God Only Knows

This article is about the Beach Boys song. For other uses, see God Only Knows (disambiguation).
"God Only Knows"
Single by The Beach Boys
from the album Pet Sounds
A-side "Wouldn't It Be Nice"
Released July 11, 1966
Format 7" vinyl
Recorded March 10 – April 11, 1966, United Western Recorders and CBS Columbia Square, Hollywood
Genre
Length 2:51
Label Capitol
Writer(s)
Producer(s) Brian Wilson
The Beach Boys singles chronology
"Sloop John B"
(1966)		 "Wouldn't It Be Nice"/
"God Only Knows"
(1966)		 "Good Vibrations"
(1966)
Pet Sounds track listing
Music sample
"God Only Knows"

"God Only Knows" is a song written by Brian Wilson and Tony Asher for American rock band The Beach Boys, released in 1966 as the eighth track on the group's album Pet Sounds. The recording was produced and arranged by Wilson using many unorthodox instruments, including French horn, accordions, and a quartet of violas and cellos heard throughout the piece in counterpoint.[3] The song names "God" in its title, unusual for a pop single of its time, being released as the B-side of "Wouldn't It Be Nice" in the United States. In other countries, "God Only Knows" was the single's A-side.

The song was voted 25 in Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time,[4] the second of seven Beach Boys' songs to feature (the first being "Good Vibrations" at 6) and was ranked by Pitchfork Media as the greatest song of the 1960s.[3] The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame included it as one of "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll".[5]

Musical structure

The song is known for its harmonic complexity and extensive use of inverted chords, including third inversions such as B7/A. The first chord of the verse (D major/A) is a non-diatonic chord. The tonic chord (E major) usually only appears with the major 3rd or the 5th in the bass. The entire verse progression sounds restless and ambiguous, until the line "God only knows what I'd be without you" when the chord progression finally reaches a clear goal (A—E/G#—F#m7—E). This has been cited by musicologists as a good example of how lyrical meaning can be supported and enhanced by a chord progression—along with the melody hook which also provides an example of "a sense of increasing melodic energy that comes by way of the gradually ascending line."[6] In musicologist Philip Lambert's opinion, the song's vocal counterpoint evokes the sacred traditions of a cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach or an oratorio by George Frideric Handel.[7]

The key gravitates between A major and E major.[8] Music theorist Daniel Harrison compared the song to an earlier Brian Wilson composition, "California Girls", as it both avoids a root-position tonic and suppresses a cadential drive.[9] It also contains a step-wise descending bass-line like Wilson's other compositions on Pet Sounds.[10]

After its instrumental linking passage, the key ascends to its fourth interval.[11] According to author Jim Fusilli: "Brian came pretty close to writing himself into a dead end. There's really nowhere to go coming out of the bridge, which modulates to G major from D major but ends with a D major-A major-B minor pattern. Thus, when the song returns to D Major, it must do so from B minor, which is kind of static change, particularly when the next chord is a B minor with only a slight variation in the bass."[12] The "choral fantasy" during this key change eventually concludes that "a clear sense has eluded us for the entire experience–that in fact, the idea of 'key' has itself been challenged and subverted," in Lambert's feeling.[8]

Lyricism

An original handwritten manuscript of the lyrics to "God Only Knows"

The song is told from the point of view of a man or woman contemplating life after death to his/her lover, as Asher describes, "'I'll love you till the sun burns out, then I'm gone,' ergo 'I'm gonna love you forever.'" Wilson explained that "God Only Knows" 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."[13] He initially hated the opening line of the song as "it was too negative." He eventually gave in after hearing the subsequent lyrics.[14] In 1976, Brian said there was no one particular that the song was written for.[15]

Fusilli extrapolated that the song was "a mature proclamation of love and a desperate plea. And it's a distillation of what much of Pet Sounds is about: the sense that if we surrender to an all-consuming love, we will never be able to live without it. And, though we're uncertain that the reward is worth the risk, we yearn to surrender." Fusilli also noted a closing phrase Wilson had once written to his wife in 1964: "Yours 'til God wants us apart."[16] James Perone wrote: "While Wilson's character may indeed be in love with the woman to whom he sings, there is a hint that part of this 'love' may be self-serving and part of a cycle of codependency."[17] Asher denied that the song alluded to suicide.[4] He describes his interpretation:

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. ... "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.[14]

"God Only Knows" is frequently cited for referencing "God" in its title,[nb 1] a decision that Wilson and Asher agonized over, fearing it would not get airplay as a result. As Wilson's then-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."[22] Asher explains that he and Brian "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."[14] Wilson added that although he feared putting the word "God" in the title of the song, he eventually agreed to keep it, firstly, "because God was a spiritual word," and secondly, because the Beach Boys would "be breaking ground."

Jim DeRogatis states that, as was common in psychedelic rock, the spiritual invocations in "God Only Knows" express non-specific sentiments which could be addressed to any higher force, and that it is "less of a prayer than a sensitive meditation about moving forward in the face of loss."[23] Even though the Wilson family did not grow up in "a particularly religious household,"[24] Carl was described as "the most truly religious person I know" by Brian, and Carl was forthcoming about the group's spiritual beliefs stating: "We believe in God as a kind of universal consciousness. God is love. God is you. God is me. God is everything right here in this room. It's a spiritual concept which inspires a great deal of our music."[25]

Recording and production

The instrumental section of the song was recorded on March 10, 1966,[4] at United Western Recorders, Hollywood, California,[26] with the session engineered by Chuck Britz and produced by Brian Wilson. The instrumental part of the song took 20 takes to achieve what is the master take of the song.[20] Present on the day of the instrumental recording was younger brother and bandmate Carl Wilson on twelve string guitar[27] among other session musicians collectively known as The Wrecking Crew.

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 23 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. At the time, 23 musicians was an astounding number of musicians for a pop record. All the musicians played simultaneously, creating "a rich, heavenly blanket of music."[28] A string section was overdubbed thereafter.[20]

"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."

Brian Wilson originally intended to sing lead vocal on "God Only Knows" but after the song had been tracked, Brian thought Carl could impart the message better than he could.[22] Brian reflected in October 1966, "I gave the song to Carl because I was looking for a tenderness and a sweetness which I knew Carl had in himself as well as in his voice. He brought dignity to the song and the words, through him, became not a lyric, but words."[29]

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."[22]

The final vocal track was recorded between March and April 1966 at CBS Columbia Square, Hollywood,[26] with the session engineered by Ralph Balantin and produced by Brian. The song features three voices on the track. Carl is featured on lead vocals, with Brian and Johnston backing him. Johnston explained 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."[22] Brian used the production technique of double-tracking Carl's voice, so that his voice is simultaneously singing the same part twice, to give the vocal a fuller and richer sound; Brian used this technique often during the recording of Pet Sounds. The song's sessions concluded on April 11.[30][26]

Personnel

Sourced from Keith Badman[20] and liner notes included with the 1999 mono/stereo reissue of Pet Sounds,[31] except where otherwise noted.

The Beach Boys
Additional musicians

Release history

Cover released in Italian territories with flipped A and B-sides

The song first appeared on The Beach Boys classic 1966 album Pet Sounds in monophonic sound format. Initially, Brian considered releasing it as a single under Carl Wilson's name, but the group were in demand for a new single. Because their impending "Good Vibrations" was not yet ready, "God Only Knows" was issued instead.[32]

On July 11, 1966, it was the B-side of the American "Wouldn't It Be Nice" single. In other territories, the song was the A-side.[4] When first released it only reached 39 on the US charts in 1966.[33] Treated as the A-side across Europe, it was a success, scoring number 2 in the UK,[34] and in national charts cited contemporarily by Billboard: 3 in Ireland, 4 in the Netherlands and Belgium, 6 in Norway, 22 in Germany; and 2 in Australia. In September, the song peaked at 6 in Canada and 24 in France.[35]

Domenic Priore reports that in some parts of the United States, "God Only Knows" was banned from radio for blasphemy.[25]

Variations

The song appears in several stages of the recording process on The Pet Sounds Sessions box set, including its original monophonic mix; the first ever original stereophonic mix of the song, which was mixed by Mark Linett; highlights from the tracking dates, which documents the progress of the recording of the instrumental track; the finished instrumental track; an a cappella mix of the song; an alternate version, with a saxophone solo; another alternate version with an a cappella tag; and a version with Brian singing lead vocals.

Live versions

Live recordings appear on three of the band's albums: Live In London (1970), Good Timin': Live at Knebworth England 1980 (2002), and Live – The 50th Anniversary Tour (2013).

Following the song's original release, it became Carl Wilson's signature song during live shows. It appeared at almost all live shows and was prominently featured until his death in 1998 when it was dropped from setlists for three years. For The Beach Boys 50th Anniversary Tour, a video of Carl with vocals from the Live at Knebworth England 1980 concert was played with live backing vocals and instruments by the band. For concerts where there was no video screen, Brian took the lead.

As solo artists, Brian released live versions of the song on Live At The Roxy Theatre (2000) and Pet Sounds Live (2002); Al Jardine released a live version on Live in Las Vegas (2001).

Recognition

The level of Wilson's studio artistry–he used session musicians, double-tracking, and other techniques–was astounding. "God Only Knows" literally remade the ideal of the popular love song (using, for example, harpsichord and French horn as melodic instruments in the song); it stands as one of the most complex–and beautiful–songs in the annals of American popular music.

“
”
—John Robert Greene, America in the Sixties[36]

Author Barry Miles wrote that it was one track of Pet Sounds which proved that rock music was an art form.[37] Mojo Magazine ranked the song 13th greatest song of all time. In a poll on the MTV station, Vh1, it was placed No. 28 on the U.K's Nation's Favourite Lyric. It was voted by the Listeners of BBC Radio 2 as one of the three songs that changes people's lives.

Paul McCartney has called it his favorite song of all time.[38] In an interview with David Leaf in 1990 he stated, "It's a really, really great song — it's a big favorite of mine. I was asked recently to give my top 10 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."[22] Speaking on a special Radio 1 show to mark the British station's 40th anniversary, McCartney said "'God Only Knows' is one of the few songs that reduces me to tears every time I hear it. It's really just a love song, but it's brilliantly done. It shows the genius of Brian. I've actually performed it with him and I'm afraid to say that during the sound check I broke down. It was just too much to stand there singing this song that does my head in and to stand there singing it with Brian.""[39] Referencing this, Brian responded apprehensively in the 1970s: "Like, if 'God Only Knows' is the greatest song ever written, then I'll never write anything as good again! And if I never write anything as good, then I'm finished."[40]

The song inspired songwriter Margo Guryan to move into writing pop music. She said: "I thought it was just gorgeous. I bought the record and played it a million times, then sat down and wrote 'Think of Rain.' That's really how I started writing that way. I just decided it was better than what was happening in jazz."[41]

Bob Stanley of Saint Etienne wrote that "It's impossible to exaggerate how beautiful this song is. Everywhere, it takes risks."[42] Bono said in October 2006 during Brian Wilson's induction into the UK Music Hall of Fame that "the string arrangement on 'God Only Knows' is fact and proof of angels". Jimmy Webb, an American popular music composer, has also stated his love for the song, stating, "I love 'God Only Knows' and its bow to the baroque that goes all the way back to 1740 and Johann Sebastian Bach. It represents the whole tradition 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."[14] In a 2003 solo concert in Tel Aviv, Steven Wilson, frontman of Porcupine Tree, declared "God Only Knows" as his favorite song of all time. On the Insurgentes listening party that took place in Mexico City in 2009, Steven Wilson said it was a perfect song. Simon Neil of Scottish band Biffy Clyro has the lyrics "God only knows what I'd be without you" tattooed across his chest.[43] Jake Burns, the lead singer of Stiff Little Fingers, thinks "God Only Knows" is the best song of all time.

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."[22] Instrumental flourishes made famous by "God Only Knows" often reappear in other artists' works in tribute to Wilson. An example of which can be heard in the 1993 single "The Ghost At Number One" by Jellyfish.

It was featured in the films Boogie Nights and Love Actually, also serving as the opening music for the first three seasons of HBO polygamy drama Big Love.[4] The video game BioShock Infinite contains a turn of the century barbershop quartet that sings the song while floating past the player on an airship. As the game is set in 1912, the song is used anachronistically, one of many time-bending experiences which characterize the game.[44] It also appears in the game's credits.

Charts

Chart (1966) Peak
position
Australia Go-Set 17
Norway VG-lista 6
UK Singles Chart 2
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 39

Covers

The song has been recorded by numerous artists including Glen Campbell, Andy Williams, Neil Diamond, David Bowie, Joss Stone, Olivia Newton-John, Mandy Moore, Michael Stipe, Weezer's Rivers Cuomo, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., and Taylor Swift.[4] Actor Paul Dano performed the song in Love & Mercy, a 2014 biopic of Wilson's life.[45]

BBC Music version

"God Only Knows"
Single by Brian Wilson and various artists
Released October 7, 2014
Format Digital download
Recorded 2014
Length 2:25
Label BBC Music
Writer(s)
Producer(s) Ethan Johns
Brian Wilson chronology
"The Like in I Love You"
(2011)		 "God Only Knows"
(2014)		 "The Right Time
(2015)

A cover version of the song was simulcast across BBC television and radio channels on October 7, 2014 to launch BBC Music. It featured Brian Wilson himself and other major artists from different musical genres (creating a supergroup called The Impossible Orchestra). The music video, directed by François Rousselet, features the artists in lavish, fantastical computer generated settings.[46] The track was released the following day as a charity single for Children in Need 2014.[47]

Wilson said: "All of the artists did such a beautiful job ... I can’t thank them enough, I'm just honored that 'God Only Knows' was chosen. 'God Only Knows' is a very special song. An extremely spiritual song and one of the best I've ever written."[48]

Despite the musicians all performing free, the promotion has drawn some criticism in the press. Adam Sherwin wrote in The Independent: "With its message, that the BBC 'owns' the entire musical waterfront and licence-fee payers would do well to remember that, it is the kind of propaganda film an autocratic regime sensing that its legitimacy is crumbling might produce."[49] Writing for The Guardian, Alex Petridis observed "There's clearly something a little self-aggrandising about the BBC getting a raft of stars to sing an unambiguous song of undying devotion apparently to the corporation itself. ... perhaps we should forgive them three minutes of self-congratulation, particularly when it’s raising money for charity."[50] The Daily Telegraph, however, reported that the project cost less than the 1997 version of "Perfect Day" which drew much of the same criticism but went on to raise over £2 million for charity.[46]

Accompanied by the BBC Concert Orchestra, each of the following performers are listed in order of appearance, singing vocals unless otherwise specified:[51]

Lauren Laverne, Gareth Malone, and Zane Lowe also appear in the video.[53]

Charts
Chart (2014) Peak
position
Ireland (IRMA)[54] 77
Israel (Media Forest)[55] 10
Scotland (Official Charts Company)[56] 18
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[57] 20

Notes

  1. ↑ David Howard called it the first pop single to name "God" in its title.[18] Steven Gaines,[19] Keith Badman,[20] and Tony Asher[14] have said that nobody had named "God" in a pop song's title before. Despite this, Philip Lambert noted that doo-wop combo the Capris had issued a song in 1954 with the title "God Only Knows".[21]
  2. ↑ Speculated by Mark Dillon to be Tony Asher.[4]
References
  1. ↑ Jones 1995, p. 214.
  2. ↑ DeRogatis 2003, p. 20.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2010-07-24.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 4.10 4.11 4.12 Dillon 2012.
  5. ↑ "500 Songs That Shaped Rock". Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  6. ↑ Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting”
  7. ↑ Lambert 2007, p. 246.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lambert 2007, p. 245.
  9. ↑ Harrison 1997, pp. 39, 42.
  10. ↑ Lambert 2007, p. 228.
  11. ↑ Lambert 2007, pp. 227, 245.
  12. ↑ Fusilli 2005, p. 102.
  13. ↑ Leaf, David (1997). The Pet Sounds Sessions (CD Liner). The Beach Boys. Capitol Records.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 Granata 2003.
  15. ↑ Fornatale, Pete (November 3, 1976). "Interview with Brian Wilson" (MP3). NY Radio Archive. WNEW-FM 102.7.
  16. ↑ Fusilli 2005, p. 101.
  17. ↑ Perone 2012.
  18. ↑ Howard 2004, p. 65.
  19. ↑ Gaines 1986, p. 147.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 20.5 20.6 20.7 20.8 20.9 20.10 Badman 2004, p. 121.
  21. ↑ Lambert 2007, p. 244.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4 22.5 22.6 The Pet Sounds Sessions: "The Making Of Pet Sounds" booklet
  23. ↑ DeRogatis 2003, pp. 20, 35–36.
  24. ↑ DeRogatis 2003, p. 35.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Priore 2005.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 Doe, Andrew Grayham. "GIGS66". Endless Summer Quarterly. Retrieved October 5, 2014.
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 Elliott, Brad (August 31, 1999). "Pet Sounds Track Notes". beachboysfanclub.com. Retrieved March 3, 2009.
  28. ↑ Zak 2001, p. 88.
  29. ↑ "Brian behind the BEACH BOYS". Hit Parader: 11. October 4, 1966.
  30. ↑ Badman 2004, pp. 121–126.
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 31.2 Pet Sounds (CD Liner). The Beach Boys. Capitol Records. 1999.
  32. ↑ Badman 2004, p. 142.
  33. ↑ "Pet Sounds Awards". Allmusic. Retrieved 2014-08-21.
  34. ↑ "Beach Boys singles". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2014-08-21.
  35. ↑ Badman 2004, p. 145.
  36. ↑ Greene 2010, p. 155.
  37. ↑ Miles 2009, p. 237.
  38. ↑ Guarisco, D.A. "God Only Knows". Allmusic. Retrieved 2012-02-27.
  39. ↑ "An Evening with Brian Wilson". International Committee of the Fourth Internationa. October 24, 2007.
  40. ↑ Kent 2009, p. 3.
  41. ↑ Broome, Eric (September 2001). "Margo Guryan". Mean Street magazine. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
  42. ↑ Stanley 2013, p. 220.
  43. ↑ ""Weird Rock": A Conversation with Simon Neil and Ben and James Johnston of Biffy Clyro". Pop Zap. Retrieved 2011-06-28.
  44. ↑ Joe Traughber. "A Mighty Wind - Bioshock Infinite". Barbershop Harmony Society. Retrieved 2014-09-20.
  45. ↑ Fear, David (September 13, 2014). "Heroes and Villains: 'Love & Mercys Paul Dano on Playing Brian Wilson". Rolling Stone. Retrieved September 13, 2014.
  46. ↑ 46.0 46.1 "God only knows how the BBC made this video". Telegraph.co.uk. 9 October 2014.
  47. ↑ "BBC Music’s God Only Knows in aid of BBC Children in Need". BBC. October 7, 2014.
  48. ↑ "BBC unveil all-star version of God Only Knows, 17 years after Perfect Day". The Guardian. October 7, 2014.
  49. ↑ "God Only Knows BBC music video: Like a propaganda film made by a dictatorship losing its credibility". The Independent. October 8, 2014.
  50. ↑ "God Only Knows: not quite a perfect day as BBC sings its own praises". The Guardian. October 7, 2014.
  51. ↑ "Launches with God Only Knows, a star-studded film featuring 'The Impossible Orchestra'". BBC Music. October 7, 2014.
  52. ↑
  53. ↑ "BBC Music - BBC Music - Who's in the Impossible Orchestra?". BBC. 7 October 2014.
  54. ↑ "Chart Track: Week 42, 2014". Irish Singles Chart.
  55. ↑ "Various – God Only Knows Media Forest". Israeli Airplay Chart. Media Forest. Retrieved October 23rd, 2014.
  56. ↑ "Archive Chart: 2014-10-18". Scottish Singles Top 40. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  57. ↑ "Archive Chart: 2014-10-18" UK Singles Chart. Retrieved 12 October 2014.

Sources

External links