God Only Knows – The Beach Boys

the-beach-boys1SONG OF THE DAY

“God Only Knows” by The Beach Boys (Pet Sounds, Capitol Records, 1966). Written by Brian Wilson, Tony Asher.

WHERE I HEARD IT

It’s the theme song for my new obsession, HBO’s Big Love. I’ve heard it 23 times this week, which as you might be able to guess means I’m finished with the first two seasons and onto the 3rd.

INTERESTING FACTS (from wikipedia)

– It is the eighth track on the group’s eleventh studio album Pet Sounds (1966), and one of their most widely recognized songs. “God Only Knows” was composed and produced by Brian Wilson, with lyrics by Tony Asher, and the lead vocal was sung by Carl Wilson.

– The song broke new ground in many ways. It was one of the first commercial pop songs to use the word ‘God’ in its title. The song was also far more technically sophisticated than anything the Beach Boys, or arguably any pop group, had ever attempted before – particularly the complicated melodic structure and vocal harmonies. As producer, Brian Wilson also used many unorthodox instruments for the genre, including the harpsichord and French horns that are heard in the song’s famous introduction.

– Mojo magazine ranked the song as the 13th greatest song of all time. Pitchfork Media named it the best song of the 1960’s. The song is 25th on Rolling Stone‘s list of the 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time.

– Brian Wilson explains in his autobiography Wouldn’t It Be Nice: My Own Story (a controversial book that has been declared mostly fictional by Wilson) that the melody of “God Only Knows” was inspired by a John Sebastian song that he had been listening to. However, the opening French Horn motif bears a very close relationship to a motif, also stated by the French horns, in Act II Scene 2, the “Hagen” motif (itself a variation of the “nature” motif) of Richard Wagner’s Die Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods). Wilson also once described that the song “was a vision that Tony and I had. It’s like being blind but in being blind, you can see more. You close your eyes; you’re able to see a place or something that’s happening.” According to Wilson, “the idea summarized everything I was trying to express in a single song.”

– Tony Asher felt confident when writing the song that it would be a big hit. As he explains, “This is the one [song] that I thought would be a hit record, because it was so incredibly beautiful. I was concerned that maybe the lyrics weren’t up to the same level as the music: how many love songs start off with the line, ‘I may not always love you’? I liked that twist, and fought to start the song that way. Working with Brian, I didn’t have a whole lot of fighting to do, but I was certainly willing to fight to the end for that. I was probably saying to myself, ‘God, I hope I’m right about this,’ because you’re never quite sure. But I knew that it would work, because by the second part, the real meaning of the song has come out: ‘I’ll love you till the sun burns out, then I’m gone,’ ergo ‘I’m gonna love you forever.’ I guess that in the end, ‘God Only Knows’ is the song that most people remember, and love the most.

COVERS

  • Elvis Costello and the Brodsky Quartet on their 1993 album, The Juliet Letters
  • Brenda & the Tabulations on their 1967 album, Dry Your Eyes
  • P.P. Arnold on her 1968 album, Kafunta
  • Claudine Longet on her 1972 album, Let’s Spend the Night Together
  • Mandy More on her 1972 album, But That Is Me
  • Captain & Tennille on their 1975 album, Love Will Keep Us Together
  • David Bowie on his 1984 album, Tonight
  • Neil Diamond on his 1977 album, I’m Glad You’re Here With Me Tonight
  • Charly Garcia and Pedro Aznar on their 1991 album, Tango 4 [6]
  • Judie Tzuke on her 1991 album, Left Hand Talking
  • Justin Hayward on his 1994 album, Classic Blue
  • The Real Group on their 1994 album, Nothing But the Real Group
  • The Manhattan Transfer on their 1995 album, Tonin’
  • Betty Everett on her 1975 album, “Happy Endings”
  • Olivia Newton-John on her 1974 album, If You Love Me, Let Me Know
  • The Nylons on their 1996 album, Run for Cover
  • Jars of Clay on Front Yard Luge (1999)
  • Brian Wilson on his 2000 live album, Live at the Roxy Theatre
  • Elton John, circa 2001
  • The Vogues on their 2001 compilation album, Memories/Sing the Good Old Songs (the original cover by the Vogues appeared on an album in the 60s/70s)
  • Brian Wilson on his 2002 live album, Pet Sounds Live
  • John Wetton on his 2003 album, Rock of Faith (performed live; released in Japan only)
  • Holly Cole on her 2003 album, Shade
  • Mandy Moore and Michael Stipe on the soundtrack to the 2004 film, Saved!
  • Jonatha Brooke on her 2004 album, Back in the Circus
  • Kim Kuzma on her 2005 album, Who You Are
  • In 2005, Joss Stone recorded a version for a CD produced by Gap, on which various artists sang their own favorite songs.
  • Giant Drag circa 2006
  • Petra Haden circa 2006 (a cappella version)[7]
  • John Pizzarelli from the 2006 album, Knowing You
  • Switchfoot(2006)
  • Daniel Johnston on Do It Again : A Tribute to Pet Sounds (2006)
  • Geoff Gascoyne ft. Jamie Cullum on his 2007 album “Keep It to Yourself” (originally performed in Cullum’s 2004 live concert DVD Live at Blenheim Palace)
  • Ben Kweller on JTV (2007)
  • Nicholas Hoult and Georgina Moffatt on Skins (2007)
  • Brianna Carpenter on Australian Idol 2007
  • Athlete on the 2007 compilation album, The Saturday Sessions: The Dermot O’Leary Show
  • Luciana Souza on her 2007 album, The New Bossa Nova
  • Jon Brion on a live show at Largo (1999) – appears on Cinematic Treatment[8]
  • Joss Stone on the 2008 album, Introducing Joss Stone
  • Wayne Hussey on Bare (2008)
  • The Mockers on Mojo Presents In My Room (given away free with January 2007 issue of Mojo magazine)
  • Julia Nunes on Youtube (2007)
  • Only Men Aloud! on their 2008 self titled début album.
  • Tera Melos in the middle of their cover of Hey Sandy by Polaris on their 2009 album Idioms Vol. 1
  • Antje Monteiro in the Dutch TV Show “Het Metropole Orkest ontmoet” (2009)
  • The song itself was featured in the film My Life Without Me. The main character (played by Sarah Polley) sings the song to her husband.
  • “God Only Knows” was also featured prominently in the British drama/thriller entitled Enduring Love. In it one of the characters, Jed (Rhys Ifans) sings the song on screen as he stalks Joe (Daniel Craig) in several of the film’s creepier scenes.
  • ‘God Only Knows’ was also featured in the British teen drama Skins, where it was sung in a choral style by Nicholas Hoult and Georgina Moffat as a way for Hoult’s character Tony to emotionally damage his friend and girlfriend.

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