Is "God Only Knows" the best song ever?

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Honestly, I believe it is the ONE song that everyone on ILM can agree is a masterpiece. I don't think I have ever heard anyone say anything bad about this song.

― joe schmoe (joeschmoe), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 14:17 (nineteen years ago)

My fiance just said we can't use it as our wedding song b/c it begins "I may not always love you." Plus, it now has deliciously polygamous overtones...

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 14:19 (nineteen years ago)

corny

― the confusing situation Enrique currently endures (Enrique), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 14:20 (nineteen years ago)

i like it. it's pretty.

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 14:21 (nineteen years ago)

I remember the first time I heard God Only Knows! I was watching this wierd ABC made for TV movie about the Beach Boys, and anyway in this scene all the fake Beach Boys were wearing really bad fake beards and having sort of "trippy" time (basically meaning the camera was swaying a bit)...they were all getting stoned and listening to God Only Knows in their fake beards....I think that Kyle dude from Twin Peaks who wouldn't have sex w/Charlotte on Sex in the City was in it....

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 14:23 (nineteen years ago)

have we had this thread before? no i can't fault this song. i've heard it a billion times and i still feel like something special is happening if i hear it being played in a shop; i still get a funny tingle when Brian sings "The world would show nothing to me/So what good would living do me?".

― dog latin (dog latin), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 14:23 (nineteen years ago)

mostly I just remember the beards though! they were the fakest fake beards ever, like the ones they wear on Saturday Nite Live when the fake-ness of the beards is supposed to add that extra level of comedy to the proceedings, but this was so earnest.

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 14:24 (nineteen years ago)

the best song ever is 'other side of town' by curtis mayfield

― and what (ooo), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 14:25 (nineteen years ago)

I heard a vocal jazz version on the radio the other day. It brought home what a well-written tune it is. Like every other note's a "money note".

― Sundar (sundar), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 14:27 (nineteen years ago)

TS: "God Only Knows" vs. "When Doves Cry" (my default best song ever).

― Josh in Chicago (Josh in Chicago), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 14:27 (nineteen years ago)

I love the fact that it starts out "I may not always love you". to me, that actually puts this song in the awesome genius great category, up from the mere one of the greatest songs ever category

― Dominique (dleone), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 14:30 (nineteen years ago)

i don't really like 'god only knows' - the vocals leave me v cold. (as does everything about it, but even when it was bootlegged to death circa 01 i couldn't find a way into loving it.)

'when doves cry' is incredible though.

― The Lex (The Lex), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 14:31 (nineteen years ago)

i am quite glad i never heard a bootleg involving this song.

― the confusing situation Enrique currently endures (Enrique), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 14:32 (nineteen years ago)

I'm going to stick my neck out and say YES, it is.

One day, I might even LISTEN to it.

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller 68), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 14:33 (nineteen years ago)

oddly enough, i agree with Lex. cold is the perfect word to describe it. a little boring, too, though pretty and well constructed and all that.

― Never being selfish but the sympathy (teenagequiet), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 14:33 (nineteen years ago)

Bowie's cover of it may well be the worst song ever.

― Revivalist (Revivalist), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 14:36 (nineteen years ago)

i think there's something cold about even the melody of it - i can't imagine liking ANY sort of cover of it. i feel like this about the beach boys in general, really.

― The Lex (The Lex), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 14:39 (nineteen years ago)

strangely enough, the first time i heard it was on radio 2 as a teenager, when it was introduced as 'paul mccartney's favourite song ever', so I always knew it was something revered.
I like the way it never really settles into a key, but then has a key change halfway through that you can notice. I love the overlapping vocals, the harpsichord, the longing in carl's voice, the aforementioned opening line that puts you on the backfoot.
But best song ever? hmmmm. It's horses for courses. If you want devastating lyrical brilliance you might look elsewhere (it's alright ma?)

― dr x o'skeleton, Tuesday, 16 May 2006 14:41 (nineteen years ago)

There's no such thing as a best song ever. No song can stand that weight, every song needs the context lots of other songs. It's like saying there could be a best three seconds of music ever.

― Revivalist (Revivalist), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 14:45 (nineteen years ago)

The comedian Steven Wright used to have a routine:
'I got this tape, The Best of Music, but I only like the first side.'

― dr x o'skeleton, Tuesday, 16 May 2006 14:48 (nineteen years ago)

There's no such thing as a best song ever.

That's true. Every song needs not only the context of other songs but of life. I don't know that I've ever turned off God Only Knows when it's come on the radio, but I'm feeling it more some times than others.

I don't think I have ever heard anyone say anything bad about this song.

That's a negative bar. I've never heard anyone say anything bad about "Happy Birthday" either - how could you? But it doesn't make it the best song ever.

My fiance just said we can't use it as our wedding song b/c it begins "I may not always love you."

Doesn't she understand the import of the next couple of lines?

― Rick Massimo (Rick Massimo), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 14:49 (nineteen years ago)

I'll never get sick of this song.

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy (Kerr), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 15:27 (nineteen years ago)

I like it, but at the bar, it seems to be sweet home alabama

― nicky lo-fi (nicky lo-fi), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 15:30 (nineteen years ago)

Bowie's cover of it may well be the worst song ever

Damn. Someone beat me to it.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 15:32 (nineteen years ago)

quite possibly is, yeah.

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 16:21 (nineteen years ago)

I've really enjoyed Johnatha Brooke's and Sean Lennon's covers of it, though.

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 16:23 (nineteen years ago)

the best song ever made is "Fuk Shit Up" by Blatz

― youth problem (YouthProblem), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 16:23 (nineteen years ago)

you've never seen the beards i've seen

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 16:33 (nineteen years ago)

i have the suspicion that people who love this song really just love the title.

― a.b. (alanbanana), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 16:35 (nineteen years ago)

yeah that has to be it

― Dominique (dleone), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 16:43 (nineteen years ago)

"Happy Birthday" is grating and trite

― davelus (davelus), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 16:49 (nineteen years ago)

But have you heard the Bowie cover?

― p@reene (Pareene), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 16:49 (nineteen years ago)

i like the way its used as in the opening to BIG LOVE!

― city of gyros (chaki), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 16:52 (nineteen years ago)

doesn't he sing "I would be happy..." in response to "god only know what I'd be without you"...

listen close to the end.

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 17:11 (nineteen years ago)

It's definitely in my top 10, and I think a lot of my fascination lies in attempts to arrange it on a single instrument. At that point, Brian's arrangement prowess becomes brilliantly clear.

The guy was a tone poet.

― Brooker Buckingham (Brooker B), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 17:33 (nineteen years ago)

xpost

I don't think so. There's the main vocal line, then the echoing "God only knows what I'd be without you" (similar to the main line except a coupla beats behind, round-style), and the third line, which I think you're thinking of, is a high "God only knooooows ... what I'd beeeeeee ... withoooooooooout ... you."

Damn I love that.

― Rick Massimo (Rick Massimo), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 17:36 (nineteen years ago)

I could never take this song. I'm actually surprised at its overwhelming positive endorsement.

― Joe (Joe), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 17:47 (nineteen years ago)

I can't stand the Beach Boys one little bit. To me, they have the most annoying voices in the world. Angelic purity, ugh. If there is one group I've absolutely hated my whole life, they are it. At the same time I can concede that this is a well written song that I might like if performed by a group that didn't make me want to kill people.

― Dr. Rodney's Original Savannah Band (R. J. Greene), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 17:55 (nineteen years ago)

I don't like it either. And I actually thought the thread was referencing the song (same title) by James.

― paulhw (paulhw), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 18:02 (nineteen years ago)

Not the best song ever, but the best song ever written by Brian Wilson. Even better than "Good Vibrations".

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 21:37 (nineteen years ago)

"I remember the first time I heard God Only Knows! I was watching this wierd ABC made for TV movie about the Beach Boys...."

Kyle MacLachlan was not in it, but this was probably the best made for TV movie about a rock band EVER and I would kill to have a copy of it, cuz it is both hilarious and oddly accurate.

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 21:41 (nineteen years ago)

dood i saw it on vhs at the reseda salvation army!

― city of gyros (chaki), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 22:40 (nineteen years ago)

xxxxxxpost

"Saved!" beat "Big Love" to it.

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 22:42 (nineteen years ago)

By the way, great song, but is it really as good as "I'd Love Just Once to See You"?

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 22:43 (nineteen years ago)

the big love opening is amazing.

― city of gyros (chaki), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 22:44 (nineteen years ago)

"dood i saw it on vhs at the reseda salvation army!"

LIAR!

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 22:45 (nineteen years ago)

Brian Wilson is my dad,...He is your dad,son,brother,cousin,uncle and possibly best friend. He is there whenever you need him. God bless Brian Wilson!

― Babber David Hughes, Tuesday, 16 May 2006 22:45 (nineteen years ago)

xxpost

I haven't followed the show since the first episode. How's the season been?

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 22:46 (nineteen years ago)

http://www.thevideobeat.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=365

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 22:47 (nineteen years ago)

SHAKEY, I SWEAR I SAW IT IT WAS AN EMMY SCREENER! I ALMOST PICKED IT UP BUT I DONT HAVE A VCR ANYMORE. BIG LOVE IS AWESOME! THAT MARGINE IS A FIRECRACKER. PLUS HARRY DEAN STANTON!

― city of gyros (chaki), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 22:53 (nineteen years ago)

Definitely up there... I've felt the coldness that some people have mentioned upthread before, but more often than not it strikes a definite chord in me.

"Wouldn't it be nice" is better than "Good Vibrations" imo.

― Andrew (enneff), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 22:57 (nineteen years ago)

xpost

I really liked Ginnifer Goodwin in "Walk the Line."

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 23:10 (nineteen years ago)

I love the fact that it starts out "I may not always love you". to me, that actually puts this song in the awesome genius great category, up from the mere one of the greatest songs ever category

Dom OTM

It's the perfect paranoid centerpiece to a paranoid lovestruck album. The lyrics are really brilliant, starting with these very realistic statements and then effectively going into these huge overblown statements of love after a little "but". I love that, and it definitely rang true with the way I felt about my first girlfriend, who I was dating when I first really listened to this song/album.

― regular roundups (Dave M), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 23:37 (nineteen years ago)

the fucking "stack o vocals" mix on the Pet Sounds box set of this song is a stunning tribute to perfection.

― don weiner (don weiner), Wednesday, 17 May 2006 00:01 (nineteen years ago)

Kyle MacLachlan was not in it, but this was probably the best made for TV movie about a rock band EVER and I would kill to have a copy of it, cuz it is both hilarious and oddly accurate.

haha i'm just glad someone else saw it...it was beyond bizarre...and i was totally transfixed for the whole 2 hours or whatever....

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Wednesday, 17 May 2006 00:01 (nineteen years ago)

Petra Haden does a good a capella version of this song.

― Maltodextrin (Maltodextrin), Wednesday, 17 May 2006 00:12 (nineteen years ago)

the four king cousins version of 'god only knows' is a bit odd. it's lovely. the whole cd is. god bless el records.

― keyth (keyth), Wednesday, 17 May 2006 00:24 (nineteen years ago)

I never saw Beach Boys: An American Family, but they play this one on Encore True Stories all the time and it's really corny as well. Bad wigs/beards galore.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100715/

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Wednesday, 17 May 2006 04:17 (nineteen years ago)

I dj weddings for extra scratch....this is one of those songs that people always shit their pants over, no matter what kind of crowd.
I always pass the time by amusing myself by thinking of horridly inappropriate songs to play: like "Pop That Pussy" during the father/daughter dance etc...

― astronautagogo (astronautagogo), Wednesday, 17 May 2006 04:34 (nineteen years ago)

I like harmony and all, but if I want "perfection," I've got like Mozart and shit. Surfin Safari is better. Vegetables is better. Good Vibrations is waaay better. And enough of these goyish country club candy-stripers anyway.

it pains me to agree with Jonathan Schwartz about anything, but All The Things You Are might really be the best song ever (not that such a thing actually exists)

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Wednesday, 17 May 2006 04:57 (nineteen years ago)

This song will always be close to me heart, but I'm so upset this is the theme song to Big Love on HBO... the premiere night I was disgusted.

ESPECIALLY that the intro/show is so good. But I am afraid that this song has been quite tainted by Bill Paxton's fat face, and not yet fully redeemed by Chloe Sevigny's knowing pucker.

*grimaces*

Why, God, Why!

*shakes fist at heavens*

― banana force (dayvidday), Wednesday, 17 May 2006 05:39 (nineteen years ago)

Some nice elements but overall too schmaltzy for my taste. I can take the first verse but I don't like the second. And then the third repeats the second.

'"Wouldn't it be nice" is better than "Good Vibrations" imo.' Agree with that. Among other things, I like the intro and that slowed down bit.

― Carlos Keith (Buck_Wilde), Wednesday, 17 May 2006 06:29 (nineteen years ago)

this is one of those songs that transends becoming sucky over being a show theme or in a commercial!

― city of gyros (chaki), Wednesday, 17 May 2006 07:43 (nineteen years ago)

Boy, Big Love is a big shit of a series...couldn't even make it through one episode.
Alot of my friends like it, but Six Feet Under just strikes as some depressing Big Chill boomer bull shit.
Love Curb Your Enthusiasm & Entourage though...

― astronautagogo (astronautagogo), Thursday, 18 May 2006 00:37 (nineteen years ago)

DUD: "God Only Knows" being frogmarched out as the the theme song to "Big Love".

CLASSIC: "Wouldn't It Be Nice" playing under montage of Flint homes in Roger & Me.

Which makes me think, damn. Beach Boys songs must be pretty cheap, all things considered.

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Thursday, 18 May 2006 01:06 (nineteen years ago)

i forgot abt. that section of roger & me....that right after they interview ben hamper, who talks about crying when he heard that song....rivethead was such a great book....

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Thursday, 18 May 2006 01:16 (nineteen years ago)

I've read that book three times.

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Thursday, 18 May 2006 01:19 (nineteen years ago)

I've had a couple of beers and I'm a little sleep-deprived. I had read halfway through this whole thread before I realized that we weren't talking about Kid Rock's "Only God Knows Why."

...which I happen to prefer to the Beach Boys song (I dig that French horn, though!).

― Handsome Dan, Thursday, 18 May 2006 01:24 (nineteen years ago)

That harmony/round part at the end is what makes the song for me. Without it this song would sink

― sdsf (joeschmoe), Monday, 22 May 2006 17:22 (nineteen years ago)

i always thought it very strange that this song wasn't by the beatles.

my favorite part of this song is when he sings "if you should ever leave me / life would still go on, believe me!"

Maltodextrin = OTM about the Petra Haden version of this song, it's great!

― Tracey Hand (tracerhand), Monday, 22 May 2006 17:28 (nineteen years ago)

my favorite part of this song is when he sings "if you should ever leave me / life would still go on, believe me!"

Sorry, but it's "THOUGH life would still go on believe me/ The world could show nothing to me/ So what good would living do me?"

― Rick Massimo (Rick Massimo), Monday, 22 May 2006 17:33 (nineteen years ago)

It's a great song, but, you know. It's no "My War" or anything.

― matt the queeg, Monday, 22 May 2006 19:42 (nineteen years ago)

Beautiful, but maybe a bit... stately (almost staid?).

― Aaron A, Monday, 22 May 2006 21:28 (nineteen years ago)

Does anyone else find the "sometimes I feel very sad" line repeated over and over to be really annoying in I Just Wasn't Made For These Times?? That's probably my favorite Beach Boys song but that line is so redudant. I dunno, maybe it's just a minor thing but it really bugs me!

― Lovelace (Lovelace), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 01:16 (nineteen years ago)

yeah Rick, but even with the "though" in there, they set up some suspense with that line because you don't know what's coming next, and the "believe me" seems gratuitous to me, like mock arrogance.

― Tracey Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 01:28 (nineteen years ago)

Well Joe ~ NOW you have heard some bad things said about this song. To me, it is a good song, but there is no "best" song anymore than there can be the "best" of anything that takes into account personal perception, but we all are entitled to our opinion. And yes I know you didn't say it was the best song ever. Somehow the thread turned it into a "best" debate.

― d@m, Monday, 29 May 2006 01:44 (nineteen years ago)

Beautiful song. But "best song ever"? Only if you're Sir Paul.

I like "All I Wanna Do" or "Disney Girls" much more.

― Jay Vee's Return (Manon_69), Monday, 29 May 2006 06:13 (nineteen years ago)

Answer: very nearly, but it's narrowly beaten to the top spot by Wichita Lineman.

― Palomino (Palomino), Tuesday, 6 June 2006 22:17 (nineteen years ago)

It could be, but then again listening to Pet Sounds I don't think it stands out that much.

― strom (strom), Tuesday, 6 June 2006 22:26 (nineteen years ago)

Yes, so far.

― cnwb (cnwb), Tuesday, 6 June 2006 23:52 (nineteen years ago)

It may just be.

― Steve Goldberg (Steve Goldberg), Wednesday, 7 June 2006 00:18 (nineteen years ago)

I was about to search for a thread on this song to ask which mix of this song was used for Big Love?

I never liked much of anything by the Beach Boys, but after being forced to listen to this song twelve times during the opening credits of Big Love, I can't get enough of it. Believe it or not, I had never even heard this particular song before Big Love. How ya like them apples? I think I hated the Beach Boys mostly because of how many TV commercials used their songs when I was growing up in the 80s.

― josh in sf (stfu kthx), Wednesday, 7 June 2006 20:23 (nineteen years ago)

Even better than "Good Vibrations".

Not even close to "Good Vibrations". :)

― Joe (Joe), Wednesday, 7 June 2006 21:26 (nineteen years ago)

I say quite a lot of songs are the best song ever but God Only Knows is genuinely up there.
So what if it doesn't have devastating lyrical insight? It's a love song, sincerely and eloquently expressed, it doesn't need to be a Dylan-esque. The melody is beautiful, and hella difficult to sing. And that French horn! Oh man.
Surf's Up and Good Vibrations are equally great.
I pity Beach Boys hayterz - what's made you so bitter and cynical?

― Stew (stew s), Wednesday, 7 June 2006 21:57 (nineteen years ago)

Mike Love stole their car.

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Wednesday, 7 June 2006 22:16 (nineteen years ago)

which mix of this song was used for Big Love?

I think there are only two, the mono mix and the stereo remix. I think the one on Big Love is actually mono, but I haven't paid close enough attention to it.

― kyle (akmonday), Wednesday, 7 June 2006 23:19 (nineteen years ago)

three years pass...

Perfectly willing to entertain this conjecture, as long as Cornelius' God Only Knows is the song in question

― the England guy that throws the balls (country matters), Monday, 8 June 2009 11:58 (sixteen years ago)

it is the best song ever. why no love for carl then since he was the one singing.

― keythkeythkeyth, Monday, 8 June 2009 23:46 (sixteen years ago)

I am an obsessive beach boys fan and I don't really like this song that much. it's...okay?

― iatee, Tuesday, 9 June 2009 00:01 (sixteen years ago)

Never got the love either-- it's good, I like it, but it ends there for me. I just never connected with it emotionally. And I know people pay a lot of attention to the words, but I never understood that either-- aren't they kind of circular? For instance:

I may not always love you
But as long as there are stars above you
You never need to doubt it
I'll make you so sure about it

Presumably there will always be stars above her right? So actually he WILL always love her? Which means he could have said "I will always love you" in the first line, could have same himself a lot of words.

― Mark, Tuesday, 9 June 2009 00:20 (sixteen years ago)

same=saved

― Mark, Tuesday, 9 June 2009 00:20 (sixteen years ago)

Hate how Mike Love cuts in with his nasal little bah bah Ba-da BAH B-BAH, BUH-BA-DA-BAH part.

― Pleasant Plains, Tuesday, 9 June 2009 00:21 (sixteen years ago)

I heard the Bowie version before I heard the original.

― Eazy, Tuesday, 9 June 2009 00:55 (sixteen years ago)

God only knows what he was thinking

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2OHP7jXowY

― Jesus Christ, Attorney at Law (res), Tuesday, 9 June 2009 00:57 (sixteen years ago)

Guys, CORNELIUS

― the unfished business of display names only (country matters), Tuesday, 9 June 2009 01:01 (sixteen years ago)

I shall spell it out for ye. LISTEN TO THIS SONG AND WEEP TEARS OF JOY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcAEiGTEWpk

― the unfished business of display names only (country matters), Tuesday, 9 June 2009 01:02 (sixteen years ago)

I also heard a live Elvis Costello/Brodsky Quartet version on the radio once.

― Eazy, Wednesday, 10 June 2009 23:34 (sixteen years ago)

five years pass...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/2R3PxWX7hzMb8lNZs3Ngz5L/god-only-knows

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 14 October 2014 22:33 (eleven years ago)

With the 80-piece BBC Concert Orchestra at its heart and 27 ridiculously talented musicians from a wide range of genres, this "impossible orchestra" represents the talent, diversity and musical passion found every single day throughout the BBC. charity single version for Children in Need with: 1. Dave Grohl / 2. Alison Balsom / 3. Lorde / 4. Pharrell Williams / 5. Zane Lowe / 6. Sam Smith / 7. Paloma Faith / 8. Eliza Carthy / 9. Nicola Benedetti / 10. Chris Martin / 11. Jaz Dhami / 12. Martin James Bartlett / 13. Danielle de Niese / 14. Stevie Wonder / 15. Florence Welch / 16. Lauren Laverne / 17. Brian Wilson / 18. Jake Bugg / 19. Katie Derham / 20. Gareth Malone / 21. Kylie Minogue / 22. Chrissie Hynde / 23. One Direction / 24. Emeli Sandé / 25. Elton John / 26. Baaba Maal / 27. Ethan Johns / 28. Jools Holland / 29. Jamie Cullum / 30. Brian May / 31. Tees Valley Youth Choir / 32. BBC Concert Orchestra

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqLTe8h0-jo

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 14 October 2014 22:36 (eleven years ago)

Its not as good as the Beach Boys, but it might be better than David Bowie's version

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 14 October 2014 22:39 (eleven years ago)

there's no way to defend this. it's Paul Day's 'The Meeting Place' in sonic form.

― Shepard Toney Album (dog latin), Tuesday, 14 October 2014 22:42 (eleven years ago)

it's a testament to this song's strength that even in this pointless, overcooked, ridiculous version it still moves me

― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 14 October 2014 23:15 (eleven years ago)

Hopefully it will somehow at least raise money for that charity

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 14 October 2014 23:17 (eleven years ago)

omg, Grohl @ 2:24

― bunny slopes, Wednesday, 15 October 2014 00:18 (eleven years ago)

the cgi stuff really pushes it into wtf territory

― Darin, Wednesday, 15 October 2014 02:04 (eleven years ago)

My mom was telling me about this a few weeks ago, apparently she didn't know the song.

I hate this sort of "all star" versions... Has there ever been one of this tributes/charity things that's actually good?

I agree with Outic: it speaks good of a song that even in this awful form it's a moving song.

― Moka, Wednesday, 15 October 2014 04:40 (eleven years ago)

I kind of like the 1997 all star version of Perfect Day, partly because that's how I first heard the song. apparently that was first conceived solely as pageantry to display the BBC's clout rather than as a charity thing? (obv this God Only Knows is both at the same time as well).
they're both very needy, desperate songs which seems to sit sort of oddly with the exhibition of might and splendour aspect, but I guess they're both pleas for continuing with the licence fee etc?

― soref, Wednesday, 15 October 2014 08:00 (eleven years ago)

Is God Only Knows very needy? It seems to me like detached actually... like hey we can be together if you want but if not it's cool too.

― Moka, Wednesday, 15 October 2014 08:35 (eleven years ago)

Ok, well the 'I'll be fine without you' is a ruse that gets revealed in the following lines of each verse where he says life would continue but it wouldn't be worth it so its a little needy.

― Moka, Wednesday, 15 October 2014 08:39 (eleven years ago)

Perfect Day was so bad. The lingering irony of the original completely lost in the remake. I don't think it's possible to do a good Allstar cover and they should just either go for upbeat 'Blame it on the Boogie' material and stop trying for sincerity or just make up a new song like 'We Are The World' which I have a secret soft spot of shame for.

Watching this for the first time, it didn't even register to me what song they were covering. I mean I knew it was the Beach Boys, but the sentiment had been hollowed out of it so much it could have been a cover of any of their hits - not their most affecting, most mature song that I love and gives me goosepimples every time.

― Shepard Toney Album (dog latin), Wednesday, 15 October 2014 11:53 (eleven years ago)

grohl definitely the highlight of this

― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Wednesday, 15 October 2014 12:08 (eleven years ago)

it could have been a cover of any of their hits

Missed opportunity to do "She's Goin' Bald".

― ... and a Martin Parr photo essay (Tom D.), Wednesday, 15 October 2014 12:09 (eleven years ago)

no student demonstration time no credibility

― bizarro gazzara, Wednesday, 15 October 2014 12:25 (eleven years ago)

Yes I wonder why they left those off 20 Golden Greats

― Shepard Toney Album (dog latin), Wednesday, 15 October 2014 12:34 (eleven years ago)

"She's Goin' Bald" is great!

― ... and a Martin Parr photo essay (Tom D.), Wednesday, 15 October 2014 12:41 (eleven years ago)

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