The Greatest American Pop Song Ever – The Beach Boys’ “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” By Steve Stav

I’ve discussed the incredible musical and vocal arrangements of “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” to death – and never tire of it. However, so much is said of Brian Wilson’s studio wizardry, the Beach Boys’ lyrics are often overlooked as key components of timelessness.

“Wouldn’t it be nice if we were older

Then we wouldn’t have to wait so long

And wouldn’t it be nice to live together

In the kind of world where we belong”

A simple song of unrequited lovers may raise some eyebrows when staked as the “Greatest American pop song, ever” — but genius resides within simplicity. While lyrics of the 1960s were becoming more abstract, surreal and/or metaphorical, Brian Wilson and his stream of collaborators (in this case, Tony Asher) were often keeping the message audaciously straightforward.

“You know it seems the more we talk about it

It only makes it worse to live without it

But lets talk about it

Wouldn’t it be nice…”

Indeed, Nirvana and the Smiths were hardly pioneers in relating the frustrations and dreams and desires of youth. Brian Wilson, just a kid himself, knew a thing or two about teenage angst. Hearing the lyrics, it’s almost as if Wilson and Asher eavesdropped on two huddling romantics, capturing the sort of excited whispers and utterances that are almost reserved, sadly, for the high school set.

“Wouldn’t it be nice if we could wake up

In the morning when the day is new

And after having spent the day together

Hold each other close the whole night through

Happy times together we’ve been spending

I wish that every kiss was never ending

Wouldn’t it be nice”

For those who somehow survived their formative years, an integral part of this song’s appeal is that we know that this Romeo & Juliet scenario is both supremely typical, and deeply unique to each participant. We now know that the oddly exciting feeling that “They don’t understand us” usually disappears. We know that young love almost never lasts, no matter how set it stone it seemed at the time. If one was fortunate enough, these sorts of desperate dreams were whispered again, with someone else that we found we couldn’t live without.

Blissful romances and little tragedies – that’s the root of this song’s nostalgia, for me. As the world was getting more complicated, the Beach Boys celebrated the joys of wistful naivete… mysterious, exciting feelings that so many wish would’ve lasted just a bit longer before adulthood swallowed us up.

“Maybe if we think and wish and hope and pray it might come true

Baby then there wouldn’t be a single thing we couldn’t do

We could be married

And then we’d be happy

Wouldn’t it be nice”

– Steve Stav

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L–cqAI3IUI