| "I Know There's an Answer" | |||||||
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| Song by The Beach Boys from the album Pet Sounds | |||||||
| Released | May 16, 1966 | ||||||
| Recorded | Western Studios February 9, 1966 March 1966 |
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| Genre | Acid rock,[1] psychedelic rock, psychedelic pop | ||||||
| Length | 3:09 (I Know There's an Answer) 3:18 (Hang on to Your Ego) 1990 reissue 3:20 (Hang on to Your Ego) 2001 reissue |
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| Label | Capitol | ||||||
| Composer | Wilson/Sachen/Love | ||||||
| Producer | Brian Wilson | ||||||
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"I Know There's an Answer" is a song by the American rock band The Beach Boys, taken from their 1966 album Pet Sounds. It is the ninth track on the album. The song was composed and produced by Brian Wilson with the lyrics by Terry Sachen and Mike Love. The song was written during Brian's second acid trip. Wilson later stated "Yeah. I had taken a few drugs, and I had gotten into that kind of thing. I guess it just came up naturally."[2] The song was originally named "Hang on to Your Ego", but the lyric of the chorus was changed after concerns that it was LSD-related.
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The song's early recording sessions were originally named "Let go of Your Ego".[3] When first recorded as "Hang on to Your Ego", Brian sang the sole lead. However, Mike Love objected to the possible drug connotations of the title and certain lyrics: "I was aware that Brian was beginning to experiment with LSD and other psychedelics", explained Love. "The prevailing drug jargon at the time had it that doses of LSD would shatter your ego, as if that were a positive thing... I wasn't interested in taking acid or getting rid of my ego." Jardine recalled that the decision to change the lyrics was ultimately Wilson's. "Brian was very concerned. He wanted to know what we thought about it. To be honest, I don't think we even knew what an ego was... Finally Brian decided, 'Forget it. I'm changing the lyrics. There's too much controversy.'" Retitled "I Know There's An Answer" and given slight lyrical changes, the lead vocal was sung by Mike Love and Al Jardine with Brian Wilson singing lead on the choruses. In spite of the changes, the psychedelic lyrics "They trip through their day and waste all their thoughts at night" were kept in the song.[4] The subject of the revised song is the self-centeredness of people and how the singer hesistates to tell them "...the way that they live could be better." The refrain of the song states "I know there's an answer/I know now but I have to find it by myself." Terry Sachen, who was the Beach Boys' road manager at the time, is given credit for co-writing the lyrics.
The song features interesting use of a bass harmonica and a banjo.
The song, as "Hang On to Your Ego", was later covered by Frank Black on his eponymous 1993 album. The cover is a departure from the original in style as it is heavily influenced by 1980s synthesizer work while staying true to the original, with Black even singing in the style of Brian. Sonic Youth covered "I Know There's an Answer" in 1990. The song appears as a bonus track on the reissue of Goo. The original "Hang on to Your Ego" has appeared on reissues of Pet Sounds as a bonus track.