"Solar System" is a song by the American rock band

the Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band 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 their f ...

from their 1977 album ''

The Beach Boys Love You ''The Beach Boys Love You'' is the 21st studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released April 11, 1977, on Brother/Reprise. Sometimes called the band's "punk" or "synth-pop" album, ''Love You'' is characterized for its pioneering u ...

''. It was written and sung by

Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (June 20, 1942 – June 11, 2025) was an American musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often Brian Wilson is a genius, called a genius for his novel approaches to pop compositio ...

. The lyrics discuss the

Solar System The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Sola ...

in a similar vein as the band's 1965 hit "

California Girls "California Girls" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1965 album '' Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!)''. Written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love, the lyrics were partly inspired by the band's experiences touring Europe f ...

". In "Solar System", the narrator asks, "What do the planets mean? / And have you ever seen / sunrise in the mornin'? / It shined when you were born".

Background

Wilson stated in a 1977 interview that he conceived some of the lyrics while driving to a parents' meeting at his daughters' school. He explained that he had looked up at the sky and started thinking about the Solar System. "It's just something that came into my mind. Later on, I developed it into the song; I didn't come up with the title that night but I wrote the words in the car." In 1995, he gave a similar account and added that, when he got home, he finished the song on his piano, exclaiming, "This is a ''gr-eat'' song! These lyrics are great. This melody is great. (''whistles'') I've got a beauty here!" He then named it one of his favorites on ''The Beach Boys Love You'', adding, "When I'm 90, I'm gonna be as proud of that song as I am now." In 2007, Wilson offered a different recollection of the song's genesis, saying that the song was written in his head while he was attending a weekly

astrology Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that propose that information about human affairs and terrestrial events may be discerned by studying the apparent positions ...

class at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

. Trish Campo, former chief administrator of

Brother Studios Brother Studios (later renamed Crimson Sound) was the name of a recording studio located at 1454 5th St, Santa Monica, California established by brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, co-founders of the Beach Boy ...

recalled Brian at the studio sitting at a Hammond B3 organ, absently gazing at the giant circular stained glass window over him depicting planets and stars. Later that afternoon, Campo heard "Solar System" coming out of the studio.

Reception

Music critic Robert Christgau praised "Solar System" as "impossible to shake", and characterized by a "silliness that registered as charming".

References

1977 singles The Beach Boys songs Songs written by Brian Wilson Song recordings produced by Brian Wilson 1977 songs Songs about outer space {{1970s-rock-song-stub