Discuss & Rate 1968 Set Day By Day

Today's song is Meant For You (Alternate Version with the Session Intro):

I love the album version, and it's brevity is what makes you want more. So, I'll take all the Meant for You I can get. Going with 5.

I give it a 3.  Beautiful little snippet, but the dog and pony show is a little much for me.  I made my own edit which skips that part and goes back into the backing vocals.  An improvement, imo, because the original Friends album track is so damn short and fades just as it's getting good.

The original’s brevity is its genius. This extended mix showcases beautiful vocals but the pony/puppy dog lyrics are almost vomit inducing… I mean, just “why”? I could listen to the vox for ever though, especially with the sheer clarity of this mix.

Today's song is Friends (Backing Track):

Friends (Backing Track) - This should disprove any argument that Brian had lost his musical chop after the collapse of SMiLE.

This is, to me, on the same level as backing track for Pet Sounds/SMiLE. It's got simpler arrangement, but the beauty and the subtlety in the production is all the same.

Clearer sound makes me appreciate the orchestration much more.

5/5

It might seem simple but there’s an awful lot going on in there.

Today's track is Friends (A Cappella):

The harmonies in the second verse are worth a 5 on their own.

I'm giving the a capella version a 5.

I would have given the Friends backing track a 5 if I had gotten around to voting yesterday. 

What can I say about Friends (the song)? The instrumental track gets a 5. The vocal track gets a 5. As a composition, it gets a 5. It's a 5 all around for me.


The melodies and chord progressions are astounding, as good as Pet Sounds. That bridge section is one of Brian's best ever. The arrangement is rich, joyful, and perfect. The lyrics are serviceable but not exactly genius...but it's more the subject matter itself and the tone taken to express it that make this song so satisfying. Like the album as a whole, it's whimsical, and light-hearted. Compared to the tumultuous goings-on in the world at that time, it may have seemed a bit small scale, but that is misleading, because at the end of the day, what can be more important than friendships and personal health?



Wata said upthread that this production proves that Brian hadn't "lost it" like the received wisdom goes. I agree 100%. This track is Exhibit A that even into 1968, Brian remained an auteur with powers pretty much undiminished. What had changed is that he had clearly decided to lower the stakes a bit. He admits this candidly in the Don Was movie, that he decided to "coast" a bit. I used to hear that and slot it into the moldy old plotline that we were told to believe - he was a burnout who just couldn't churn out the quality anymore. But over the years I've come to perceive a different story, one where he decided to pare back and adopt a different approach (for his own sanity perhaps), but where the quality actually never really suffered.

I'm not saying anything new; we as fans here have been saying this for a while, and in very recent times, the copyright releases have driven this home. The sad thing is that to the general public, they still believe the "Brian went to bed after Smile" BS that the baby boomers (sorry LOL) created and till remains seeped into our cultural mindset. In the US, at least. I do hope that public perception changes a bit over the next few generations.

Great idea, and I will try that, as soon as my iMac is restored (I lost my hard drive yesterday and am restoring off a backup today).

Your ratings for Friends (A Cappella):
1-0 vote
2-0 vote
3-0 vote
4-1 vote
5-20 votes