eek:

Brian had advantages that the Beatles didn't, as far as tech went.

Annie-Xmas

10-27-2010, 11:13 AM

How could you leabe out their comeback, only 1980's #1 single Kokomo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kokomo_(song))?

Dumb ass!

silenus

10-27-2010, 11:24 AM

Good taste? :D

I almost went with Surf's Up, a greatly under-rated and under-appreciated work of true art. But my heart belongs to God Only Knows and Pet Sounds.

pulykamell

10-27-2010, 12:04 PM

How could you leabe out their comeback, only 1980's #1 single Kokomo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kokomo_(song))?

Dumb ass!

As the OP states, "for what should be obvious reasons."

It's the only Beach Boys song that gets radio play that forces me to change the station. I'd count "Wipe Out," too, although I can't remember the last time I heard it on the radio, and it's a collaboration with the Fat Boys, so I don't consider it a Beach Boys song.

kunilou

10-27-2010, 12:15 PM

Good Vibrations. The classic example of Brian Wilson staying on the right side of the thin line between his genius and his insantiy.

casdave

10-27-2010, 12:57 PM

...and one where he just slips the other side of sanity,

'Hang on to your ego'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBVbjpZhxPw&feature=related

song was renamed and slightly reworded for release to 'There must be an answer'

The Second Stone

10-27-2010, 01:55 PM

God Only Knows and Don't Worry Baby are the two best Beach Boys songs.

mack

10-27-2010, 01:57 PM

I voted for Good Vibrations overall, although my favorite for the last few years has been Surf's Up. God Only Knows is a beautiful song and so expertly crafted but Good Vibrations is the Beach Boys tour de force. I was thinking of voting for In My Room because it's so lovely and wierd but went with GV.

SaharaTea

10-27-2010, 01:58 PM

"Wouldn't It Be Nice" has always been my favorite.

"Maybe if we think and wish and hope and pray..."

bienville

10-27-2010, 02:07 PM

More options for the non-20 Biggest Hits types (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=583338)

Bridget Burke

10-27-2010, 02:13 PM

As the OP states, "for what should be obvious reasons."

It's the only Beach Boys song that gets radio play that forces me to change the station. I'd count "Wipe Out," too, although I can't remember the last time I heard it on the radio, and it's a collaboration with the Fat Boys, so I don't consider it a Beach Boys song.

"Wipe Out" was a cover--originally recorded by the Surfaris.

I picked a bunch of Beach Boys tunes--many of the non-arty oldies. Because they were so much fun.

pulykamell

10-27-2010, 04:06 PM

"Wipe Out" was a cover--originally recorded by the Surfaris.

Of course it's originally by the Surfaris. But I assumed the OP was talking about this Wipe Out (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gt0LBlH3dAc), which is not really quite a cover.

kevja

10-27-2010, 04:59 PM

Neither list doesn't include "I Can Hear Music"

Yikes. I don't think I've ever heard a Beach Boys song I didn't like but not to have that on the list is a mistake, or I need new contacts.

Nars Glinley

10-27-2010, 05:12 PM

I'm surprised to be the first one to vote for Rock and Roll Music. I love their version as well as Chuck Berry's and The Beatles'.

bienville

10-27-2010, 05:43 PM

Neither list doesn't include "I Can Hear Music"

Yikes. I don't think I've ever heard a Beach Boys song I didn't like but not to have that on the list is a mistake, or I need new contacts.

Aargh! Sorry, kevja!

When I made Part 2 of the list (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=583338) my original intent was to come up with 28 songs, added to DCnDC's list of 22 songs to make a nice clean 50.

The I got carried away and decided I would do 78 songs to make it a total of a nice round 100 songs.
I ended up with 82 songs- "I Can Hear Music" was on that list. But since I was 4 over the round 100 that I wanted, I nixed a few that were cover songs.

:smack:

Thudlow Boink

10-27-2010, 06:06 PM

Aargh! Sorry, kevja!

When I made Part 2 of the list (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=583338) my original intent was to come up with 28 songs, added to DCnDC's list of 22 songs to make a nice clean 50.

The I got carried away and decided I would do 78 songs to make it a total of a nice round 100 songs.
I ended up with 82 songs- "I Can Hear Music" was on that list. But since I was 4 over the round 100 that I wanted, I nixed a few that were cover songs.

:smack:But you made it a "choose only one" poll. :( No way in hell can I choose only one of those 82 songs.

Winnie

10-27-2010, 08:32 PM

God Only Knows without question. Just thinking about that song sends chills up my spine.

don't ask

10-28-2010, 06:26 AM

Don't look at it that way, as pissing away a lot of ideas, but rather as taking something huge and unfinished, and narrowly honing it down -- Brian deliberately edited down 90 hours' worth of music (riffs and ideas) to create a 3:35 'pocket symphony' -- it's why I find listening to the various rehearsals and practices fascinating.

Thanks for that post. I checked out your apparent exaggeration to discover that it wasn't one. Amazing stuff.