The Savage Chords of THE GIRLS ON THE BEACH (The Beach Boys)
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- čas přidán 8. 09. 2024
- Tim Smolens breaks down what may be Brian Wilson’s most complex modulations in the Beach Boys song “The Girls on the Beach.” Learn the hidden depth stored up in this monster chord progression. Explore the harmonic language and song form of this wonderful and lesser known Beach Boys ballad through the unique lens of Tim's musical outlook.
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I always thought: "This is Surfer Girl but with next level key changes." Definitely a tune you can point to as a progression of Brian's songwriting genius 😁 Also, Brian credited "Wish Upon a Star" as the inspiration for Surfer Girl, so nice call-out there! 🌟
Yes there is a clear Disney connection to both tunes and yes, this song is an elevated Surfer Girl. Thanks for watching and engaging.
Such unique songwriting. Brian really hit the ball out of the park with this one!
@@mikkysteaders And I love how this song is kind of buried in the catalog. The general public doesn't know about it and even most songwriters probably don't
@@TimSmolens I have to say, I love your channel!
I’ve delved deep into their catalogue and have to say the Love You album strikes me as being very quirky with its chord progressions and voicings. Would love to hear you examine a few tracks from that album!
It’s become my favourite over time.
Also some of the bootlegs for Adult/Child seem to be interesting too. I love ‘Still I Dream Of It’ 🤘
@@mikkysteaders I am really bad at anything after Smile at which point the wrong alternate history took over!
@@TimSmolens OOOOOHHHHH you my friend will love some of their later stuff! :)
I am not musically inclined and I have loved Brian and The Beach Boys for 50 plus years now. The obvious love you have for this music shines through and even though my temples throb tying to understand music theory, you make it totally enjoyable. Thank you!
Wow. What a great compliment. Thanks so much! Please subscribe and stay tunes for lots more lessons. Check my playlists page for lots of similar content.
"This Whole World" has entered the chat. Lol.
Love the analysis
Yes, lets do that one, although I would need to learn it!
@@TimSmolens This Whole World and Our Sweet Love off Sunflower are 2 of Brian's very best. there's also Break Away and Won't You Tell Me which he co-wrote with his dad around the same time. the song Friends deserves some love too (;
That half-step modulation in Verse 3 blew my mind the first time I heard it. Just a wild and beautiful song. Great work, as always, Tim!
Thanks so much for watching and commenting. Yeah, not sure BW has a wilder ride than this song as far as key changes.
thanks for doing this. I get excited about unexpected modulations in songs I love so I know the feeling!
Thanks a lot. Check my playlists page as I have plenty that fit that criteria. Make sure to subscribe and stay tunes. Thanks for your support.
Fantastic work as always. One thing I wanted to point out is that the bVII7 -> bII -> I movement is a variation of the Tadd Dameron turnaround, which reharmonizes a I -> vi -> ii -> V7 into I -> bIII -> bVI -> bII by tritone substitution on every chord but the tonic, then turning the progression all into maj7 chords. This leads to a really smooth chromatic movement back to the tonic maj7.
Brian, being a jazz head, probably heard this turnaround on "Lady Bird" and decided to take it one step further by using the bII -> I as a setup for a downwards key change. The real genius move is selling the setup with the unannounced key change up a semitone. I think you're correct that the verse-chorus modulation is a Wilson original; he seems to have contributed several harmonic devices for modulating, as opposed to outright changing, keys within in pop song structure.
From 1965-67 Brian was on a level of creativity and confidence that we've never seen before or since in pop or rock music. If only the listening public (and certain cousins of the Wilson family) were ready for it. Nevertheless, we're lucky for what we have, and Brian's revolutionary approach to harmony lives on.
Tim, thank you for this in depth analysis. Its a pleasure to listen to these old hidden Brian gems now with a little more theoretical insight. This has to be of my favorite BB pieces
Been waiting for this one!
Me too. Glad to finally do it and I hope it was all that!
awesome video as always man, have you ever thought about doing a video on breakaway? i think that’s one of the best vocal performances they ever did
excellent analysis
Thanks so much for watching and saying so.
In strictly "favourites" terms, my Top Three Beach Boys records are 1) "Let Him Run Wild" 2) "God Only Knows" 3) "The Girls on the Beach". I would argue that the diminished two bars between "Let him run wild, he don't care" and "Guess you know I waited for you, girl" and the arrangement as a whole make "Let Him Run Wild" Brian's most sophisticated effort prior to _Pet Sounds_ . I realise that the extended intro in "California Girls" was ground-breaking for '60s pop, but still, overall, I consider its 45 RPM flip-side, "Wild," to be the more adventurous record -- as well as the one I definitely prefer. ... Your very thorough discussions of Brian's work are much appreciated!
No arguments there. This classification was less based on favorite, and more based on wild key changes. All the tunes you mentioned are fantastic and I hope to do a lesson on each one. Thanks for watching and commenting!
One of my favourite Beach Boy songs…..fantastic chord progression. Great job on your analysis. Thanks so much for your work!
I really appreciate your comments and am so glad you are engaging with my lessons.
really enjoying the analyses, don't forget In The Back Of My Mind among Brian's greatest pre-PS ballads... I'm looking forward to your take on slightly later songs from Sunflower and Surf's Up through Love You and Adult/Child
I am currently am working on a lesson of In the Back of My Mind as we speak! Hopefully out this week. thanks for watching and commenting. I know very little about post-Smile. I am not a huge fan of post Smile to be honest. There is some great stuff but Brian was half the man he used to be and never commanded a studio again in even close to the same capacity.
@@TimSmolens never commanded a studio again but he was still in command on a piano. This Whole World glides thru 4 keys in less than a minute, then does it again. Til I Die is another thing only Brian could've written. then later ballads on side 2 of Love You and It's Over Now/Still I Dream Of It are gut wrenching stuff. I'd also love to see a comparison video of Had To Phone Ya and Trombone Dixie.. they are essentially the same song.
keep up the fine work!
@@TimSmolens also, this: czcams.com/video/RSuVAmqqEtQ/video.html
I’ll have to check out your video on the bVII. In my mind, the bVII7, bIImaj7, III7, iv, iimin7b5 are all part the same dynamic of the raised 5th in the major key sounding really emotional. Excellent video, I wasn’t familiar with this beach boys song
Wow, so glad to have introduced you to this lesser known gem. Your points about "bVII7, bIImaj7, III7, iv, iimin7b5" are spot on as well.
I love the beach boys. I love brians writing. I also love your channel and analysing the songs in depth. Thanks for the videos. One small criticism is the amount of reverb on your singing voice imo ia far too much and i would rather hear it more clearer. Thanks
Thanks so much for the props and the reverb criticism is fair, i suppose I could back off a touch! Subscribe and keep watching as new lessons come out!
Bridge chords are nearly the same as the bridge chords to Wouldn't It Be Nice.
Wow monster song! I just charted out the chords for myself using your changes for guitar, and I noticed something. On the 4th chord of the intro, one of the harmonies sings a Gb against the Bbm7/Eb , another harmony sings a G# against it. One harmony rises, and one falls each by a half step, and both are then at G on the Eb(9) chord. So that Gb is a pretty bad clash with the 5th of Bbm7. I wrote that chord as Ebm11 = Eb, Ab, Db, Gb and it sounds better to me. Is that just a disability of mine to hear the harmony against a complex chord, or? All the other times in the song the m7 slash chord sounds correct. Hey thanks for a great explanation and demo! There's one 60's song I would REALLY like to hear someone with skill analyze the CRAZY modulations of. That's the original version of the Faster Pussycat Kill Kill theme by the Bostweeds (a band of studio musicians). The chart on Ultimate Guitar is pretty correct and a place to start. Check it out for your own enjoyment anyway. Cheers!
That's pretty strange about the clashing harmonies. Something must be wrong and it could be on my end. I will try to see if I can verify what is going on there. I was fairly certain my changes were pretty close.
being picky but suggest putting timestamps for when you start analysis
Considering how long my intros can be, I would say that is a pretty good suggestion. Thanks and I will try to accomplish that.
Please Let Me Wonder
It's definitely on this list.
Is there a way to suggest songs via Patreon etc. to be analyzed by you? I know some tricky ones that I'd love to see dissected.
@@petrilampela that is definitely a possibility although I will say that time is at a premium these days and I know a lot of people feel that way. On Patreon I hope to form a community where we can have discussions about such things. Perhaps breaking something down in a live video lesson would be less time consuming for me than making a video that takes 15 hours to make.