"Brian Wilson" is a song by Canadian rock band

Barenaked Ladies Barenaked Ladies is a Canadian rock band formed in 1988 in Scarborough, Ontario. The band developed a following in Canada, with their self-titled 1991 cassette becoming the first independent release to be certified gold in Canada. They reach ...

from their 1992 album ''

Gordon Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Clan Gordon, ...

''. The song was written by

Steven Page Steven Jay Page (born June 22, 1970) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He was a founding member, lead singer, guitarist, and a primary songwriter of the music group Barenaked Ladies. Page left the band in Februar ...

as a tribute to

the Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...

' co-founder

Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often called a genius for his novel approaches to pop composition, extraordinary musical aptitude, and m ...

. It was released as a single and peaked at number 18 on the

Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian Singles Chart was a chart compiled by the American-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan, which began publication in November 1996. It was published every Wednesday and also published on Thursday by '' Jam!''/Canoe. I ...

. In 1998, the song peaked at number 68 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Wilson himself

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

the song on his live album ''

Live at the Roxy Theatre ''Live at the Roxy Theatre'' is a live album released by Brian Wilson in 2000. After a successful period of touring following the release of '' Imagination'', Wilson decided to record his first-ever live solo album. Accompanied by his supportin ...

'' (2000).

Background and lyricism

Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys in West Los Angeles 1990 photographed by Ithaka Darin Pappas

The song was written by singer/guitarist

in his parents' basement around his twentieth birthday, in 1990. The first lines of the song chronicle one of his many late-night journeys to the

Sam the Record Man Sam the Record Man was a Canadian record store chain that, at one time, was Canada's largest music recording retailer. In 1982, its ads proclaimed that it had "140 locations, coast to coast". Its iconic flagship store was located at 259 Yonge S ...

Yonge Street Yonge Street (; pronounced "young") is a major arterial route in the Canadian province of Ontario connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Upper Great Lakes. Once the southernmost leg of provincial Hi ...

. The song generally tells the story of a man whose life parallels that of

, particularly during his time spent with psychologist

Eugene Landy Eugene Ellsworth Landy (November 26, 1934 – March 22, 2006) was an American psychologist known for his unconventional 24-hour therapy and treatment of celebrity clients. His most notable patient was the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson, with who ...

after Wilson was diagnosed with

mental illness A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

, and, more broadly, with lyrics about suffering from

comorbid In medicine, comorbidity - from Latin morbus ("sickness"), co ("together"), -ity (as if - several sicknesses together) - is the presence of one or more additional conditions often co-occurring (that is, concomitant or concurrent) with a primary ...

mental illness and

obesity Obesity is a medical condition, sometimes considered a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it may negatively affect health. People are classified as obese when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's we ...

Variations

Steven Page stated in the liner notes for '' Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits'' that the song has more "official" recordings than any other song in their repertoire, saying that there are at least five. The song was first recorded for the never-released 1990 BNL cassette, ''

Barenaked Recess The Canadian alternative rock band Barenaked Ladies released five demo tapes before being signed to Reprise Records. ''Buck Naked'' ''Buck Naked'' is the Barenaked Ladies' first indie demo tape release, and featured only the original duo of Steve ...

''. After

Tyler Stewart Tyler Joseph Stewart (born September 21, 1967) is the drummer for the Canadian music group Barenaked Ladies. Role in Barenaked Ladies Stewart met Steven Page, Ed Robertson, and Jim Creeggan at the Waterloo Busker Carnival in Waterloo, Ontario, C ...

joined the band in 1991 as a drummer, it was re-recorded for the band's platinum-selling '' Yellow Tape'', in 1992 for ''

'', in 1996 for the live album ''

Rock Spectacle ''Rock Spectacle'' is the first live album by Barenaked Ladies. It was also the first major success for the band in the United States, selling over one million copies and producing a hit single in the country in its version of "Brian Wilson." T ...

'', and again in 1997 for a version which was called "Brian Wilson 2000" and was released as a single.

Brian Wilson 2000

"Brian Wilson 2000" is a shortened form of the song for radio play, recorded to sound more like their live performance than the original ''Gordon'' version did. The band's management worried that radio stations would not play the live version that had recently gained popularity. The most noticeable differences are that "2000" replaces the first verse with an 8-bar instrumental introduction, and the outro is considerably shortened as well. However, most radio stations decided to play the live version instead, which explains why the live version was included on ''Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits''. The U.S. release included the non-album song "Back." A music video for "Brian Wilson 2000" was filmed at The Opera House in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

on February 22, 1998 and released later that year.

Brian Wilson version

Wilson rearranged and sang this song

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

with his new band at live concerts, one of which was recorded for a live album in 2000. Wilson visited Barenaked Ladies while they were recording ''

Maroon Maroon ( US/ UK , Australia ) is a brownish crimson color that takes its name from the French word ''marron'', or chestnut. "Marron" is also one of the French translations for "brown". According to multiple dictionaries, there are var ...

'' (album producer

Don Was Don Edward Fagenson (born September 13, 1952), known professionally as Don Was, is an American musician, record producer and record executive. Primarily a bass player, Was co-founded the funk-rock band Was (Not Was). In later years he produced s ...

was an associate of Brian Wilson) whereupon they played him some of their works-in-progress, and then he played them his version of "Brian Wilson". At the end, he turned to them and asked, "Is it cool?" Upon his departure, his advice to the band was "don't eat too much." The band described the entire experience as surreal. In honour of his covering their song, in recent performances the band has started singing the first chorus a cappella, eliminating all instrumentation, and then continuing the rest of the song with the usual arrangement.

Personnel

– acoustic guitar, lead vocals *

Ed Robertson Lloyd Edward Elwyn Robertson (born October 25, 1970) is a Canadian musician, best known as the lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter of the band Barenaked Ladies. He, along with former member Steven Page, founded the group in 1988. As of Page's ...

– acoustic guitar, backing vocals *

Jim Creeggan James Raymond Creeggan (born February 12, 1970) is the bassist for Canadian alternative rock band Barenaked Ladies. Early life Creeggan was born in Scarborough, Ontario. His mother taught piano lessons to neighborhood children, which Creeggan cred ...

– double bass, backing vocals *

Andy Creeggan Andrew Burnett Creeggan (born July 4, 1971) is a former member of the Canadian alternative rock band Barenaked Ladies. He was also a member of the trio The Brothers Creeggan, and a solo artist having released three albums. Career Barenaked Ladie ...

– congas, backing vocals *

– drums

Chart positions

Barenaked Ladies single

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brian Wilson (Song) 1992 singles 1997 singles Barenaked Ladies songs Songs written by Steven Page Brian Wilson 1990 songs Songs about mental health Reprise Records singles Songs based on actual events Songs about the Beach Boys