Taking Sides: "Hang On Sloopy" vs. "Sloop John B."

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I'd actually have to say "Hang On Sloopy," as much as I like the Beach Boys song. I scratched the hell out of my dad's McCoys 45.

Though on another day I'd easily say "Sloop John B." It's a tough one!

― Josh in Chicago (Josh in Chicago), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 17:53 (twenty years ago)

i almost exactly agree - i think i burnt out on SJB in middle school, but never on HOS.

― peter smith (plsmith), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 17:56 (twenty years ago)

Someone needs to do a mash-up.

― Huk-L, Wednesday, 8 June 2005 17:57 (twenty years ago)

"Hang On Sloopy," obviously, b/c "Sloop John B" is so out of place on Pet Sounds (and I never liked it anyways...).

Also -- little known fact -- "Hang On Sloopy" is the official rock 'n roll song of Ohio!

― PB, Wednesday, 8 June 2005 17:59 (twenty years ago)

That's one good thing about Ohio.

― Josh in Chicago (Josh in Chicago), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 17:59 (twenty years ago)

I have never understood the hate "Sloop John B" gets - I think it makes a lovely interlude on Pet Sounds and greatly adds to the charm of that album.

― Tom (Groke), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 18:00 (twenty years ago)

That's one good thing about Ohio.

Hey.....

― PB, Wednesday, 8 June 2005 18:07 (twenty years ago)

Hang on...by miles.

― deej., Wednesday, 8 June 2005 18:10 (twenty years ago)

Just kidding, Ohio! You know I love you.

(not really)

― Josh in Chicago (Josh in Chicago), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 18:19 (twenty years ago)

No way, Sloop John B all the way. How can you not sing along in falsetto to "hoist! up! the John B saaaiiillls!"???

― jedidiah (jedidiah), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 18:20 (twenty years ago)

Wow, this is hard because I hate both of these songs.

― The Mad Puffin, Wednesday, 8 June 2005 18:21 (twenty years ago)

the line "and then he took and he ate up all of my corn" never fails to induce wild laughter in me and my sister whenever we listen to SJB. It's also really weird in a not good way on Pet Sounds.

HOS wins.

― Zack Richardson (teenagequiet), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 18:30 (twenty years ago)

SJB.

― AaronK (AaronK), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 18:31 (twenty years ago)

I would previously have been on the fence on this except that I was recently involved in a sing-along into which "Hang On Sloopy" was introduced, seemingly as a goof -- but in fact it turns out that "Hang On Sloopy" siezed the whole enterprise with its fundamental rockness and everything else seemed rather attenuated afterwards.

So, "Hang On Sloopy" wins.

― Guayaquil, Wednesday, 8 June 2005 18:31 (twenty years ago)

Dick Dale's veriosn of Sloop John B?

Did the Babyface-a-like R&B singer ever cover Sloop John B?

I'd pick that one.

― PappaWheelie (PappaWheelie), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 18:34 (twenty years ago)

SJB. Easily. Prettiest thing _ever_.

― Hillary Brown (Hillary Brown), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 19:02 (twenty years ago)

Hang on Sloopy! Sloop John B. creeps me out. They were butt-raping the narrator belowdecks, weren't they.

― n/a (Nick A.), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 19:04 (twenty years ago)

Sloop John B. creeps me out. They were butt-raping the narrator belowdecks, weren't they.

I poked around for some background on 'John B Sails', but I found nothing even close to this.

Source?

― PappaWheelie (PappaWheelie), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 19:17 (twenty years ago)

Haha, nice matchup! I never thought "SJB" was terribly bad (nor Pet Sounds terribly great) but "Hang On" just has so many great things going for it: The fucked-upness of a name like "Sloopy". The enigmatic line "Sloopy let your hair down, girl, let it hang down on me." A nice lyrical cliche-reversal (usually it's the BOY who's from the wrong side of town). And a climactic "WAAAHHH!!" in the middle, just like all the other garage-rock classics. Also some silly, unnecessary horns, but I'll overlook them.

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 19:36 (twenty years ago)

"Sloop John B" is hardly the best thing Beach Boys did, but the harmonies still put it ahead of "Hang On Sloopy".

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 21:09 (twenty years ago)

So, the Kingston Trio original then...

― donut debonair (donut), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 21:30 (twenty years ago)

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