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The TraderThe Beach Boys

Released: January 8, 1973

Songwriter: Jack Rieley Carl Wilson

Producer: The Beach Boys

[Intro]
Hi
Trader

[Verse 1]
Trader sailed a jewelled crown
Humanity rowed the way
Exploring to command more land
Scheming how to rule the waves
Trader spied a virgin plain
And named it for velvet robes
Wrote home declaring, "There's a place
Where totally folks are free (happily completely)
Nourishment fills the prairies and the hillsides
And animals stalk the mountains and the seaside
And fish abound the lakes and birds the skies
Signed sincerely"

[Verse 2]
Trader found the jewelled land
Was occupied before he came
By humans of a second look
Who couldn't even write their names, shame
Trader said they're not as good
As folks who wear velvet robes
Wrote home again and asked, "Please help
Their breasts I see; they're not like me
Banish them from our prairies and our hillsides
Clear them from our mountains and our seaside
I want them off our lakes so please reply
Signed sincerely"

[Verse 3]
Trader, he got the crown okay
Cleared humanity from his way
He civilized all he saw
Making changes every single day, say
Shops sprang over the prairies and the hillsides
Then roads cut through the mountains to the seaside
The other kind fled to hide, by and by
And so sincerely cried

[Outro]
Making it softly
Like the evening sea, trying to be
Making it go
Creating it gently
Like a morning breeze, a life of ease
Eyes that see beyond tomorrow
Through to the time without hours
Passing the Eden of Flowers
Reason to live

Embracing together
Like the merging streams, crying dreams
Making it full
Begging intently
For a slight reprieve, a night of ease
Hands to touch beyond the sorrow
On to the force without power
Piercing the crust of the tower
Reason to live

Hoping
Like a budding rose, humbling shows
Making it
Struggling lonely
Like a desert field, break the seal, make it real
Ears to hear beyond the showers
On to the suns of tomorrows
Burning the flesh of all sorrows
Reason to live
Reason to continue
Reason to go on
Reason to live
Reason to live
Reason to live

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.

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