Background
"Wouldn't It Be Nice" is one of the eight songs that Brian Wilson and Tony Asher wrote for the '' Pet Sounds'' album. Wilson's since-discredited 1991 memoir suggested that he was inspired to write the song after having sexual fantasies about the Honeys' singer Diane Rovell, his sister-in-law. While discussing the song, Asher supported that Wilson was "definitely infatuated by her" and "this innocent aura that she seemed to possess. Brian was really just ''so'' naive." Wilson repeatedly brought up the subject while they composed the songs on ''Pet Sounds'', as Asher remembered, "He'd stop in the middle of writing a song or a conversation or whatever and start going on about Diane, about how innocent, sweet, and beautiful she was. I'd be thinking, 'Huh! Your wife's in the next room, and you're talking about her sister!'" It was one of only two songs on ''Pet Sounds'' in which Asher wrote words to a melody that Wilson had already finalized, the other being " You Still Believe in Me". According to Asher, "Over a period of days, Brian kept saying that he was working on a melody, but he didn't want to play it for me until he had the structure finished. One day, he said, 'It's done.'" Wilson had decided on its subject matter: the "innocence of ..being too young to get married", a topic that "seemed to be immensely appealing to him". Asher said that, after he had begun writing the lyrics, Wilson started "microanalyzing the individual words" to Asher's annoyance. Following Asher's complaints, Wilson agreed to let Asher take a tape of the song home and write the words alone. Asher then returned with a set of lyrics, which the pair refined. It was a less integrated and collaborative process than the one for the songs they wrote afterward. Mike Love's co-writing credit was not officially recognized until 1994, when he successfully sued for writing credits on 35 Beach Boys songs, including "Wouldn't It Be Nice". During the proceedings, Love's attorney proposed that, since Love had not been physically present when Asher and Wilson were writing the song, it may have been possible that Wilson consulted Love by telephone during occasional bathroom breaks. Asher later said it was an "absurd" argument. Asked in a 1996 interview to enumerate Love's contributions, Asher responded, "None, whatsoever." However, under oath, he stated that it consisted of the line "good night my baby / sleep tight, my baby" and possible minor vocal arrangement.Lyrics
The lyrics describe a young couple fantasizing about the romantic freedom they would earn once married, including the benefits of being able to "hold each other close the whole night through" and to "say goodnight and stay together". Asher explained, "It's a song that people who are young and in love can appreciate and respond to, because it revolves around the things they've always wanted to do: live together, sleep together, wake up together—do everything together." In a 1976 radio interview, Wilson said his intention in writing the song was to express "the need to have the freedom to live with somebody ..The idea is, the more we talk about it, the more we want it, but let's talk about it anyway. Let's talk it over, let's talk about what we might have if we really got down to it." In 1996, he reflected, "'Wouldn't It Be Nice' was not a real long song, but it's a very 'up' song. It expresses the frustrations of youth, what you can't have, what you really want and you have to wait for it." Wilson had previously written a song with similar subject matter, " We'll Run Away", on '' All Summer Long'' (1964). He had also produced a rendition of the doo-wop standard " I'm So Young" for '' The Beach Boys Today!'' (1965). Journalist Nick Kent felt that, although Wilson had captured similar "teen angst dialogue" before: "This time ewas out to eclipse these previous sonic soap operas, to transform the subject's sappy sentiments with a God-like grace so that the song would become a veritable pocket symphony." Musicologist Phillip Lambert called the themes "a significant twist" on the lyrics of Wilson's past songs, "which fantasized about material possessions ..feats of physical skill ..and one-night stands ..Now the young lovers just want to be monogamous and draw strength and happiness from each other, 'in the kind of world where we belong.'" According toComposition
"Wouldn't It Be Nice" begins with an eight-beat introduction in the key of A major. Following a single drum hit, the song shifts to the remote flat submediant key of F. Classical composerRecording
Backing track
Instrumental tracking for "Wouldn't It Be Nice" began at 7:00p.m. on January 22, 1966, at Gold Star Studios. Wilson produced the session with engineer Larry Levine. TheVocals and mixdown
The vocal sessions for ''Pet Sounds'' were the most challenging of the group's career, and their performance on "Wouldn't It Be Nice" took longer to record than any other track on the album, as Wilson's bandmates struggled to sing the multiple vocal parts to his satisfaction. Al Jardine later said that the challenge of meeting Wilson's standards on the song "was painful beyond belief for all of us." Carl Wilson remembered, "We really tried to make a good album. We wanted to take another step. 'Wouldn't It Be Nice' was the track that really brought that hope to all of us. We did at least ten sessions on that one, and it still wasn't right. I still think we sang it a little rushed." Mike Love, who affectionately nicknamed Brian "the Stalin of the studio" during these sessions, said, "We did one passage of 'Wouldn't It Be Nice' close to 30 times—and some of the tries were nearly perfect! But Brian was looking for something more than the actual notes or the blend: he was reaching for something mystical—out of the range of hearing." Bruce Johnston similarly likened Wilson to General Patton. In his recollection, "We re-recorded our vocals for 'Wouldn't It Be Nice' so many times that the rhythm was never right. We'd slave ..singing this thing and then Brian would say, 'No it's not right! It's just not right!'" According to Johnston, Wilson had been dissatisfied with the Beach Boys' vocal performances on the prior hit "California Girls" and was aiming for a "perfect" vocal sound for "Wouldn't It Be Nice". On February 16, Wilson created a rough mono mix of the song at United Western Recorders. Another mono mix with different, incomplete vocals was made on March 3, using the eight-track console at Columbia Studio. Further vocal overdubs were taped on March 10, followed by more rough mixes on March 22. The final round of vocal overdubs were recorded at Columbia on April 11 and shortly thereafter. According to Brian, "One of the features of this record is that Dennis sings is harmony partsin a special way, cupping his hands. I had thought for hours of the best way to achieve the sound and Dennis dug the idea because he knew it would work." Love developed the "good night my baby / sleep tight, my baby" couplet during the studio sessions. Like other tracks on the album, "Wouldn't It Be Nice" contains a prominent technical flaw in the final mix, in which an audible tape splice is heard between the chorus and Love's vocal entrance in the bridge. The error was mended on the track's 1996 stereo mix created by Mark Linett for '' The Pet Sounds Sessions''. Linett explained, "The abrupt edit ..was an edit that took an older mix with Mike Love singing and put it in the bridge. I didn't figure that out for years!" The 1996 stereo mix features Wilson singing the bridge because the tape with Love's singing was not available.Commercial performance
"Wouldn't It Be Nice" was first released on May 14, 1966, as the opening track on ''Pet Sounds''. On July 18, the song was issued in the U.S. with the B-side " God Only Knows" as the third single from ''Pet Sounds''. In other countries such as the United Kingdom, "Wouldn't It Be Nice" was issued as the B-side of "God Only Knows". The single debuted on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at number 84 on July 30, and it peaked at number 8 on September 17. Also in September, it peaked at number four in Canada and number two in Australia. In October, it peaked at number 12 in New Zealand.Critical reception
In his self-described "unbiased" review of the album for '' Record Mirror'', published in July 1966 upon ''Pet Sounds''s British release, Norman Jopling said that the song "starts off prettily, and develops into a complicated ponderous beat number taken at a reasonably fast tempo. It slows down half-way through but brightens up again, and the lyric is pleasant. But not exceptional Beach Boys." '' Billboard''s review highlighted the track for its "strong single potential". '' Cash Box'' described the song as a "rhythmic, medium-paced, danceable sincere pledge of devotion". Writing in his 2012 book ''Fifty Sides of the Beach Boys'', biographer Mark Dillon describes "Wouldn't It Be Nice" as perhaps the band's "most gloriously innocent song" and one of Wilson's "most adventurous" arrangements. Nick Kent declared the harmonies to be "so complex they seemed to have more in common with a Catholic Mass than any cocktail lounge acappella doo-wop". Writing for '' American Songwriter'' magazine, Jason Scott noted the song's "whimsy" and "blissful" feeling, highlighting the "harp-like texture" of the guitar intro. In '' Far Out'' magazine, Aimee Ferrier named "Wouldn't It Be Nice" as a "pop masterpiece" and "puppy-love anthem", listing its nostalgic lyrical themes and layers of instruments as elements of the song worthy of note. In 2006, '' Pitchfork'' ranked it number seven on its list of "The 200 Best Songs of the 1960s". Contributor Joe Tangari wrote in its entry: "'Wouldn't It Be Nice' has everything you love about the Beach Boys in spades ..It's the ultimate starry-eyed teenage symphony to God, and it perfectly captures the earnest devotion we only seem capable of in a small window of years." In 2008, ''Popdose'' staff members ranked it the 22nd-best single of the previous 50 years, writing that "no other song ..so perfectly captures the idea of innocent love." ''Musical influence
"Wouldn't It Be Nice" was pivotal in the formation of the progressive pop genre. Writing for '' Cleveland'', Troy L. Smith said that it was one of the ''Pet Sounds'' tracks that solidified the band as the genre's forefathers, characterizing the song as "a Wall of Sound style single that contains some of the best harmonizing in the history of music." He called it "the first taste of progressive pop that would be picked up byCultural responses
The song has occasionally appeared in the soundtracks of films such as '' Shampoo'' (1975), '' 50 First Dates'' (2004), and '' It's Complicated'' (2009). In the 1989 documentary '' Roger & Me'', it was used to underscore visuals of the economic devastation caused by the closure of several auto plants in Flint, Michigan. Critic Anthony Kaufman highlighted the scene as an especially effective piece of "ironic counterpoint". The band's film-themed compilation '' Still Cruisin''' (1988) included the song for its appearance in '' The Big Chill'' (1983), although the compilers accidentally used an alternate mix of the track with a different vocal take. In 1990, the political cartoon strip '' Doonesbury'' ran a controversial story arc involving the character Andy Lippincott and his terminal battle with AIDS. It concludes with Lippincott expressing his admiration for ''Pet Sounds'' and, in the last panels, depicts the character's death while listening to "Wouldn't It Be Nice", as well as his last written words, the line "Brian Wilson is God" scrawled on a notebook (a reference to the line " Clapton is God"). According to cultural theorist Kirk Curnett in 2012, the panel "remains one of the most iconic in ''Doonesbury''s forty-three year history, often credit dwith helping humanize AIDS victims when both gay and straight sufferers were severely stigmatized". Curnett also noted that while " may overstate the case to describe he songas a gay anthem", it had been used at recent LGBT rallies. The song is also featured in the 2024 film '' Sonic the Hedgehog 3'' when Ivo Robotnik and his grandfather Gerald get to spend the perfect day in a virtual reality simulation, giving Ivo the childhood he missed out on.Live performances
The Beach Boys adopted the song into their live performances, typically with Al Jardine handling the lead vocal originally sung by Wilson. They did not initially incorporate the tempo change into the live arrangement, and instead skipped that section entirely, as can be heard on the 1968 recording released on the live album '' Live in London'' (1970). In April 1971, a version recorded live at the 1970 Big Sur Folk Festival was released as a single. By the early 1970s, the group had begun playing the whole song in their live arrangement, as demonstrated on 1973's '' The Beach Boys in Concert''.Personnel
Per band archivist Craig Slowinski. The Beach Boys * Al Jardine – backing vocals * Bruce Johnston – backing vocals * Mike Love – bridge and outro lead vocals, backing vocals * Brian Wilson – lead vocals, backing vocals * Carl Wilson – backing vocals * Dennis Wilson – backing and bass vocals Session musicians (also known as " the Wrecking Crew") * Hal Blaine – drums * Frank Capp –Sessionography
Details adapted from Keith Badman's ''The Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band, on Stage and in the Studio'' January 22, 1966 – Instrumental track recorded by the Wrecking Crew produced by Brian Wilson, with Brian Wilson's lead vocal overdubbed at the end of the session. February 16, 1966 – Rough mono mix of "Wouldn't It Be Nice" completed by Wilson, notably featuring an alternate first verse with the opening lines transposed from the final version. Following this a rehearsal session takes place. March 3, 1966 – Wilson completes a new mono mix, using an eight-track recorder for one of the first times in his career as a producer. The vocals are still incomplete without contributions from the rest of the band. March 10, 1966 – Vocal overdub inserts recorded at Columbia Studios by all six band members for the first time. March 22, 1966 – A rough mix featuring both lead and backing vocals is mixed by Wilson. April 11, 1966 – Brian and Carl Wilson record new lead vocal parts for the song. Mid-April, 1966 – Final vocals overdubs recorded for the song and final mono mix assembled by Wilson.Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Notes
References
Bibliography
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