SOTD - Beach Boys/Brian Wilson – “Heroes and Villains” and “Good Vibrations”

I can’t tell you the number of times that my Saturday mornings through the summer started with a sensory routine that will forever symbolize summer for me. Yes, I know, who doesn’t associate the Beach Boys with summer? Anyway, most warm Saturdays began early with the hum of the lawn mower outside my window. Seven in the morning is not too early to operate a very noisy tractor in my father’s eyes. He would spend the beginning of the day racing around the yard filling my nose with the smell of fresh cut grass as well as my ears with the oscillating rumble of the engine as he drifted towards and away from the house. Both of which worked as warnings of the inevitable wake up and work. Weekends in the summer often included some sort of manual labor, so staying in bed postponed moving rocks or digging holes or both. Eventually the tractor would stop and my dad would come inside.

Instead of coming to the door and waking me up, my dad would put on his stereo as he cleaned himself up from the lawn and got ready for breakfast. He had one of those record players that stacks three or four records and drops one at a time onto the turntable. The Beach Boys – Endless Summer always seemed to start the set. Despite the annoyance of being woken up to do yard work, it felt so good to wake up it such joyous harmonies.

At that point in my life, the Beach Boys were a household staple and the two songs I’m focusing on wouldn’t have been my childhood favorites. They do capture that otherworldly harmonies that made it good to get out of bed and ready to build a stone wall or deck. I am also struck by these songs as an adult because they are a true testament to the brilliance and insanity of Brian Wilson. These songs are so complex yet sound so easy and simple. Try to count how many times Good Vibrations changes directions and how many different melodies are going on in the song. It is amazingly dense, but sounds very lighthearted and fun. Heroes and Villains is just incredibly rich with texture and equally diverse.

I can’t wait to use them to lure Peyton and Sonja out of bed to do yard work for me.