More Smile reflections

OK, I've listened to Smile 2 1/2 times so far. Mostly not in the best acoustic setting: twice during long drives with my family, playing through my iPod via a cassette adapter.

So far I can honestly say two seemingly contradictory things about it: a) I have a mixed reaction, and b) it's absolute genius.

The mixed reaction is due to the things like distorted bits of tin pan alley songs ("You are My Sunshine" strikes me most prominently). I mean some of it is so experimental that it while it may be music in some abstract sense, I don't think I'm going to need to listen to those sections over and over. Some of it seems to be just fun, and not much more.

But other aspects of it are truly incredible. For instance, "Wonderful" is one of the most harmonically amazing melodies I've ever heard. In some ways it sounds more like Bach than a pop song, while still clearly being a pop song. There are a incredible musical moments on Smile, and by the time I got to the remake of Good Vibrations (many different words, many modifications to the music), I literally was experiencing waves of chills running through my body and tears streaming down my cheeks.

I've had a few listening moments like that in my life, and in truth, they've 90% been due to Brian Wilson. The absolute best three Wilson tracks are, in my view, Wouldn't It Be Nice, Good Vibrations (I still think I like the original version best), and God Only Knows. Paul McCartney once claimed that God Only Knows is the best song ever written. Certainly I think that it's a better love song than any of the Beatles', and in fact I can't think of a better one, period. It does truly fascinating things musically that I have never heard anywhere else. (For a much better technical analysis of it as composition than I have the know-how to present, see this essay.) And the lyrics, by Tony Asher, are also among the most beautiful ever put on record.

My wife is a classical music buff. I went through a period when I listened mostly to classical. (Now I listen to more jazz and pop because other than going to occasional classical concerts with my wife, I rarely have the time these days to give classical music the full attention I like to give it for full enjoyment. Between my work and two small kids, I just can't spend hours lying on the floor with headphones on in total immersion at this stage of my life. The 3-minute duration of a pop song, or a jazz improv that one can intermittently pay attention to, are right for me for now). After listening to Smile, we tried to rate Wilson as a potential classical composer. We agreed that if he had lived in the right time period and had the standard training, and psychological problems hadn't effectively put him out of commission for many years, he probably would now be at least as respected as Scarlatti, and very possibly more so. Certainly I think that his best moments go deeper than Scarlatti's. As a pop composer whose mission is not just to entertain but to enlighten and move people, I think you have to go back to the best of Gershwin to have a chance at finding a real peer.

I say that recognizing that in the real world, his output is very constrained. As I said, he was effectively out of commission for many years, and his best work was done when he was not only very young (early 20's). And then he simply fell apart (during the production of Smile) and nothing emerged for a very long time. His new work has its moments, but to date hasn't reached the same level of quality. If you look at someone like Beethoven, the early works (such as his 1st Piano Concerto) have a youthful exuberance, and the later works such as the late string quartets have at least as much quality, but also the reflective (and sometimes melancholy) wisdom of long life experience. In the pop world, the same could be said of Bob Dylan, whose latest work is arguably as good or better than his early albums, but explores shadowy areas that were unknown in his early work. And similarly for Paul Simon. Wilson's later work seems more like he's trying to unsuccessfully recapture the early work, rather than translating the same full-force talent into a new language of experience.

So there isn't much full-force Wilson to hear. But what there is, is worth hearing. Check it out, if you never have. And really give it a chance to reach you.

Given the fact that Dylan's quality level dropped significantly (at least in my view) for a couple of decades and then came back very strongly, perhaps we can still hope it will happen with Wilson too.

A piece in the Oregonian is the best story I've seen about Smile's background.