THIS GREAT BIG WORLD

When I look for a song that best demonstrates the genius of the Beach Boys, I tend to land on one I don’t actually like very much: California Girls.

First the bad stuff: it’s callow, insipid, and it’s got too much Mike Love by a mile. But then…

The great early Beach Boys songs are additive-- they accrete and grow, melodically and in their narratives. And by this measure, California Girls is a great early Beach Boys' song.

The first verse is spare: Love’s vocal, a bouncy little keyboard line, and a discreet rhythm section. The lyrics are descriptive, observational: East Coast girls are hip, Southern girls are knock outs, Midwest farmer's daughters make you feel alright, and Northern girls keep their boyfriends warm.

Then comes the chorus, which like many Beach Boys' choruses might cloy, were it not for the activity and temporal growth happening in the verses.

The second (and last) verse kicks in, and the drums are perkier. Backing vocals have been added, first smooth and steady, and then contrapuntal (oo-wa-oo-wa-oo-wa)-- the effect is one of pure forward motion. Likewise the lyrics, which pick up initially where the first verse left off, and then make a crucial shift from simply cataloguing to catapulting-- a shift to action: “I couldn't wait to get back in the states [oo-wa-oo-wa-oo-wa]... ”

It would probably sound ungenerous to call this a formula, but it really is the essence of great early Beach Boys' songs. It is why I Get Around and Don't Worry Baby are great songs. It is also why Help Me Rhonda and All Summer Long are merely very good songs-- they run, but they run in place.

Oh, and we'll talk more later about the prelude that opens California Girls, OK?