The song Brian Wilson called “one of the prettiest song I ever wrote”
There’s a certain beauty to every Beach Boys that only Brian Wilson could harness.
Even though many bands have tried their best to make those kinds of ethereal harmonies sound as good as Wilson could back in the day, there was something in his voice that radiated sunshine no matter when he was singing. Those overlapping voices were a lot more musically sophisticated by the time of Pet Sounds, but he never forgot about the importance of a pretty melody.
You have to remember that all of his greatest influences were among the finest producers and writers of their time. Phil Spector had taught Wilson the importance of arrangement, and whether that was listening to The Ronettes’ ‘Be My Baby’ or hearing whatever new experiment that The Beatles had been up to, Wilson was always in search of that one heartstring that hadn’t been pulled yet.
And it’s not like there weren’t moments where Wilson could even go past a lot of his idols as well. He had no problem shouting the praises of people like Chuck Berry, but there’s a good chance that one of the founders of rock and roll wasn’t going to suddenly pull out his guitar and start rocking tunes that were meant to be musical symphonies, either.
Combing through Wilson’s back catalogue, a lot of the best tunes in his arsenal are normally based off of a reaction to something else. ‘Surfin’ USA’ came from him trying to emulate Berry back in the day, Pet Sounds was practically written as a way to outdo what his British friends had done on Rubber Soul, but how is one supposed to make a happy song after losing one of the leaders of their country?
While the big book of rock decrees that everyone’s spirits were lifted after the Kennedy assassination thanks to The Beatles, The Beach Boys knew they needed to throw their hat in the ring. This was one of the most despicable moments in American history at the time, and while Wilson was more than happy to make music as a reaction to the tragedy, he felt that the band truly knocked it out of the park by getting ‘The Warmth of the Sun’ exactly right for the occasion.
Wilson couldn’t think of a more gorgeous melody in his arsenal, saying, “[It’s] probably Mike Love’s most beautiful lyrics he’s ever written and one of the prettiest songs I ever wrote. I think it’s because JFK had died the day before. We dedicated it to him, and I tried to sing it sweetly and angelically, trying to capture the sound of a sweet angel.” For all of the bile thrown in Love’s direction, it’s not like he didn’t do a great job here as well.
There’s no way to properly digest a tragedy like this, but hearing Love’s more elemental lyrics was perfect for the time. You’re not going to find the massive patriotism in this kind of tune, but the message of Love carrying the warmth of the sun within him, even when the days seem dark, is the perfect message for any kid wondering what would happen now that their leader had fallen.
If this was a fraction of what The Beach Boys could do, then the next few years were going to be a case study in what a musical genius is capable of. While anyone else would have considered the track a masterpiece, as far as the band were concerned, there was still a lot more work to be done.
