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Surf’s UpThe Beach Boys

Released: August 30, 1971

Songwriter: Jack Riley Van Dyke Parks Brian Wilson

Producer: The Beach Boys

[Section 1]

[Verse 1]
A diamond necklace played the pawn
Hand in hand some drummed along, oh
To a handsome mannered baton
(Bygone, bygone)

[Verse 2]
A blind class aristocracy
Back through the opera glass you see
The pit and the pendulum drawn
(Bygone, bygone)

[Bridge]
Columnated ruins domino
Canvass the town and brush the backdrop
Are you sleeping?

[Verse 3]
Hung velvet overtaken me
Dim chandelier awaken me
To a song dissolved in the dawn
(Bygone, bygone)

[Verse 4]
The music hall a costly bow
The music all is lost for now
To a muted trumpeter swan
(Bygone, bygone)

[Bridge]
Columnated ruins domino
Canvass the town and brush the backdrop
Are you sleeping, Brother John?

[Section 2]

[Verse 1]
Dove nested towers the hour was
Strike the street quicksilver moon
Carriage across the fog
Two-Step to lamp lights cellar tune

[Verse 2]
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

[Verse 3]
A choke of grief heart hardened, I
Beyond belief, a broken man too tough to cry

[Verse 4]
Surf's Up, mm-mm, mm-mm, mm-mm
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

[Section 3]

[Refrain]
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

The Beach Boys

The Beach Boys are one of the world’s best-selling bands of all time and the first American pop band to reach the 50-year milestone. Their vocal harmonies are among the most unmistakable and enduring of the rock and roll era.

Formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California, by Brian Wilson, his two brothers Carl and Dennis, their cousin Mike Love, and classmate Al Jardine, the group’s first single “Surfin'” got them signed to Capitol Records and they quickly became one of the most popular and successful artists of the surf music craze of the 1960s. From 1962 to 1966, The Beach Boys scored over twenty top 40 hits in the US including the chart-toppers “I Get Around”, “Help Me Rhonda” & “Good Vibrations” along with the top 5’s “Surfin USA”, “Fun, Fun, Fun”, “California Girls”, “Barbara Ann” & “Sloop John B”. Several of the band’s singles also found top 40 success in Canada, Australia, Sweden and the UK. In 1965, de facto leader Brian Wilson suffered a mental breakdown due to the stress of writing, producing & touring combined with substance abuse issues, causing him to step down and stop traveling with the band on tour.

Inspired by producer Phil Spector and The Beatles' Rubber Soul, Brian focused on studio work, determined to keep the group relevant as the surf music scene was fading with their 1966 album Pet Sounds. Despite tension between members in the studio about this new direction, lack of faith from the record label, mixed reviews, and comparatively lukewarm reception initially in the US, the album still found massive success in the UK and earned accolades from fellow artists including The Beatles, who acknowledged that the album was their inspiration to further push the boundaries of pop music with their landmark album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Eventually Pet Sounds would be acknowledged as one of the greatest albums ever recorded by several media outlets like The Times, Mojo Magazine, The Guardian, VH1, BBC and Rolling Stone.

more tracks from the album

Feel Flows: The Sunflower & Surf’s Up Sessions 1969–1971

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