The Beatles song Brian Wilson said blew his mind
In the 1960s, several friendly rivalries emerged between bands looking to make their mark on history and ruffle the upper regions of charts on either side of the Atlantic. Perhaps the most significant transatlantic rivalry was that between The Beatles and The Beach Boys. As a Brit, I have to say the Fab Four came out on top by all accounts. However, we mustn’t forget the compositional and production prowess as most perfectly exhibited in the 1966 masterpiece album Pet Sounds.
The word “rivalry” could conjure images of tracksuited Liam Gallagher squaring up to an indignant Damon Albarn at a charity football game. This memorable Britpop battle was triggered by the tabloid, fuelled by fans and consolidated by the bands’ understanding of promotion and combative natures. Conversely, the rivalries noted between The Beatles and The Rolling Stones or The Beatles and The Beach Boys were mostly passive and respectful. Nevertheless, these artists were compelled by the sensation of a flame beneath their feet.
In a creative environment, a degree of rivalry can be extremely fruitful. Without The Beatles’ mid-1960s album Rubber Soul, Wilson may never have conceived Pet Sounds, and without Pet Sounds, Revolver and Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band may not have been quite so innovative. “Brian Wilson proved himself to be a really amazing composer,” Paul McCartney lauded in a 2013 interview with Ronnie Wood. “I was into chords, harmonies and stuff at that time and we ended up with this kind of rivalry. We put a song out, Brian would hear it, and he’d do one.”
McCartney continued to describe the rivalry as “nice”, noting that a similar atmosphere emerged within The Beatles. “Me and John, we’d try to top each other all the time,” he said. “But [Wilson] eventually came out with ‘God Only Knows’ that was a sound stomper on Pet Sounds. I just think it’s a great song… melody, harmonies, words.”
Ironically, McCartney’s earlier creativity was a significant factor in the genesis of this subject of envy. In a 2017 interview with The Beatles Story, Wilson admitted that Pet Sounds was an attempt to challenge the Fab Four’s work on Rubber Soul. “It had such a cool vibe, and I wanted to do something similar to it, and that’s how I came up with Pet Sounds,” he praised.
Above all other tracks on the 1965 album, Wilson adored ‘Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)’ the most, a song written by John Lennon, inspired by Bob Dylan and bolstered by George Harrison’s trailblazing use of the sitar. “‘Norwegian Wood’ is my favourite,” Wilson once revealed in an interview with TLS. “The lyrics are so good and so creative, right from the first line: ‘I once had a girl/ Or should I say, she once had me.'”
The song was a transitional moment in Lennon’s lyrical outlook. Inspired by Beat Generation writers and Bob Dylan’s recent work in abstract folk-rock, Lennon sought to confuse his listeners for the first time. “It’s so mysterious. Is he into her, or is she into him? It just blew my mind,” Wilson continued. “And in the end, when he wakes up and she’s gone, so he lights a fire. ‘Isn’t it good? Norwegian wood.’ Is he setting her house on fire? I didn’t know. I still don’t know. I thought that was fantastic.”
Whether The Beatles won their war with The Beach Boys is for each fan to decide, since it rests on several factors and a heap of subjectivity. However, as far as Wilson is concerned, The Beatles left the table with more chips. If ‘Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)’ blew his mind, ‘Strawberry Fields’ left it in irretrievable pieces on the floor.
