The passing of  Brian Wilson last week at the age of 82 leaves a gaping hole in the universe. How one man could be responsible for bringing so much joy into the world is beyond comprehension. Brian and The Beach Boys sang of surfing and cars and California girls, the beach and summer and the endless possibilities of youth.  For a kid like me growing up in suburban New Jersey The Beach Boys music was part of my California dream and Brian Wilson was my personal Pied Piper beckoning me to come west and partake in the promise of The Golden State. When I moved here at the age of twenty-two, I found California to be everything that Brian said it would be. How many others were just like me? The imagery in those Beach Boys songs was irresistible, I just had to come here to see what it was all about.

Since Brian’s passing, I’ve been listening to the Beach Boys music with fresh ears. By any definition of the word Brian was a musical genius he wrote and produced the songs and arranged the incredibly complex vocals on hit after hit; layer upon layer of lush multi-part harmonies all dreamed up by Brian and taught to the other four Beach Boys. Their harmonies are symphonic in their grandiosity and absolutely breathtaking! Rising above this unique vocal blend is Brian’s trademark falsetto, one of the most distinctive voices of any singer in any genre of music. If you really want to experience the full breadth of Brian’s voice, pop in your ear buds and listen to In My Room, Caroline No, The Warmth of the Sun and especially Don’t Worry Baby. These slow, dreamy songs are where Brian really shines, he’s feeling it deeply, his soul laid bare for all the world to see. 

For me, the pinnacle of Brian Wilson’s music comes on Track 2, Side 2 of his masterwork Pet Sounds. God Only Knows, this achingly gorgeous song about longing and love, is sung by brother Carl in what is the defining performance of his career. Legend has it that Brian and Carl knelt down and prayed before the recording of the vocals. The last :50 of the song during the fadeout is where the real payoff comes: layers of harmony and counter lines are sung over Carl’s lead vocal with Brian’s falsetto soaring like an angel above it all. Well, it’s almost too much to take and I cry nearly every time I spin this track. There aren’t enough superlatives to describe the emotions that this song stirs up in me. I don’t know who or what god is but during the conception and recording of God Only Knows, Brian Wilson and lyricist Tony Asher must surely have experienced something truly divine. If god is love and god is beauty then God Only Knows is a gift from god.

Throughout his life, Brian Wilson was tormented by self doubt and his own personal demons. The sunny exuberance of his music belied the turmoil that surrounded Brian in his personal life; his lifelong battles with mental illness and substance abuse are well chronicled. It’s a cruel irony that a man who brought so much love and beauty into the world experienced so much personal trauma. Rest easy dear brother, I hope that wherever you are now that you find the peace that eluded you while on Earth. The world is a richer place because of you.

I could have told you Vincent (Brian)

The world was never meant

For one as beautiful as you

Vincent By Don McClean