Songs to get all Summer-y to...

Artist: The Beach Boys
Song: God Only Knows (listen)
Album: Pet Sounds (buy)

Alright now don’t get ideas from this song review, for the most part I do think The Beach Boys are rubbish but this song caught me off guard. Maybe the fact that we finally have a hint of sunshine in England has somehow over romanticised this song for me or maybe it has made the idea of a band calling themselves ‘Beach Boys” not entirely ridiculous. No I take that back. It’s still a terrible name. NEVERTHELESS, this blog is about championing all amazing musical things, no matter how much of a guilty pleasure they may be.

I even have things that I plain just don’t like about this song. I massively dislike the fact that every time I hear the intro I expect to see the rolling hills of English countryside at the beginning of some Emmerdale-esque soap opera. Then there’s the fact that the opening verse seems to just contradict itself by first saying ‘I may not always love you’, but then later saying ‘You’ll never need to doubt it’. C’mon Carl (or whoever’s singing the version you’re listening to), if you really are as devoted to this girl as you’re claiming to be, you better stop giving her those kind of bizarre mixed signals.

Anyway...I do actually like this song I swear. I think the summer air has helped because it has dispelled enough of the misanthrope in me that would brush this off a mushy crap and instead made me appreciate the beautiful simplicity of it. In this song the harmonies of the 4 guys compliment perfectly to truly project the emotions being felt in a way that is sometimes lost when others attempt to romanticise their music. It’s something that everyone can identify with as well, the feeling that you are at a complete loss without a certain person in your life. I think it’s when you can relate this song to a particular person that you can develop a whole new appreciation.

It’s also a perfect relaxation song. Put it on when you’re restless or hungover and it’ll sooth your cares away. Close your eyes and let the gentleness of song really get to you and it momentarily makes you forget your head is spinning and your mouth tastes of sick. See? Well probably not since I imagine you’re not reading this hungover.

Listen to it, try to ignore the fact it’s the Beach Boys, try to ignore how overly soppy it is and just appreciate it as one of the truly great romantic melodies.

Yours blissfully,
JoewMo


p.s. What’s with the title? “God Only Knows”, if God does exist I doubt he’s wasting his omniscience purely contemplating how important some girl is to you. Shouldn’t it be “Only God Knows”, but then from a non-grammar nazi perspective that does sound a bit God-y. Always bugged me.

Songs to get nostalgic to

Artist: The Coral
Song: Dreaming of You (listen)
Album: The Coral (buy)

This is a bit of a cheap choice for me. This hasn’t been stuck in my head for the last week, I don’t find myself unconsciously singing it and neither do I imagine that my life is a music video of the song when I listen to it walking down the street (of course I never do that for any song, that’d be crazy). I know what you’re thinking, “JoewMo you may be god-like in many ways but not even you can disregard the closely held beliefs of this blog so callously.” Don’t worry, I am not so drunk on my own awesomeness that I would do such a thing because this song may not be THAT song currently for me but it was the first one to ever truly get under my skin and into my veins.

I liked music before this, mainly 70s and 80s rock that my dad listened to and I had begun to pick up on stuff that wasn’t 30 years old but then something strange began to happen. Suddenly there was this song that followed me everywhere I went, that seemed to be playing on the radio every time I turned it on or just seemed to be on every T.V. show. Nostalgia may have exacerbated the prevalence of this song in my life but at the time it just seemed like it was stalking me.

Despite the fact it was unerringly following me from place to place, I didn’t mind, in fact I wanted more. I wanted to put it on repeat and have it playing all the time in my life. There was something intoxicating about it, as soon as the throbbing bass line kicked in my life went momentarily into stasis and revolved around the music. It’s a very provocative song, managing to be very light and mellifluous while still getting forcing images to spiral into your head and tugging at the strings of your heart. I remember thinking every time I heard thing song, ‘This is an important song, it has some sort of significance in my life’. Still yet to figure out what it is.

Yours Autobiographically,
JoewMo