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Post by filledeplage on Jun 8, 2022 8:05:46 GMT -5
That is not what I had in mind. And, I would not mess with those older ladies. I almost think they could, at least observationally, recognize from traveling extensively, how women had their own sphere, in the same way, men always have had their own spheres (even now) and the lyrics, to me, represent being the fly-on-the-wall, looking at that sphere. I think it is a stroke of brilliance in a sense, and brave, to at least recognize it. In the film Michael is teaching Apollonia how to drive, giving her American girl practical skills. In that sense he was a feminist. Traditional feminism was about equality and parity as I learned it. “The Art of Courtly Love by Andreas Cappelanus in the 12th century.” Perhaps I should have studied literature in college and received a more rounded education than math, science, computers, and music. Trust me, if you took math and computers you are way smarter. My best math class was my last math class. 😂
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Post by dauber on Jun 8, 2022 10:25:47 GMT -5
Yeah in the later years their lyrics really started getting noticeably more sophomoric. This particular album is no different. Ironically even though their 𝐿𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑌𝑜𝑢 album received a good bit of critical praise, it probably possesses some of the most banal lyrics Brian ever wrote.
Aw, come on! What's so banal about things like "Honkin' down the gosh-darn highway" and "Well, oh my, oh gosh, oh gee"?
I mean, okay...maybe those are just prime examples of why Brian usually has a collaborator for lyrics...
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Post by filledeplage on Jun 8, 2022 16:25:26 GMT -5
Yeah in the later years their lyrics really started getting noticeably more sophomoric. This particular album is no different. Ironically even though their 𝐿𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑌𝑜𝑢 album received a good bit of critical praise, it probably possesses some of the most banal lyrics Brian ever wrote.
Aw, come on! What's so banal about things like "Honkin' down the gosh-darn highway" and "Well, oh my, oh gosh, oh gee"?
I mean, okay...maybe those are just prime examples of why Brian usually has a collaborator for lyrics...
Wiki has a little blurb on Honkin’ and it supposedly has some country music roots or some type of nod to country music. It may have been an attempt to capture that keep-it-clean sentiment. If you think of it as a nod-to-country it might just fit.
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Post by boogieboarder on Jun 9, 2022 10:49:15 GMT -5
Yeah in the later years their lyrics really started getting noticeably more sophomoric. This particular album is no different. Ironically even though their 𝐿𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑌𝑜𝑢 album received a good bit of critical praise, it probably possesses some of the most banal lyrics Brian ever wrote.
Aw, come on! What's so banal about things like "Honkin' down the gosh-darn highway" and "Well, oh my, oh gosh, oh gee"?
I mean, okay...maybe those are just prime examples of why Brian usually has a collaborator for lyrics...
I submit for your further consideration: "Hey Little Tomboy."
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Post by filledeplage on Jun 9, 2022 11:26:18 GMT -5
Aw, come on! What's so banal about things like "Honkin' down the gosh-darn highway" and "Well, oh my, oh gosh, oh gee"?
I mean, okay...maybe those are just prime examples of why Brian usually has a collaborator for lyrics...
I submit for your further consideration: "Hey Little Tomboy." Girls in the 50s and 60s, before women’s liberation, who climbed trees, could bait a hook and catch a fish, could hit a ball were called tomboys. Those girls were also changing and washing someone’s cloth diapers and hanging laundry on a clothes line. She had skates she strapped onto her shoes. Her bike was probably a hand-me-down boys’ bike. She knew how to use a yo-yo and probably play stick ball. And her razor was stolen/borrowed from her father because they didn’t have pink ones until the 70s. A 50s concept, written by a guy who was an early boomer. And the human sexuality interplay. The artist’s viewpoint. And, it is tame compared to “Back that a** up - show me what your workin’ with.”
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Post by boogieboarder on Jun 9, 2022 13:35:29 GMT -5
I married a girl who called herself a tomboy and still does. No problem with that whatsoever. But these are not great lyrics, especially since they are telling the girl to give up her tomboy tendencies and become the girl he wants instead. Why not just find someone else, or be happy with her the way she already is?
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Post by E on Jun 9, 2022 16:26:52 GMT -5
Well, that's men for you...
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Post by boogieboarder on Jun 10, 2022 9:39:15 GMT -5
Well, that's men for you... Ha, ha. Like women never tried to change their men either!
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Post by Maci Eascra on Nov 12, 2022 9:48:08 GMT -5
Words can have the g on the them, guys. This album seems like a band that's just given up, embraced whatever trend in production might be out there, cranks on the nostalgia and it just comes across as a Beach Boys album made for 4 pm shows with an early bird dinner for the retirees. Not too much volume, of course.
The title track really show the BTO influence of Randy Bachman. Problem is it's 1980, BTO is already past-prime and it's doubling-down on irrelevance. Do It Again is in the same lane and that was 1968! The ballads are corny, the production is overly compressed and (especially in hindsight) the 80s sax is really out of place. Santa Ana Winds at least tries to set aside the nostalgia and speak to mature themes, and a different production approach, say something from the Holland era, and it could've been a good song. It at least counters the 40-year olds singing about school days. Endless Harmony is typical Bruce schmaltz but at least showcases their voices.
2/10. The last album with all the original members and they're done. It's a boring record from a band who has nothing to say in the studio anymore. What comes afterwards are just painfully obvious attempts at nostalgia. Wipeout with the Fatboys, covering California Dreamin' (no G!), Crocodile Rock on the low end, Getcha Back and yes, Kokomo, for the better. Making a living cranking out the hits from decades past isn't a bad way to financial security. But it's not a band trying to add something to their musical legacy outside of a nostalgic look backwards.
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dumbchops
Dude/Dudette
Posts: 83
Likes: 73
Favorite Album: Sail On Sailor
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Post by dumbchops on Nov 15, 2022 17:53:44 GMT -5
I changed my vote to an 8 some time ago. I've really played this album a lot in the last couple of years and have become very fond of it. The best track is "Goin' On" in my opinion. I also think this really is the ultimate mix of "When Girls Get Together" when compared to the 1969, 1970 and 1976 mixes with the punchy bass drum. "School Days" is unnecessary but rocks, "Sunshine" is totally chill, "Santa Ana Winds" is epic (but where is "Looking Down The Coast"?), "Living With A Heartache" is catchy, the title track is a great rocker, and I can keep going. To me, it's their last really good album although TWGMTR has half a dozen classics on it. Revised to 8/10.
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Post by boogieboarder on Nov 16, 2022 18:54:58 GMT -5
Unfortunately, there's actually not much "perfection in every direction" with the Santa Ana Winds, which are responsible for countless brush fires in Southern California, causing millions of dollars of damaged or destroyed homes in the San Gabriel Mountains as well as Malibu and other communities.
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Post by Awesoman on Nov 17, 2022 9:29:08 GMT -5
Unfortunately, there's actually not much "perfection in every direction" with the Santa Ana Winds, which are responsible for countless brush fires in Southern California, causing millions of dollars of damaged or destroyed homes in the San Gabriel Mountains as well as Malibu and other communities. All this plus the fact that the Beach Boys' song itself is bland and utterly forgettable.
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Post by radiokingdom on Mar 13, 2023 9:28:32 GMT -5
Wow, I was interested to read all the comments on this thread.
For what it's worth...I like KTSA, Livin' With A Heartache, School Days, and Goin' On in the sense that I listen to them voluntarily and, you know, basically like them. The rest of the album I've never really been able to get into.
As I recall, the notes in the twofer said or implied that Carl had had a couple drinks before doing his lead on Livin' With A Heartache. I understand the track isn't really the greatest, but there's still something I like about it.
The best tracks (I mean my favorites) from this record...to me they're more and less than they sound like. Surely if I weren't a BB fan, I wouldn't be especially into Livin' With A Heartache. But having even a superficial picture of the story up until the year of this album...they had flown so high and then disintegrated. There's a special feel to hearing them try to put together a pretty straight, not-great song after all that.
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Post by radiokingdom on Mar 13, 2023 9:30:01 GMT -5
Aw, come on! What's so banal about things like "Honkin' down the gosh-darn highway" and "Well, oh my, oh gosh, oh gee"?
I mean, okay...maybe those are just prime examples of why Brian usually has a collaborator for lyrics...
Wiki has a little blurb on Honkin’ and it supposedly has some country music roots or some type of nod to country music. It may have been an attempt to capture that keep-it-clean sentiment. If you think of it as a nod-to-country it might just fit. I've always thought Honkin' was among the most sexually explicit tracks they released. Help Me Rhonda also vying for the number one position there.
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Post by filledeplage on Mar 13, 2023 11:44:59 GMT -5
Wiki has a little blurb on Honkin’ and it supposedly has some country music roots or some type of nod to country music. It may have been an attempt to capture that keep-it-clean sentiment. If you think of it as a nod-to-country it might just fit. I've always thought Honkin' was among the most sexually explicit tracks they released. Help Me Rhonda also vying for the number one position there. Nah - I think Honkin’ is wishful thinking. I’d Love Just Once to See You. Or, All I Want To Do. I bet Honkin’ is a nod to country music. It is keep-it-clean.
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Post by boogieboarder on Mar 14, 2023 13:38:13 GMT -5
A thread could be made for Beach boys songs which allude to sexual activity, but I would think that “When a Man Needs a A woman” might win.
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Post by radiokingdom on Mar 14, 2023 14:27:32 GMT -5
A thread could be made for Beach boys songs which allude to sexual activity, but I would think that “When a Man Needs a A woman” might win. I'm new around here, so I'm not going to start it, but I'd contribute as able...gotta be quite a number.
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Post by boogieboarder on Mar 14, 2023 22:48:01 GMT -5
A thread could be made for Beach boys songs which allude to sexual activity, but I would think that “When a Man Needs a A woman” might win. I'm new around here, so I'm not going to start it, but I'd contribute as able...gotta be quite a number. Not me. I wouldn’t touch it with a ten foot pole.
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Post by Awesoman on Mar 20, 2023 7:02:12 GMT -5
I'm new around here, so I'm not going to start it, but I'd contribute as able...gotta be quite a number. Not me. I wouldn’t touch it with a ten foot pole. I see what you did there...
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Post by boogieboarder on Dec 23, 2023 10:10:13 GMT -5
In my opinion, Keepin' The Summer Alive is the single most underrated Beach Boys album in the catalog. it's not as bad as people like to say it is; in fact, I find a good portion of it quite enjoyable. "Keepin' The Summer Alive" -- it's a great rocker with a vibe similar to that of "You Need A Mess Of Help To Stand Alone." "Oh Darlin'" -- a terribly underrated, beautiful track written by the classic Wilson-Love duo. Carl sings this so beautifully. Only bad thing I can think of about this track is it's right around the time when Mike introduces his new corny "I'm so old and I'm going to joke about it" voice that would be in full bloom in the '90s. "Some of Your Love" -- Ding dong ding goes the bells....Mike, come back to L.A....whatever. Anyhoo, an extremely dated track. It sounds so on the beach in Florida in the '80s, know what I mean? Bleah. "Livin' With A Heartache" -- this could be a much better track than it is...but it's repetitive. And long. And it sounds basically like "Don't Pass Me By" as if it were performed on a Casio keyboard. Certainly Carl and Randy Bachman could have come up with better stuff! (How bad are the other Carl Wilson-Randy Bachman tracks that they're still sitting in a vault, but this one was deemed ready for release?) "School Day" -- Yawn, another cover...but...not a bad one, really. "Goin' On" -- classic Beach Boys sound. Great track overall, albeit with Mike's corny new voice coming through again. Aaaaand...let's face it: this is The Beach Boys doing Queen. "Sunshine" -- I didn't used to like this track, but I gave it a chance again lately. Really, it's not bad. Sure, it's a bit repetitive and could use more variety, but it is an interesting listen. "When Girls Get Together" -- okay, let me get this straight...there's a treasure trove of songs recorded during or near the Sunflower sessions. "Back Home." "California Slide" / "I'm Going Your Way" / "Whatever You Want To Call This Awesome Dennis Tune." "San Miguel." "Lady." "The Sound of Free." Hell, even "Carnival" or freakin' "My Solution"...but they choose to dig up this piece of wombat dung? "Santa Ana Winds" -- LOOOOOOVE this track, although I much prefer the lyrics from the MIU-era version. Could do without the trademark Jardine voice-over though. "Endless Harmony" -- okay, so the "Still Crazy After All These Years" half of it is Bruce at his fluffy Bruciest, but what you end up with is a really great track that sums up what [the public's perception of] The Beach Boys was all about. Kind of bittersweet in that it's the last new recording the Beach Boys released that had Dennis, but still glad to have it. (Fun fact: well, actually, this wasn't so fun at the time...but the 1990 -- or was it 1991? -- Caribou CD and cassette reissues had a major mastering error in this track. Imagine playing this on a turntable and shaking the turntable. That's what it sounded like. Someone told me there was a second pressing to correct it, but I somehow doubt it.) The cover...well...things need to be said. Nobody's instruments are plugged in. And I have a marine biologist friend who can't look at the cover without rolling her eyes (and she's a fan, too) about the penguins cohabitating with the polar bears! Most of the songs on the “single most underrated Beach Boys album in the catalog” are either dammed with faint praise, or dismissed entirely. “Oh Darlin'" -- Only bad thing I can think of about this track is it's right around the time when Mike introduces his new corny "I'm so old and I'm going to joke about it" voice that would be in full bloom in the '90s. ”Some of Your Love" -- an extremely dated track. It sounds so on the beach in Florida in the '80s, know what I mean? Bleah. “Levin' With A Heartache" -- this could be a much better track than it is...but it's repetitive. And long. And it sounds basically like "Don't Pass Me By" as if it were performed on a Casio keyboard. Certainly Carl and Randy Bachman could have come up with better stuff! “School Day" -- Yawn, another cover...but...not a bad one, really. “Goin' On" -- classic Beach Boys sound. Great track overall, albeit with Mike's corny new voice coming through again. Aaaaand...let's face it: this is The Beach Boys doing Queen. “Sunshine" -- Really, it's not bad. Sure, it's a bit repetitive and could use more variety, but it is an interesting listen. “When Girls Get Together" -- okay, let me get this straight...there's a treasure trove of songs recorded during or near the Sunflower sessions. ...but they choose to dig up this piece of wombat dung? “Santa Ana Winds" -- LOOOOOOVE this track, although I much prefer the lyrics from the MIU-era version. Could do without the trademark Jardine voice-over though.” “Endless Harmony" -- okay, so the "Still Crazy After All These Years" half of it is Bruce at his fluffy Bruciest.
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petsite
Author/Historian/ Researcher
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Post by petsite on Dec 27, 2023 20:04:31 GMT -5
My problem with this album is the lyrics. Have they forgotten how to write clever lyrics? Theres nothing clever here. It sounds like older men stalking high school girls. Has there ever been a worse line in a song other than this one? To love and to be loved is so inspiring And that's why every lover's so desiring ”Desiring” is a verb, and cannot be used as an adjective. Not to mention the music is missing a syllable, causing the word to be mispronounced while singing it. Come on! And trying to make a dry wind weather condition (which the singer had to explain) into a metaphor for … what? I don’t know. I will prevail I will not fail To bring life into humanity Some of Your Love You gotta see my favorite little acrobat She really got her every little move down pat She's got my vote for number one in the class I couldn't help but try to make a forward pass Oh my God! You gotta see my favorite little acrobat - that term Mike borrowed from I WANT YOU TO BE MY ACROBAT from Elton's tune Little Jeanie. Or Elton borrowed it from Mike. The group visited Elton's session for that.
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petsite
Author/Historian/ Researcher
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Post by petsite on Dec 27, 2023 20:14:01 GMT -5
Try going into you then girl friend's living room while she was having a meeting of her campus GIRL'S EQUALITY group, walking over to the stereo, and popping in your 8-Track of KTSA sync'd up to play WHEN GIRLS GET TOGETHER. They were NOT happy!
Now, did I have anything against women's equality? Absolutely not. My mother was a strong independent woman who raised me to fight for women's equality.
No, I did this because (and I can't believe this line to this day, 43 years later) one of my GF'S other friends was announcing that she had gotten engaged to her long time boyfriend. Everyone was excited for her except the head of the group. She sighed loudly and finally told the others to stop celebrating. Then she stood up and announced that MARRIAGE WAS NOTHING MORE THAN LEGALIZED RAPE AND SHE HOPED THE WOMAN GETTING MARRIED HAD A TERRIBLE LIFE.
I walked in and said I wanted to check out an 8-Track I had. And I played WGGT. The meeting broke up soon after the song started and I almost got my butt kicked.
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