"Good Vibrations": The Best Song Ever?

I figured there would be few better ways to start this blog than with a post gushing about what I think is the best song ever. Now, this is just my opinion, but I’ve heard a lot of songs over the course of my life, and this one, as of now, tops them all for me.

What is that song? "Good Vibrations" by The Beach Boys. Why is it so good? Simple. “Brian Wilson is a genius.”

The line may have come from a biased source (specifically, the publicist for The Beach Boys), but Wilson’s skill, innovation, and influence are undeniable. People may have dismissed it when the only material they were hearing from the group fell into the categories of cars, girls, and surfing, but with the release of the Pet Sounds album and later "Good Vibrations" as a single, The Beach Boys took a clear artistic turn.

I won’t get into the “behind the scenes” aspects of the song, because there's a lot to unpack. However, I will say that Brian Wilson's meticulousness, his ability to get sounds from his head into the studio, and the sheer comprehensiveness of the project contributed a lot to the greatness of the song. If you want to know more about the production of the song, there's a lot of information out there. Here's a place to start. About the song itself though:

The Beach Boys waste no time, going straight into the verse. There’s a wispy, dreamy feeling to it, with a catchy bass riff descending with each line.

Then, the chorus hits. The instantly recognizable theremin (well, technically it’s an electro-theremin) kicks in, paired with a cello. Soon after, the even more instantly recognizable harmonies that made The Beach Boys famous arrive, taking the chorus to another level with each additional layer of vocals. And then just like that, it all dissipates back into the verse, then back into the chorus, then into a sort of bridge featuring more harmonies and a similar dreaminess, then into another bridge that takes it down yet another notch, and then right into an altered version of the chorus before transitioning into a short vocal showcase by the group plus a small theremin part before fading out.

That was certainly one of the least technical and probably least accurate ways to describe what I feel comfortable calling a masterpiece, but perhaps I can try to share why I love this song so much:

Personal bias alert: I’m a sucker for songs that contain some sort of descending or ascending melodies. In "Good Vibrations," the bassline in the verse descends by playing the same riff over and over, but with the starting note (and the subsequent notes) getting lower each time (before it resets and begins again). Similarly, the chorus ascends in the opposite way. Something about this is just really pleasing to the ear and based on the fact that I love another song that does something similar (Rasputin by Boney M), it must be a personal preference of mine. But those songs have both seemed to find their way into the hearts (and heads) of many people, so there has to be something to it.

Another strength of the song is also related to, well, moving up and moving down. The way the verse stays relatively low as far as energy goes before dropping the chorus onto the listener and then building upon it before dipping back into the verse creates tension that is navigated masterfully, like pretty much everything else in "Good Vibrations." The use of the theremin, which saw a resurgence thanks to its use in this song, helps set the chorus apart, as do the vocals of The Beach Boys themselves. Adding more and more layers of melody to the chorus just makes it that much better. It’s clear that there was plenty of order to this “chaos” (I’d hesitate to even call it chaos) and the entire thing was carefully constructed.

The aforementioned theremin certainly adds a flair to the song, but the cello is an important part as well. While there are drums featured, the cello adds another element to the rhythm, creating more energy. The grandiose "pocket symphony" and the harmonies of the group complement each other perfectly. Everything sounds so well-knit and deliberate, making it clear how much thought and work went into the project. The final product is something the likes of which had never been heard before and arguably has not been heard since.

There's still a final piece to this puzzle that I haven't written about yet, which is the lyrics. However, I have a lot to say on that subject in its own right, so I’ll save it for the next post.