Part 20 in my ongoing "Soundtracks For Summer" series.
Hey kiddies, it's still technically summer, so how about one last entry about the songs that remind us of the good ol' days of summertime? And for #20, we have today a tribute to THE most memorable "summer" band of them all: The Beach Boys!
For this tribute, I won't show you one song, or even two! No, this time I'll show you TEN of my favorite Beach Boys songs! (in no specific order)
Barbara Ann
FACT: I always thought that they were saying "Bob-bob-bob, bob aramp" when I was a kid.
Good Vibrations
Man, the surf rock genre allowed for a lot of great double entendres. They SAY it's about playing the radio in your car, but you know they're talkin' about banging that cute bikini babe that they just met in the little food stand at the front of the parking lot.
Little Deuce Coupe
May or may not be about a car!
I Get Around
Also may or may not be about a car! This is perfect for picking up chicks at Sonics or the various food stands at beaches, or whatever. I'm not much of a beach person, these guys are closest I get to it.
Surfin' USA
This one is most likely the reason the boys became famous and setting off the surf rock genre, at the very least giving it one of its most classic songs.
Fun, Fun, Fun
I'm beginning to think that a bunch of these songs sound exactly the same, just with different synonyms for "fun" and "Surfing."
California Girls
An absolute classic summer song! Yeah, they're talking about how California Girls are the best, but I'll take Long Island girls over them any day! It's still better than that abomination Katy Perry's trotting around these days.
California Dreaming
Yeah, I know The Mama's and The Poppa's did this first, but it's still an awesome pot smoking, er, I mean, mellow song! Now that I listen to it, the song seems to be more about dreaming about the summer during the autumn and winter than summer itself. It still counts!
Little St. Nick
Yeah, it's a Christmas song, but it gives off a nice "Christmas in July" vibe to me. That, and the song sounds a lot like "Little Deuce Coupe."
Wouldn't It Be Nice
We end on a great song about wanting to be older to screw the girl you love! Gotta love these guys for being more genuine about this than the Jonas Brothers.
This is most likely the last "Soundtracks For Summer" entry of the year. If so, I thank you all for enjoying this trip down memory lane once again! BTW, if you're looking for "Kokomo," you may remember that I went into more detail about the mellow vibes, steel drums and John Stamos a few years earlier in this entry.
To my dear readers: I'm also taking reader submissions for future "Soundtracks For Summer" entries. If you've got an idea, pop me an email at beamingforbunnies@gmail.com OR comment on this entry OR at the Facebook Fan Page OR at my Twitter with the name of the song, and a reason or two why it defines "Summer" for you. You'll be glad you did.
1 comment:
Great post! I'm a huge Beach Boys fan. The band has a lot of good songs, many of which are largely unknown to the general public.
Good Vibrations, by the way, has a very interesting story to it. Brian Wilson recalled that the genesis of the song was actually a walk that he took with his mother as a kid. A dog barked at them as they walked past, and Brian asked why the dog barked at them. His mother explained that dogs can sense vibations from people which determine whether they bark at people. That particular dog was said to be picking up "bad vibrations." I am not making this up.
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