L.A. Beverly Hills, 1967.

It was all over: he had understood this immediately, from the very first chords. The others, on tour without him, he would alert as soon as he could manage, in a few hours or a few days, to get up from that damned chair that seemed to have swallowed him. He no longer knew how long he had been there, with his gaze lost in the void. Even the noises from the street seemed to come from a world from which he felt he had already taken leave. His room had turned into a battlefield. The effects of the wrath, which had left him in that almost catatonic state, were scattered all around, along with what remained of the tapes of the "teenage symphony to God," black confetti of a macabre party.
A mocking smile had settled on his face as soon as he started to connect again. That immense effort, the work that had absorbed all his energies, that had led to the break with the "beach boys," ending the carefree surf era ("Surf's Up") no longer existed, or rather, it was useless. Those English devils had beaten him to it. His intuitions, the innovations of song form, the arrangements he was so proud of, the piano inserts and the lyrics of his quirky friend Van Dyke, after listening to that fantastic album, already seemed dated to him, surpassed, as if someone had entered his mind and developed his ideas better and, above all, more completely. No, he couldn't accept it. And to hell with all the time and dollars spent on that album that was supposed to represent his personal revenge, after the half-failure of "Pet Sounds." He had done what was right: destroy a work that in his eyes no longer made sense, that seemed useless to him now. LSD, which on other occasions had been a caring companion, this time gave him no relief, leaving him even more alone with a grin fixed on his face.

L.A. Beverly Hills, 2004

The favorite room in his house had a beautiful grand piano in the center. On the walls, there were no framed platinum records, just a few paintings and photos of his loved ones. He was particularly attached to one: the snapshot of him on his birthday with his two deceased brothers, Dennis and Carl. Every afternoon he would go to the piano and play what he called his "obsessions," especially Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue", which he learned by listening to an old recording, not knowing how to read music. Then he would move on to something by Paul, always, but also "Be My Baby" by Phil Spector, and finally, he would start composing something of his own.
He had been doing this regularly since he was feeling better. Yes, soon he would be able to release something new, but now he had to focus on the old-new project. He had called that madman Dyke Parks, and they had already agreed. Those tapes, forgotten somewhere in Capitol's warehouses, would be reborn, finally completed. That composition, he recalled, was born with a tremendous creative flow.
He was young, full of energy, and it seemed like he had a sort of vision and wrote on impulse, without his usual collaborators. Some images forcefully returned to his mind, especially the sand-box, a sort of three-square-meter sand fort where he had placed the piano. It gave him inspiration, and it felt like being on the beach. There he composed "Heroes & Villains", "Surf's Up", "Wonderful", "Cabin Essence"... then the dogs started doing their business inside, and he dismantled everything.
But this was no time for memories. It was time to get to work. The beloved-hated album would be remade from scratch, but without erasing anything, respecting the original idea, that of gathering the history and music of every America, a true kaleidoscope. After a wait of 37 years, the mythical "teenage symphony to God" would finally see the light again: a smile lit up his pale, wrinkled face.

Tracklist Lyrics and Videos

01   Our Prayer / Gee (02:09)

02   Heroes and Villains (04:52)

03   Roll Plymouth Rock (03:48)

04   Barnyard (00:58)

Out in the barnyard, the chickens do their number,
Out in the barnyard, the cook is chopping lumber

Jump in the pigpen, next time I'll take my shoes off
Hit the dirt doing two-and-a-half, next time I'll leave my hat on...

05   Old Master Painter / You Are My Sunshine (01:03)

06   Cabin Essence (03:29)

Light the lamp and fire mellow,
Cabin essence timely hello,
Welcomes the time for a change.

Lost and found, you still remain there.
You'll find a meadow filled with grain there.
I'll give you a home on the range.

Who ran the iron horse?
Who ran the iron horse?
Who ran the iron horse?
Who ran the iron horse?
Who ran the iron horse?
Who ran the iron horse?
Who ran the iron horse?
Who ran the iron horse?
Who ran the iron horse?
Who ran the iron horse?

I want to watch you windblown facing
Waves of wheat for your embracing.
Folks sing a song of the grange.

Nestle in a kiss below there.
The constellations ebb and flow there.
And witness our home on the range.

Who ran the iron horse?
(Truck driving man do what you can)
Who ran the iron horse?
(High-tail your load off the road)
Who ran the iron horse?
(Out of night-life-it's a gas man)
Who ran the iron horse?
(I don't believe I gotta grieve)
Who ran the iron horse?
(In and out of luck)
Who ran the iron horse?
(With a buck and a booth)
Who ran the iron horse?
(Catchin' on to the truth)
Who ran the iron horse?
(In the vast past, the last gasp)
Who ran the iron horse?
(In the land, in the dust, trust that you must)
Who ran the iron horse?
(Catch as catch can)

Have you seen the grand coolie workin' on the railroad?
Have you seen the grand coolie workin' on the railroad?
Have you seen the grand coolie workin' on the railroad?

Over and over,
The crow cries uncover the cornfield.
Over and over,
The thresher and hover the wheat field.

Over and over,
The crow cries uncover the cornfield.
Over and over,
The thresher and hover the wheat field.

Over and over,
The crow cries uncover the cornfield.
Over and over,
The thresher and hover the wheat field.

07   Wonderful (02:06)

Time: 2:13 Irving Music, Inc. BMI
Brian Wilson/Van Dyke Parks

She belongs there left with her liberty
Never known as a non-believer
She laughs and stays in the one-one-one-wonderful

She knew how to gather the forest when
God reached softly and moved her body
One golden locket
Quite young and loving her mother and father

Farther down the path was a mystery
Through the recess the chalk and numbers
A boy bumped into her one-one-one-wonderful

All fall down and lost in the mystery
Lost it all to a non-believer
And all that's left is a girl
Who's loved by her mother and father

She'll return in love with her liberty
Chased away from the non believer
She'll sigh and thank God for one- one- one- wonderful

08   Song for Children (02:16)

09   Child Is Father of the Man (02:17)

10   Surf's Up (04:08)

A diamond necklace played the pawn
Hand in hand some drummed along, oh
To a handsome man and baton
A blind class aristocracy
Back through the opera glass you see
The pit and the pendulum drawn
Columnated ruins domino

Canvass the town and brush the backdrop
Are you sleeping?

Hung velvet overtaken me
Dim chandelier awaken me
To a song dissolved in the dawn
The music hall a costly bow
The music all is lost for now
To a muted trumperter swan
Columnated ruins domino

Canvass the town and brush the backdrop
Are you sleeping, Brother John?

Dove nested towers the hour was
Strike the street quicksilver moon
Carriage across the fog
Two-Step to lamp lights cellar tune
The laughs come hard in Auld Lang Syne

The glass was raised, the fired rose
The fullness of the wine, the dim last toasting
While at port adieu or die

A choke of grief heart hardened I
Beyond belief a broken man too tough to cry

Surf's Up
Aboard a tidal wave
Come about hard and join
The young and often spring you gave
I heard the word
Wonderful thing
A children's song

Child, child, child, child, child
A child is the father of the man
Child, child, child, child, child
A child is the father of the man
A children's song
Have you listened as they played
Their song is love
And the children know the way
That's why the child is the father to the man
Child, child, child, child, child
Child, child, child, child, child
Na na na na na na na na
Child, child, child, child, child
That's why the child is the father to the man
Child, child, child, child, child

11   I'm in Great Shape / I Wanna Be Around / Workshop (01:56)

12   Vega-Tables (02:19)

I'm gonna be round my vegetables
I'm gonna chow down my vegetables
I love you most of all
My favorite vege-table

If you brought a big brown bag of them home
I'd jump up and down and hope you'd toss me a carrot

I'm gonna keep well my vegetables
Cart off and sell my vegetables
I love you most of all
My favorite vege-table

Oh oh taba vega vegel

I tried to kick the ball but my tenny flew right off
I'm red as a beet 'cause I'm so embarassed

Sleep a lot eat a lot brush em like crazy
Run a lot do a lot never be lazy
Sleep a lot eat a lot brush em like crazy
Run a lot do a lot never be lazy

Oh oh dum do dum de dooby do
Oh oh dum do dum de dooby do
Oh oh dum do dum de dooby do
oh yeah
Oh badumday oh dum do dum de dooby do
Oh badumday oh dum do dum de dooby do

I throw away my candy bar and I ate the wrapper
And when they told me what I did I burst into laughter

I know that you'll feel better
When you send us in
Your letter an'
Tell us the name of your
Your favorite vege-table

13   On a Holiday (02:36)

A pirate with a tune on a holiday
A lazy Mr. Moon on a getaway
And isn't that a mood for a milky way
A ukelele lady around a lei

Rock, rock, roll
Rock, rock, roll Plymouth Rock, roll over
For a holiday

Abash and forth a starboard course
With north abeam, sherry of course
The men will share some sport and now me hearty
Not the rum of Carib' scum
It's port tonight - drink up and come
Un-weigh the anchor Yank and we will party!

A shanty town, a shanty in Waikiki
And juxtapose a man with a mystery
A blue Hawaiian captures his melody
Pauahi O Kalani is what he sings to me

Rock, rock, roll
Rock, rock, roll Plymouth Rock, roll over
For a holiday

Long, long ago, long ago

Whisperin' wind sent my wind chimes a-tinklin'
Whisperin' wind sent my wind chimes a-tinklin'
Whisperin' wind sent my wind chimes a-tinklin'

14   Wind Chimes (02:53)

15   Mrs. O'Leary's Cow (02:27)

(instrumental)

16   In Blue Hawaii (02:59)

17   Good Vibrations (04:36)

I, I love the colorful clothes she wears
And she's already working on my brain
I, I only looked in her eyes
But I think of something I just can't explain.

I'm pickin' up good vibrations
She's giving me excitations
I'm pickin' up good vibrations
(Oom bop bop good vibrations)
She's giving me excitations
(Oom bop bop excitations)
Good good good good vibrations
(Oom bop bop)
She's giving me excitations
(Oom bop bop excitations)
Good good good good vibrations
(Oom bop bop)
She's giving me excitations
(Oom bop bop excitations)

I bet I know what she's like
And I can feel how right she'd be for me
It's weird, how she comes in so strong
And I wonder what she's pickin up from me?

I'm pickin' up good vibrations
She's giving me excitations
I'm pickin' up good vibrations
(Oom bop bop good vibrations)
She's giving me excitations
(Oom bop bop excitations)
Good good good good vibrations
(Oom bop bop)
She's giving me excitations
(Oom bop bop excitations)
Good good good good vibrations
(Oom bop bop)
She's giving me excitations
(Oom bop bop excitations)

(Ahhhhhhh)
(Ah my my what elation)
I don't know where but she sends me there
(Ah my my what a sensation)
(Ah my my what elations)
(Ah my my what)

Gotta keep those lovin' good vibrations
A happenin' with her
Gotta keep those lovin' good vibrations
A happenin' with her
Gotta keep those lovin' good vibrations
A happenin'

Ahhhhhhhh
Good good good good vibrations
(Oom bop bop)
(I'm pickin' up good vibrations)
She's giving me excitations
(Oom bop bop)
(Excitations)
Good good good good vibrations
(Oom bop bop)

Na na na na na
Na na na
Na na na na na
Na na na

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Other reviews

By clauderouges

 The album that was supposed to be, as the subtitle stated, a 'teenage symphony to God' was lost forever.

 If this album had indeed been released 40 years ago, it probably would have revolutionized music at least as much, and perhaps more, than what Sergeant Pepper and his band did.