[HN Gopher] Brian Wilson has died
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Brian Wilson has died
        
       Author : coloneltcb
       Score  : 360 points
       Date   : 2025-06-11 16:52 UTC (6 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (pitchfork.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (pitchfork.com)
        
       | 2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote:
       | RIP. What a creative titan/genius. When these giants pass away
       | who replaces them? Who are the Brian Wilsons of today?
        
         | freedomben wrote:
         | Just a theory, but given how much fracturing/variation of music
         | tastes people have developed in the last 50 years, I'm not sure
         | there's enough of an audience for any of those mega bands to
         | get to that level anymore (except for a few pop artists here
         | and there).
         | 
         | I also suspect discoverability is a lot more of a challenge now
         | too given the saturation of content out there and the small
         | market. I've discovered some excellent bands (for my musical
         | tastes of course, which are Rock & Metal) that I can't believe
         | aren't bigger. These Four Walls and Thousand Needles In Red
         | come to mind. Like Thieves is pretty decent too, nice music to
         | put in the background on a drive through the canyon or while
         | working. All of those bands are on Bandcamp btw.
        
           | mensetmanusman wrote:
           | Uhh Taylor Swift is the titans of titans now.
        
             | blahpro wrote:
             | "except for a few pop artists here"
        
             | MomsAVoxell wrote:
             | Disclaimer; this is clearly going to be about personal
             | tastes.
             | 
             | However, it has to be argued: Taylor hardly breaks through
             | genres to create entirely new ones, as Brian Wilson or Sly
             | Stone did.
             | 
             | Taylor is a 'safe' songwriter whose market is intolerant of
             | exceeding the limits of her chosen genre - Brian and Sly,
             | however, can be perceived as being far more progressive as
             | artists, willing not only to break the conformity of their
             | extant music market, but to excel at creating entire new
             | genres on their own.
             | 
             | What is Taylors "Pet Songs"?
             | 
             | Taylor Swift is the least likely of the three to have
             | created her own genre of music outside market expectations.
             | While she's undeniably innovative, her contributions
             | largely refine and personalize existing genres (country,
             | pop, indie-folk) rather than inventing entirely new ones.
             | 
             | Both Wilson and Stone created groundbreaking sounds--Wilson
             | with orchestral pop and Stone with funk/psychedelic soul--
             | that were more radical departures from their era's
             | commercial norms.
             | 
             | Between Wilson and Stone, Stone's creation of funk and his
             | influence across multiple genres (funk, soul, rock, hip-
             | hop) arguably had a broader impact, but Swift's work, while
             | transformative, operates more within established
             | frameworks.
        
               | vintermann wrote:
               | We won't really see until in retrospect. Something that
               | today is "some little thing that one band does" may turn
               | into something that gets seen as a whole genre tomorrow.
               | 
               | Case in point: I recently listened to "Tracks and
               | Traces", a compilation of things Brian Eno did with
               | Harmonia in 1976.
               | 
               | It IS "post-rock". You could slip some tracks from that
               | album onto Mogwai's albums from the 2000s, and you would
               | hardly notice something is amiss. And you know it wasn't
               | a direct influence, because the recordings were only
               | released 30 years later.
        
               | mahanji wrote:
               | I don't feel that Taylor Swift's songs go deeply within
               | the soul.
        
               | hajile wrote:
               | Real great performer that one....
               | 
               | https://www.reddit.com/r/travisandtaylor/comments/1ew4iqo
               | /my...
               | 
               | It's a good thing that her mic is always off in concert
               | (apparently she's been using the same "live" soundtrack
               | for a while at her concerts).
               | 
               | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8rMNMURShM
               | 
               | I just can't believe someone that tone deaf could write
               | good music.
        
             | bongodongobob wrote:
             | She certainly makes a lot of money. Brian Wilson was a
             | writers writer. Taylor Swift isn't writing anything
             | interesting that makes any song writer go "holy shit,
             | that's genius". Music theorists don't study her music,
             | she's not doing anything groundbreaking or new. She writes
             | catchy songs for sure, but a lot of people do that.
        
         | tilne wrote:
         | Matt Jardine sang his parts I believe when I saw his band play
         | a few years back.
        
         | MPSimmons wrote:
         | I think Ben Folds is underrated for what he's produced. I think
         | people who listened to him in college write him off as being
         | frat-rock but his stuff is actually super interesting, the more
         | you dig.
        
           | donnachangstein wrote:
           | Ben is a hipster Elton John. To put him in the same league as
           | Brian is insulting.
        
             | khazhoux wrote:
             | WTF, it's not insulting at all.
             | 
             | Ben is a master writer of story-driven songs, with a very
             | wide range and top-notch musicianship. There is definitely
             | a similarity.
             | 
             | Perhaps you're not familiar with his full catalog?
        
               | donnachangstein wrote:
               | I never said Ben wasn't talented. He's very talented. I
               | like Ben.
               | 
               | That said, they are leagues apart. It's like claiming
               | Eric Clapton is as good as a guitarist in some shitty bar
               | band.
               | 
               | Perhaps you're not familiar with who Brian was and what
               | he's done.
        
               | cess11 wrote:
               | To me Wilson and Clapton are in the same league mainly
               | due to rather unpalatable personalities, Wilson insisting
               | on breaking the boycott of an apartheid state and Clapton
               | throwing racist tantrums and profiting off a tragedy in
               | his family.
        
               | 100pctremote wrote:
               | Ben is eminently and deeply talented, but it's just a
               | different aesthetic that is mostly very literal and
               | conventional. Brian Wilson's songwriting and production
               | technique was a one-of-a-kind imprint.
        
             | micromacrofoot wrote:
             | calling someone Elton John also seems like a compliment?
        
             | paddy_m wrote:
             | Ben probably wouldn't be offended by that. He described Ben
             | Folds Five as "punk rock for sissies". Further he said that
             | he was always compared to Billy Joel, but hadn't heard him
             | until he was much older, he always cited Elton John as an
             | influence.
        
               | spudlyo wrote:
               | Feh, more music about middle class white boy pain. I like
               | his older stuff, but producers with computers fix all his
               | shitty tracks these days.
               | 
               | Seriously though, it's often fraught with peril to try to
               | compare two artists directly, especially across time,
               | styles, and genres. For me, I just try to weigh how much
               | enjoyment their respective catalogs have given me, and
               | I've enjoyed the hell out of both Ben Folds and Beach
               | Boys records. It's all good.
        
         | xeromal wrote:
         | I think Tyler Childers is pretty talented.
        
         | Alex3917 wrote:
         | The ambient soundscapes of Burial's self-titled album have some
         | similarities to the sonic soundscapes of pet sounds.
        
         | micromacrofoot wrote:
         | ed sheeran
        
         | some-guy wrote:
         | Quite a few exist, there are just so many more of them, and
         | most of them aren't making the top of the billboard charts.
         | 
         | Sufjan Stevens comes into mind for me as a songwriting
         | workhorse with a wide array of styles but with a central theme,
         | and amazing poetry / lyricism.
        
           | skyyler wrote:
           | SOPHIE was definitely in the running for being another Brian
           | Wilson type. Her immense creativity was best when channeled
           | through others, just like Brian's.
           | 
           | She enjoyed some widespread success during her short life,
           | but since her death, the style of music she helped pioneer
           | has exploded in popularity. The extremely popular "brat"
           | album from last year contained both explicit celebration of
           | her name and homage to her style.
           | 
           | But she's dead now. Her music still inspires me.
           | 
           | He's dead now, too. His music will continue to inspire me.
        
             | pimeys wrote:
             | Also her peers from the PC Music label:
             | 
             | A. G. Cook, Hannah Diamond, QT...
        
           | Tainnor wrote:
           | I absolutely adore Sufjan Stevens but at least around here
           | barely anyone's heard of him.
        
         | mosburger wrote:
         | I think it'll be someone pushing the boundaries of hip
         | hop/rap/etc., it feels like there's still a lot more
         | experimentation and unexplored stuff that can happen there. And
         | most of the people on HN probably won't really appreciate it
         | much, just like the general population didn't quite fully
         | appreciate Brian Wilson's genius back when he was doing his
         | best work.
         | 
         | I'm not super close to that genre so I wouldn't dare hazard a
         | guess who that might be.
        
         | Tainnor wrote:
         | One person who comes to my mind who is a) arguably a creative
         | boundary-breaking genius and b) has some degree of success
         | within mainstream pop is Rosalia. But she's more of an
         | "artist's artist". A lot of modern pop icons cite her as an
         | influence, but she's not nearly as well known as those are.
        
         | perfmode wrote:
         | Justin Vernon of Bon Iver
         | 
         | Sufjan Stevens
        
       | toomuchtodo wrote:
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Wilson
       | 
       | https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0933092/
       | 
       | https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://www.brianwilson.com/
        
       | toomuchtodo wrote:
       | Related:
       | 
       |  _Brian Wilson, visionary creative spirit for the Beach Boys,
       | dies aged 82_ - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44249510 -
       | June 2025
        
       | 100pctremote wrote:
       | He understood and created music as a true genius. What a
       | remarkable talent.
        
       | alexjplant wrote:
       | I'm convinced that "Pet Sounds" is lyrically a proto-emo album
       | dressed up in an instrumental psychedelic doo-wop trenchcoat. For
       | years I dismissed it as one of those albums that people pretended
       | to like to seem smart until I was mature enough to understand it.
       | Now it's one of my favorites.
       | 
       | RIP.
        
         | sndean wrote:
         | Just related to Pet Sounds, I remember God Only Knows has been
         | cited by Paul McCartney and others as their favorite song of
         | all time. Even though the song is very odd in many ways.
        
           | soulofmischief wrote:
           | It's definitely one of my all-time favorites. It's literally
           | a perfect song in every respect. Wilson was a songwriter's
           | songwriter
        
           | daveevad wrote:
           | You reminded me that one of Brian Wilson's favorite songs was
           | "Be My Baby" by The Ronettes.
           | 
           | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Be_My_Baby#Effect_on_Brian_Wil.
           | ..
        
           | steeleduncan wrote:
           | > Even though the song is very odd in many ways
           | 
           | I suspect it is precisely _because the song is very odd in
           | many ways_ that it is so interesting
        
           | insaneirish wrote:
           | Here is a great analysis of God Only Knows from the podcast
           | "Strong Songs":
           | https://strongsongspodcast.com/blogs/episodes/god-only-
           | knows...
        
           | 10729287 wrote:
           | The Beatles wouldn't have been the band they became without
           | The Beach Boys. And vice versa. The competition was tough
           | between those guys back in the days. Surf's up.
        
             | xeromal wrote:
             | The problem was it was Brian Wilson vs the beatles who all
             | were pretty talented. He had no backup
        
               | mgkimsal wrote:
               | Carl and Dennis both grew in to good songwriters, in
               | different ways, but neither were close to being able to
               | work with Brian in those early years. By the time they
               | _could_ , Brian seemed to be largely gone. Had they had
               | all that combined talent together functioning at the same
               | time, things would have turned out different (and ideally
               | better).
        
             | WalterBright wrote:
             | The interesting thing about McCartney & Lennon is they
             | competed with each other and critiqued each other, and that
             | resulted in their greatest songs. After they went their own
             | ways, there songs weren't as good. I suspect there was
             | nobody else who dared to criticize their work.
        
           | basisword wrote:
           | It's a brilliant song. In which ways is it odd though? I've
           | always thought of it as just a classic 60's pop song.
           | Listening again nothing jumps out as particularly unusual.
        
             | sndean wrote:
             | This might be referenced in one of the replies but
             | basically 1) it doesn't have the normal verse-chorus
             | structure, 2) not really any drums, 3) the chord
             | progression don't follow an obvious pattern for the time
             | and genre, and 4) the end just fades out where you can
             | imagine it simply continuing forever. I really like the
             | song, and maybe it stands out as a favorite because of
             | these features like someone commented above. I just wanted
             | to point out that it's unusual unlike nearly every other
             | pop song.
        
             | recursive wrote:
             | One more. Most of the song is in triplet swing, but there's
             | a harpsichord(?) interlude in straight 8th-note feel,
             | that's also completely harmonically disconnected from the
             | rest of the song.
        
           | dailyplanet wrote:
           | Brian Wilson cited "Strawberry Fields Forever" by The Beatles
           | as one of his favorite songs -- he apparently had to pull
           | over because he was having a nervous breakdown after hearing
           | it on the radio, and he was in tears and said "They got there
           | first." Pet Sounds was the response to Rubber Soul, and then
           | Sgt. Pepper was The Beatles response to Pet Sounds.
        
             | amanaplanacanal wrote:
             | Yeah, John Lennon had that magic too, but certainly in a
             | darker way.
        
             | tayo42 wrote:
             | I remeber reading about him writing songs and the effort he
             | put into it, I think pet sounds, and then realizing the
             | Beatles were releasing music at the same time. I felt a
             | little bad because it seems like he was just in the shadow
             | of the Beatles.
             | 
             | So much musical talent at the time, crazy to think about
        
         | jjice wrote:
         | A friend recommended it to me two weeks ago for our weekly
         | album swap. I didn't really like it for the first listen or
         | two, and then holy cow it hit me. I've been spinning it
         | regularly since.
         | 
         | Truly a fantastic album.
        
         | racl101 wrote:
         | > I dismissed it as one of those albums that people pretended
         | to like to seem smart for years until I was mature enough to
         | understand it.
         | 
         | heh, I always liked this album as a kid cause mom would play
         | the record a lot. It was my fave do math homework background
         | music. That and Pink Floyd (Echoes).
         | 
         | As a kid: "I'm Waiting For The Day" was a great song cause it
         | was lively and bouncy.
         | 
         | But as an adult: "Let's Go Away For Awhile" is more
         | captivating.
         | 
         | A little something there for everyone I tell you hwhat.
        
         | jmann99999 wrote:
         | What sticks with me about Pet Sounds, aside from its unique
         | sound, is that Brian Wilson put sand in his house around the
         | piano to make a more physical and emotional atmosphere in which
         | to help his creation. Here is the only photo I have seen of
         | that. [0]
         | 
         | [0]
         | https://www.reddit.com/r/thebeachboys/comments/137tx33/the_o...
        
           | not_your_mentat wrote:
           | Brian took Beach Boys very literally.
        
           | SlowTao wrote:
           | It is funny when you hear the stories behind some of the
           | biggest albums and there is more often than not something
           | like that. It looks odd but the results tend to yield some
           | amazing results.
           | 
           | I am not the biggest fan of Wilsons stuff but you could never
           | accuse him of just phoning it in.
        
       | jihadjihad wrote:
       | Damn. I was literally thinking about the following quote from
       | Dennis Wilson while I was getting ready this morning:
       | 
       | "Brian Wilson _is_ the Beach Boys. He is the band. We 're his
       | fucking messengers. He is all of it. Period. We're nothing. He's
       | everything." [0]
       | 
       | It was just a random thought I had this morning, related to how
       | his brothers and father are depicted in _Love and Mercy_.
       | 
       | For all their abilities and talent, I think Dennis had it right.
       | Brian _was_ the Beach Boys. RIP.
       | 
       | 0: https://books.google.com/books?id=eYyovo_AbqAC
        
         | JKCalhoun wrote:
         | Yeah, older me was surprised that The Wrecking Crew performed
         | on so many of their albums. The singing was all Beach Boys ...
         | but yeah, I think the song-crafting, that was all Brian.
        
           | KerrAvon wrote:
           | There's a hilarious-in-retrospect interview where McCartney
           | praises the unusual placement of notes in a particular
           | bassline on a particular song and attributes it to Brian
           | Wilson's genius. Later it was revealed to be entirely due to
           | Carol Kaye, the bass player on that session.
           | 
           | (Not to take anything away from Brian's actual genius!)
        
             | adamc wrote:
             | It also illustrates the difference from the Beatles, who
             | actually did compose most of their cool stuff (although
             | Martin did help).
        
             | tjr wrote:
             | Carol has said though that, for the most part, Brian did
             | write the bass parts that she played.
        
           | brandall10 wrote:
           | Just a note on how this came to be - Phil Spector's "Be My
           | Baby", released in '63 became an obsession for Wilson upon
           | first listen. This obsession led to him sitting in on studio
           | sessions w/ Spector, and of course, that was his introduction
           | to the Wrecking Crew and that style of working.
        
           | ZeroGravitas wrote:
           | On that note, the Brian Wilson song "Guess I'm Dumb" which
           | was rejected by the other Beach Boys and instead released
           | with vocals by Wrecking Crew member and touring Beach Boy
           | Glen Campbell is an obvious foreshadowing of the Pet Sounds
           | mood and sound, as well as a beautiful song.
        
       | kylebebak wrote:
       | Adios Brian, thanks for the music
       | 
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wWBV3QCbGE&list=PLhinduWcIK...
        
       | automathematics wrote:
       | My wife took me to see him a few years ago and I'm so glad. One
       | of the most influential people in rock and roll for sure and I
       | hope in time more people realize that.
       | 
       | RIP to a real one.
       | 
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-ZjIdyWu-U
        
       | soulofmischief wrote:
       | This deserves a black bar. Brian Wilson touched so many lives.
       | God only knows what I'd be without you...
        
       | Lammy wrote:
       | Tragic life story w/r/t Eugene Landy, but some truly amazing
       | music. I'm glad his career bounced back in recent decades and he
       | was able to die widely-loved instead of in obscurity. I will
       | watch Norbit (2007) tonight in his honor.
        
         | hinkley wrote:
         | What does Norbit have to do with Brian Wilson?
        
           | skyyler wrote:
           | https://www.spin.com/2017/05/its-been-ten-years-since-
           | brian-...
        
       | kapitanjakc wrote:
       | The big bang theory series episode was the one that introduced me
       | to Brian Wilson through Darlin.
       | 
       | RIP
        
       | nonameiguess wrote:
       | First concert I ever went to in 1988 with my aunt. _Wouldn 't it
       | be Nice_ was my first "song" with my first girlfriend in high
       | school. You gave so much to all of us, Brian. You earned the
       | rest.
       | 
       | People ask who the current version of this kind of genius is for
       | pop music, and between the one man band element, turns as a
       | composer, and general weirdness and reclusiveness, Trent Reznor
       | is probably who comes to mind for me, but even his heyday was 30
       | years ago. I have no idea who in their 20s might have this kind
       | of impact. Let us appreciate these people while we can.
        
         | weakfish wrote:
         | Reznor is still highly active in scoring, I'd say his heyday is
         | now depending on definition. The Social Network score is
         | absurdly good.
         | 
         | Also, second time I've mentioned Reznor in context on HN today.
         | Weird.
        
           | vorador wrote:
           | Not to detract from your point but the movie was (already!)
           | 15 years ago
        
             | TeaBrain wrote:
             | I don't think this is pertinent to their point at all. They
             | were just referencing the quality of one of the scores
             | Reznor has done. Reznor has continued to score movies
             | nearly every year since. I'd agree with them that Reznor's
             | career heyday probably is now. He's writing scores for
             | multiple productions a year while still playing stadiums
             | with NIN.
        
             | dessimus wrote:
             | He was nominated in 2020 for an Academy Award in Best
             | Original Score for both Mank and Soul, winning for Soul,
             | plus a slew of other award ceremonies that season.
             | Challengers in 2024 also had nominations in a bunch of
             | awards.
        
             | programd wrote:
             | Reznor released 5 movie scores last year. He's got 2
             | Oscars, 1 Emmy, 4 Grammys, and 3 Golden Globes the latest
             | one this year. Multiple nominations in all those
             | categories. He's far from done.
             | 
             | Apologies for the hijack. RIP Brian.
        
         | mzg wrote:
         | In a lot of ways, Frank Ocean feels like the millennial Brian
         | Wilson. Not sure if any zoomer musicians have had enough time
         | in the spotlight to develop that sort of persona.
        
       | maxfurman wrote:
       | I never realized Brian Wilson and Sly Stone were the same age.
       | Small world
        
         | josh2600 wrote:
         | Yeah what a week to lose two giants. Both were great in very
         | different but resonant ways.
        
       | JKCalhoun wrote:
       | Two albums (vinyl) my mom got for me when I was maybe 9 years old
       | -- "Simon and Garfunkel's Greatest Hits" and "The Beach Boys --
       | High Water".
       | 
       | What a wild thing to get a 9 year old kid. Music. Both albums
       | formed who I am today musically. When YouTube came around I was
       | able to find out that Brian often was the one singing the amazing
       | falsetto parts.
       | 
       | "I get around / From town to town / I'm a real cool head / I'm
       | making real good bread"
       | 
       | On the Ed Sullivan show on bass: https://youtu.be/ruKCw797JM4
        
       | scop wrote:
       | _Wouldnt it be nice_ is such an amazing piece of art. Grew up
       | hearing it, never listening to the lyrics. Thought it was fun. As
       | an adult finally paid attention to the lyrics one day and they
       | knocked me off my feet. The happiest most upbeat song is really
       | singing about something not quite there, an ideal, but real,
       | something to be grasped and lost...or let go...
       | 
       | What a genius to be able to pull that song off.
        
       | andy_xor_andrew wrote:
       | I encourage everyone to listen to his 1988 solo album self named
       | "Brian Wilson". It's brilliant. Frequently called "Pet Sounds
       | '88" since many fans consider it to be a spiritual sequel. The
       | 80s synth dressing might seem off putting at first but the
       | songwriting and musicality of it is just amazing.
       | 
       | Also, give a listen to Smile! - not Smiley Smile, or The Smile
       | Sessions, but the 2004 recreation. It's quite mindblowing. If you
       | close your eyes you can hear it as a true symphony.
       | 
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UbNwhm2EX8
        
         | Flatcircle wrote:
         | It's unbelievable how much every aspect of older art was
         | outsourced. The album cover of that self titled album is wild.
        
         | JKCalhoun wrote:
         | Doleful Lions a huge Beach boys fan:
         | 
         | Surfside Motel:
         | 
         | "And I've been in this town so long that I'm back in the
         | city...
         | 
         | And don't you know it was the government stopped the Beach Boys
         | from releasing 'Smile'...." [1]
         | 
         | [1] https://dolefullions.bandcamp.com/track/surfside-motel
        
           | andy_xor_andrew wrote:
           | if we're sharing tunes from lesser-known artists on Bandcamp-
           | 
           | the clever timpani line in this track will sound familiar to
           | anyone who has ever heard Pet Sounds :) I thought it was a
           | very appropriate appropriation of a famous Brian Wilson
           | track.
           | 
           | https://willyrodriguez.bandcamp.com/track/rosemary
           | 
           | (for anyone listening who is not versed in Pet Sounds, it's
           | the famous drum line from "I'm Waiting For the Day")
        
       | telesilla wrote:
       | God Only Knows is the perfect song. Thanks Brian for bringing it
       | into our lives.
       | 
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NADx3-qRxek
       | 
       | and this beautiful film, very touchingly explores his life with
       | the always-excellent Paul Dano.
       | 
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lioWzrpCtGQ
        
         | qingcharles wrote:
         | If one day humanity is long gone, I'd be OK with that as long
         | as _God Only Knows_ is out there in the ether waiting to be
         | found.
        
       | gabriel666smith wrote:
       | This is hard to take. Unquestionably, to me, Brian Wilson was the
       | greatest composer of pop music we've ever had.
       | 
       | Even Wilson's most recent work - when he was very clearly
       | suffering a lot - is so deeply interesting, and weird, and
       | moving, and has a total mastery of his craft.
       | 
       | From 2021 - "Right Where I Belong":
       | 
       | '''
       | 
       | I get anxious. I get scared a lot. That's what I live with. It
       | should get better, really, any day now - - those were my teenage
       | years.
       | 
       | They said: "Go out and get a steady job." That was the worst
       | idea! All night and day, another lonely song - - to get me
       | through again.
       | 
       | In my fantasy I'm never far from home. But in reality I know
       | where I belong.
       | 
       | For me, the love - that's what the music really is. I know that
       | love is what I really want to share.
       | 
       | So I went out and got a steady a job - - so many golden years.
       | That rhapsody to me: the music calls - - to ride the wave again.
       | 
       | https://youtu.be/FToNl9VyI0g?si=VEIOlTCsbYz2yy7g
       | 
       | '''
       | 
       | He _was_ America. The idealism, the bizarro suburban sincerity,
       | the descent into late-century darkness, the total mastery of the
       | form: the ability to write a two-minute song as if it were a
       | perfectly manicured lawn, capturing all its layered uncanniness.
       | Melodies and harmonies that have beauty beyond language - he
       | really did write for the entire universe. It didn 't matter if
       | his songs were to girls, or waves, or particularly quick cars.
       | 
       | He was a prophet of his time in the same way that William Blake
       | was. It all feels so incredibly inevitable. I really hope he
       | understood that he was as important as Bacharach and maybe Bach -
       | though I don't get the sense, as much as one can from the
       | outside, as a fan, that he'd particularly care. He had too much
       | love for his work.
       | 
       | Surf's up, I guess. Thank you very much for it all, Brian, if
       | you're reading this. Your work makes me believe that you could.
        
         | parpfish wrote:
         | > He was America. The idealism, the bizarro suburban sincerity,
         | the descent into late-century darkness, the total mastery of
         | the form
         | 
         | I often thought that Brian Wilson and David Lynch were like
         | mirror images of each other and now they're both gone
        
           | arthurcolle wrote:
           | David Lynch died??
        
             | simlevesque wrote:
             | Yes, in January
        
             | hammyhavoc wrote:
             | Wow, you're going to be having a doubly-rough day. I'll
             | raise a cold one to you.
        
               | parpfish wrote:
               | not a cold one.
               | 
               | for those two, you should celebrate with a cup of coffee
               | from a diner and a coca-cola from the drive-in
        
               | SlowTao wrote:
               | Now that I can get behind.
        
               | pimeys wrote:
               | A pack of Metropolitan cigarettes...
        
           | gabriel666smith wrote:
           | I typed "Lynchian" then deleted it - it's overused, but, for
           | Brian Wilson (and Lynch - a compliment to them both) I think,
           | in hindsight, it's appropriate, just about.
        
         | JKCalhoun wrote:
         | Tough for me as well. I'm at an age where I can expect a lot of
         | my icons to head out. And already so many have.
         | 
         | There is something I think undeniably innocent about the time
         | in the U.S. when The Beach Boys were on top of their game.
         | Never mind Milner from _American Graffiti_ "I don't like that
         | surfin' shit. Rock and roll's been going down hill ever since
         | Buddy Holly died."
         | 
         | They were a part of an America I don't even recognize anymore.
         | Thank god those of us old enough got at least a glimpse of that
         | time. And I suppose to the degree Brian captured it in The
         | Beach Boys music, maybe we can hold on to the memory of it at
         | least.
         | 
         | And I think that's what's toughest. I'm seeing the luminaries
         | of a better time winking out one by one.
         | 
         | Lest I sound too down, I am always hopeful though for the
         | generations that are coming up being able to make a brighter
         | future for themselves.
        
       | mahanji wrote:
       | I was playing for an event just last night and told the woman
       | tending bar that God Only Knows was one of Brian Wilson's best
       | songs. Ironic.
        
       | BillSaysThis wrote:
       | The Beach Boys, on a double bill with Chicago, Madison Square
       | Garden Summer '75, were my first concert. No Brian, of course,
       | but all the songs were his. So many amazing tunes! (Note: despite
       | going with my dad, we got stoned out of our gourds from the pot
       | those around us were smoking.)
        
       | gwbennett wrote:
       | Pet Sounds! A fantastic album and group! So many great songs on
       | all their albums.
       | 
       | Grew up listening to them.
        
       | cjk wrote:
       | Absolutely gutted. I regret never seeing him live. RIP Brian.
        
       | dogman1050 wrote:
       | A childhood memory is hearing Good Vibrations through a crystal
       | radio using my bedframe as an antenna while in a hypnogogic
       | state, supposed to be sleeping. It felt other-worldly.
        
       | timschmidt wrote:
       | I'll drop a link here to the T.A.M.I. Show:
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pdZJ7TkJQU
       | 
       | "T.A.M.I. Show is a 1964 concert film released by American
       | International Pictures.[1] It includes performances by numerous
       | popular rock and roll and R&B musicians from the United States
       | and England. The concert was held at the Santa Monica Civic
       | Auditorium on October 28 and 29, 1964. Free tickets were
       | distributed to local high school students. The acronym "T.A.M.I."
       | was used inconsistently in the show's publicity to mean both
       | "Teenage Awards Music International" and "Teen Age Music
       | International"."
       | 
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T.A.M.I._Show
       | 
       | It's stacked with amazing performers, most at the beginning of
       | their careers, including a young Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys.
        
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