Saturday Morning Soundtrack: "Lonely Sea" by The Beach Boys (1963)

The Soundtrack is back after a one-week hiatus, and even though I'm getting to this a bit late today (I was working on my Challenger), I'm back to playing my way though the 1960s. 1963 was really all about two bands: The Beatles and The Beach Boys. (No offense to Bob Dylan whose song "Blowin' in the Wind" also came out that year, though it had been written in '62.) A quick look at the Charts from 1963, gives you a sense of just how dominant these two bands were, with the Beatles placing 12 hits inside the top 120 (that's 10% of the year's hits for you math majors out there) and 4 in the Top 10. The Beach Boys were no slouches either, recording 7 hits in the top 120, and one Top 10 single with "Surfin' USA." 

No only is that a lot of hit music, but these are all songs that have remained iconic: "She Loves You," "I Wanna Hold Your Hand," "I Saw Her Standing There," "Little Deuce Coupe," "Surfer Girl." How do you pick a song from that line-up?

Well, if you're me, you showcase a great song that didn't make the charts--one that few folks remember. . . .

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Saturday Morning Soundtrack @ Youtube

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"Lonely Sea" -- The Beach Boys (1963)

I sometimes think the Beach Boys are a band that has aged poorly for undeserved reasons. Partly, it's because their music is tied so specifically to the 1960s-era and its bygone trends--hot rodding, sock hopping, and surfing. Partly, it's because their style of music (Surf Rock) really hasn't existed in over fifty years, with a few exceptions. Partly, I think it's because the songs are perceived to have a kind of "Lite" (or juvenile) subject matter--they're about having fun before summer ends, engaging in hobbies, feeling blue because the cute girl next door won't talk to you, the sorts of issues that resonate with us when we're teens but that we outgrow as we enter adulthood. These are all good reasons. But mostly, I think it's because the Beach Boys were able to make some very complex music seem deceptively easy. How were they able to accomplish that? Because Brian Wilson in his prime was a freakin' genius. 

Not only did Wilson write over two-dozen Top 40 hits for the Beach Boys, but he was instrumental in creating the close-harmony sound that would change (and forever influence) not only American rock music, but also British rock music. (After all, the Beatles unabashedly and unapologetically wrote "Back in the U.S.S.R." as an homage to "California Girls," and they recorded the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in an attempt to rival favorite Beach Boys album Pet Sounds). The influence of The Beach Boys was largely because (like the Beatles), the they were committed to experimenting with a number of different sounds and styles. Early on, it was a unique cross between barbershop quartet and R & B that later gave way to music that was experimental, baroque, psychedelic, and that incorporated many unconventional instruments (check out Pet Sounds). 

But really, I'm supposed to be talking about the song "Lonely Sea" here, so why go into that much background? I'll tell you why--this falsetto ballad is, in many ways, not only an early departure from the "Surfin' Safari" sound that is most commonly associated with the Beach Boys, it's also a moody, atmospheric preview of the complex music to come. Which makes it all the more surprising that this song has never appeared on any Beach Boys Greatest Hits albums or box collections. Fittingly, it's a lost song.

In terms of it's chord progression, this is a pretty basic rock and roll number: four arpeggiated chords lead us through the majority of the song. The 6/8 meter, the spoken-word bridge, and the frequent shifts from major to minor key are all unusual features of the song, however. It's a tune that builds itself around variations on a theme, and Wilson's subtle vocal maneuvering throughout the piece to create complex tonal harmonies is so beyond by ability to talk about music theory that it isn't even funny. It's like Wilson speaks (and thinks) in an entirely different language.

The most impressive part of the song, to me, is the way in which it manages to marry its sound to its subject matter without seeming contrived or corny. The song ebbs and flows like a rolling, roiling, dark and turbulent sea. And the loneliness Wilson sings of in his simple lyrics is matched by his long, haunting tones. This song literally rocks like a storm-tossed rowboat. And yet, we're not hammered over the head with the metaphor. The depth of the song is not found in clever lyrics or big figurative ideas, but rather in the simple personification of the ocean (in this case, as in most cases, a "she"). That gendered pronoun makes all the difference. It's the vehicle that allows our young singer to admit his own loneliness without really admitting anything (it's the churning sea that appears lonely!). And it betrays the source of his loneliness, as well, by inviting us to make the synchronic leap from singing about the ocean to singing about a girl--one who is, to our singer, mysterious, seductive, ever-moving, just out of reach, and compelled by tidal rhythms that seem almost otherworldly.

Wilson is able to tell us a lot without ever coming out and saying it. This girl--she's a force of nature, just like the sea. And our singer--he's the poor love-lorn kid caught up in currents he doesn't even fully understand. 

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So what do you think? Did I get it right or miss the mark? Please, feel free to weigh in using the comments below. And, if you would like to write a Guest Entry for the "Saturday Morning Soundtrack" series where you creatively respond to one of your favorite rock songs, don't hesitate to contact me with queries.