The Beach Boys

Released: June 16, 1969

Songwriter: Murry Wilson Brian Wilson

Producer: Murry Wilson Brian Wilson

[Intro]
Break break shake away
Break breakaway
Now I'm free to do what I want to do

[Verse 1]
Time will not wait for me
Time is my destiny
Why change the part of me that has to be free
The love that passed me by
I found no reason why
But now each day is filled with the love
That very same love
That passed me by
And that is why
I can breakaway from that lonely life
And I can do what I want to do
And breakaway from that empty life
And my world is new
When I laid down on my bed
I heard voices in my head
Telling me now "Hey it's only a dream"
The more I thought of it
I had been out of it
And here's the answer I found instead

[Bridge][x3]
(Baby baby)
Found out it was in my head

[Verse 2]
And I can breakaway to the better life
Where the shackles never hold me down
I'm going to make a way for each happy day
As my life turns around

[Bridge][x2]
Come on we're free to breakaway
(Oh boy you jump for joy)
Now won't you come on
(When you breakaway)
You're free to breakaways
(Breakaway)

[Outro][x2]
Feel the vibrations
In all the sensations
Breakaway

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

Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of the Beach Boys

From the albums

The Beach Boys popular songs

Break AwayThe Beach Boys

The Beach Boys

Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of the Beach Boys