God Only Knows

"God Only Knows"
Song

"God Only Knows" is one of the most widely recognized songs by the American pop band The Beach Boys. The song was a single taken from their classic 1966 album Pet Sounds. It 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 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 spectacular vocal harmony effects. As producer, Brian Wilson also used many unusual instruments, including the harpsichord and French horns that are heard in the song's famous introduction.

Tony Asher has noted the irony that this, one of the all-time great love songs, opens with the line 'I may not always love you' (although the line is turned on its head by the subsequent lines: 'but long as there are stars above you / you never need to doubt it / I'll make you so sure about it'.

Writing the song

Brian claims in his autobiography Wouldn't It Be Nice: My Own Story that the melody of the song was inspired by a John Sebastian song that he had been listening to.

Brian 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 Brian, "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."

Just as Tony Asher said, Brian "hated the opening line" of the song as "it was too negative." He eventually gave in after hearing the following lines in the song.

Naming the song

It was one of the first pop songs to use the word "God" in its title (a decision that Wilson and Asher agonised over, fearing it would not get air-play as a result). As Brian's former wife Marilyn describes "The first time I heard it, Brian played it for me at the piano. And I went, 'Oh my god, he's talking about God in a record.' It was pretty daring to me. And it was another time I thought to myself, 'Oh, boy, he's really taking a chance.' I thought it was almost too religious. Too square. At that time. Yes, it was so great that he would say it and not be intimidated by what anybody else would think of the words or what he meant."

Tony Asher also explains that Brian and himself "had lengthy conversations during the writing of 'God Only Knows', because unless you were Kate Smith and you were singing 'God Bless America', no one thought you could say 'God' in a song. No one had done it, and Brian didn't want to be the first person to try it. He said, 'We'll just never get any air play.' Isn't it amazing that we thought that? But it worked, and 'God Only Knows' is, to me, one of the great songs of our time. I mean the great songs. Not because I wrote the lyrics, but because it is an amazing piece of music that we were able to write a very compelling lyric to. It's the simplicity - the inference that 'I am who I am because of you' - that makes it very personal and tender.

Brian explains that although he feared putting the word 'God' in the title of the song, he eventually agreed to keep it. He explains that he agreed to keep the word 'God' in the title firstly, "because God was a spiritual word, and secondly, because Brian and The Beach Boys would "be breaking ground."

Choosing the vocalists

Brian Wilson originally intended to sing lead vocal on 'God Only Knows' but in the end he sacrificed the lead vocal to his brother Carl: "Well, I thought I was gonna do it. As the song progressed, I said, 'Hey, I feel kind of natural doing this.' But when we completed creating the song, I said my brother Carl will probably be able to impart the message better than I could, so I sacrificed that one. But he had a good time singing it."

Carl Wilson later described how lucky he felt being given the opportunity to sing 'God Only Knows': "I was honored to be able to sing that one. It is so beautifully written, it sings itself. Brian said something like, 'Don't do anything with it. Just sing it real straight. No effort. Take in a breath. Let it go real easy.' I was really grateful to be the one to sing that song. I felt extremely lucky."

Bruce Johnston explains that "Brian really worked a lot on 'God Only Knows', and at one point, he had all the Beach Boys, Terry Melcher and two of the Rovell sisters [Brian's wife Marilyn and her sister Diane] on it. It just got so overloaded; it was nuts. So he was smart enough to peel it all back, and he held voices back to the bridge, me at the top end, Carl in the middle and Brian on the bottom. At that point, Brian's right move was to get subtler. He had a very tender track here. 'God Only Knows' is a very small masterpiece with a major heartbeat, and he was right to peel everybody back and wind up with the three parts. In fact, it's probably the only well-known Beach Boys track that has just three voices on it."

Recording the song

The instrumental section of the song was recorded on March 10, 1966 at Western Recorders, Hollywood, California, with the session being engineered by Chuck Britz and produced by Brian Wilson. The instrumental part of the song took twenty takes to achieve what is the master take of the song. Present on the day of the instrumental recording were Hal Blaine on drums, Jim Gordon on percussion, Lyle Ritz on string bass, Carol Kaye on electric bass, Ray Pohlman on danelectro bass, Don Randi on piano, Larry Knechtel on organ, Carl Fortina and Frank Morocco on accordion, Leonard Hartman on clarinet and bass clarinet, Bill Green and Jim Horn on flute, Alan Robinson on french horn, Jay Migliori on baritone saxophone, Leonard Malarsky and Sid Sharp on violin, Darrel Terwilliger on viola and Jesse Erlich on cello.

According to Brian, many of the musicians who were present at the 'God Only Knows' sessions claim that those sessions were some of "the most magical, beautiful musical experiences they've ever heard." According to Brian there were twenty-three musicians present during the 'God Only Knows' sessions, though only 16 are credited as being present on the actual take that was used for the final song. Twenty-three musicians was at the time an incredible number of musicians for a pop record. All the musicians played simulatenously, creating "a rich, heavenly blanket of music." Back in the time when the record was made the songs were recored on an eight track mixing console so every musician had to play live. Unlike today where there can be up to 78 track mixing consoles so it is easier than back in the 1960's for each musician to record their part in the song individually and then have it mixed into the one song.

The vocal track was recorded between March and April of 1966 at Columbia Studios, Hollywood, California with the session being engineered by Ralph Balantin and produced by Brian Wilson. The song only features three voices on the track. Carl Wilson is featured on lead vocals, with Brian Wilson and Bruce Johnston featured on backing vocals. Bruce Johnston explains that "the really cute thing is that at the end of the session, Carl was really tired, and he went home. So Brian...remember, this was 8-track, so, he now has these extra tracks at his disposal. But there were just the two of us. So in the fade, he's singing two of the three parts. He sang the top and the bottom part and I sang in the middle."

Recognition and influence

While Rolling Stone magazine recently named it #25 on its list of greatest songs of all-time, it only reached #39 on the US charts in 1966 (although it did reach #2 in the UK). Sir Paul McCartney has said that it is the greatest love song of all time. The song "God Only Knows" is part of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll list. The song was also recognized by Pitchfork Media as the number one "greatest song of the 1960s" in their feature on the 200 Best Songs of the 1960s.

Paul McCartney has expressed on a number of occasions about his love for the song. In an interview with David Leaf in 1990 he stated that "It's a really, really great song---it's a big favorite of mine. I was asked recently to give my top ten favorite songs for a Japanese radio station...I didn't think long and hard on it, but I popped that [God Only Knows] on the top of my list. It's very deep. Very emotional, always a bit of a choker for me, that one. There are certain songs that just hit home with me, and they're the strangest collection of songs...but that is high on the list, I must say...God Only Knows' lyrics are great. Those do it to me every time."

Jimmy Webb a famous American popular music composer has also stated his love for the song stating that "I love 'God Only Knows' and its bow to the baroque that goes all the way back to 1740 and J.S. Bach. It represents the whole radition of liturgical music that I feel is a spiritual part of Brian's music. And Carl's singing is pretty much at its pinnacle - as good as it ever got."

Brian's mother Audree Wilson believes that God Only Knows was one of Brian's finest ever compositions as she stated in an interview: "'God Only Knows'...What can you say about it? I still think it's one of his greatest pieces."

Alternate versions and album appearances

The song first appeared on The Beach Boys classic 1966 album Pet Sounds in monophonic sound format. It was also released on July 11, 1966 as the B-side of the "Wouldn't It Be Nice" single. The song appears on several occasions from different stages of the recording process and in different formats on The Pet Sounds Sessions box set. Firstly, it appears on disc one in the first original stereo mix of the song, which was remastered by Mark Linett. On disc two of the box set, included is the 'God Only Knows' highlights from the tracking dates, which documents the progress of the recording of the instrumental track of the song. This track goes for over nine minutes, documenting some of the more memorable moments of the recording of the instrumental part of the song and allowing the listener to see how Brian worked in the studio with the other musicians. Later on disc two, the complete and finished backing track is featured. On disc three, an A cappella (or vocals only) version of the song is featured, which allows the listener to hear the complex vocal arrangemements and vocal harmony effects. Also featured on disc three is the song in an alternate form, with a saxophone solo. Another alternate version also appears on disc three appears the song with an A cappella tagline. Lastly on disc three appears another alternate version of the song, with Brian singing lead vocals rather than the Carl Wilson who sung the lead vocal on the completed version of the song. The song also appears on the bonus disc, disc 4, in its original monophonic mix.

Live versions also appear on two of the band's live albums. The 1970 release Live In London and the 2002 release Good Timin': Live at Knebworth England 1980.

On the Don Was documentary I Just Wasn't Made for These Times, which captured Brian's public re-awakening, there is a version of Brian Wilson playing the song at his piano with his mother by his side, and with Carl Wilson accompanying him singing lead vocals.

Details

• Written by: Brian Wilson/Tony Asher
• Album: Pet Sounds
• Time: 2 min 49 sec
• Produced by: Brian Wilson
• Instrumental track: recorded March 10, 1966 at Western Recorders, Hollywood, California. Engineered by Chuck Britz.
• Vocals track: recorded March-April 1966 at Columbia Studios, Hollywood, California. Engineered by Ralph Balantin.
• Single: released July 18, 1966 as the B-side of Capitol single "Wouldn't It Be Nice"". Entered Billboard "Hot 100" on August 12, 1966; remained on chart 8 weeks; peaked at #39 on September 24, 1966.

Performers

• Carl Wilson: Lead Vocals
• Brian Wilson: Backing Vocals
• Bruce Johnston: Backing Vocals
• Hal Blaine: Drums
• Jim Gordon: Percussion
• Lyle Ritz: String Bass
• Carol Kaye: Electric Bass
• Ray Pohlman: Danelectro Bass
• Don Randi: Piano
• Larry Knechtel: Organ
• Carl Fortina: Accordion
• Frank Morocco: Accordion
• Leonard Hartman: Clarinet, Bass Clarinet
• Bill Green: Flute
• Jim Horn: Flute
• Alan Robinson: French Horn
• Jay Migliori: Baritone Saxophone
• Leonard Malarsky: Violin
• Sid Sharp: Violin
• Darrel Terwilliger: Viola
• Jesse Erlich: Cello

Cover versions

Cover versions of the song have been recorded by many artists, including Glen Campbell, Andy Williams and Neil Diamond, David Bowie as well as many others. David Bowie recorded a version for his 1984 album Tonight. The 2004 film Saved! features a version by the film's star Mandy Moore over the opening credits, and a duet of the song by Moore and Michael Stipe (one of the film's producers) over the end credits. In 2005, Joss Stone recorded a version for a CD produced by Gap, on which various artists sang their own favourite songs. Brian Wilson also released a live cd version of Pet Sounds, Pet Sounds Live, which featured 'God Only Knows'.

List of cover versions

• Brenda & the Tabulations on their (1967) album Dry Your Eyes
• Claudine Longet on her (1972) album Let's Spend the Night Together
• Captain & Tennille on their (1975) album Love Will Keep Us Together
• David Bowie on his (1984) album Tonight
• 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'
• The Nylons on their (1996) album Run for Cover
• 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
• Holly Cole on her (2003) album Shade
• Mandy Moore and Michael Stipe on the soundtrack to the (2004) film Saved!
• Kim Kuzma on her (2005) album Who You Are
• Giant Drag circa. 2006

Cultural references

The Beach Boys version of the song appears on two movie releases. Firstly, it appears on the Richard Curtis 2003 movie Love Actually and hence it appears on the Love Actually Soundtrack. The song appears near the end of the Paul Thomas Anderson 1997 film "Boogie Nights" and it also appears on the Boogie Nights Soundtrack. Two cover versions of the song were featured in the Brian Dannelly 2004 film Saved!. The song also serves as the opening title credit score for the HBO series Big Love. The song has also been featured in an episode of "The Wonder Years"

See also

• List of songs by The Beach Boys

External links

• Greg Panfile's Musical Analysis