Smile (Brian Wilson Album) - Album Theme

Album Theme

In interviews the album has been called by Brian a "teenage symphony to God," and is in the form of three suites.

The album was conceived as a musical journey across America from east to west, beginning at Plymouth Rock and ending in Hawaii, as well as traversing some of the great themes of American history and culture, including the impact of white settlement on Native Americans, the influence of the Spanish, the Wild West, and the opening up of the country by railroad and motorway. It seems chronological, moving from early America through the Victorian era and ending with the 1960s drug culture ("Mrs O'Leary's Cow") and the Hawaii of "In Blue Hawaii" which, in terms of American statehood (since 1959), was still a very new state when the album was still just a project.

The first section represents early Americana, from Plymouth Rock to the Old West, farmlands, the building of the railroad and new housing; it begins with "Our Prayer" which is coupled with a 1950s doo-wop song "Gee", including the lyrics "how I love my girl." This segues into "Heroes and Villains" which was conceived as the cornerstone of the entire album. The lyric "My children were raised, you know they suddenly rise, they started slow long ago, head to toe, healthy, wealthy and wise" ties in with the childhood/fatherhood theme of the second suite. "Roll Plymouth Rock" partly reprises the "Heroes and Villains" theme and features Hawaiian-sounding nonsense lyrics in a theme that is returned to in the third suite. The easy-going "Barnyard" features band members mimicking farmyard animals. The clanging sound of metal evident on "Cabin Essence" is echoed in "Workshop" in the third suite.

Some of the themes of the second section are childhood and fatherhood, and it features some music box-style melodies. Of this section the most obvious is "Surf's Up," which has arcane, mysterious lyrics and considerable wordplay, which could represent youth slowly approaching adulthood, with all of their enthusiasms and eagerness.

The third section represents "The Elements Suite" that Brian had also mentioned. It begins with the partly waltz-like "I'm In Great Shape", which then features an upbeat vocal and gradually grows darker, which is reminiscent of the kind of score that would be used at moments of growing tension or drama in cartoons, such as those by Disney. Lyricist Parks has said that Brian has a "cartoon consciousness." "I Wanna Be Around" suggests the literal physical repair of a broken heart. "Vega-Tables" epitomizes an interest in health and fitness that Brian had at the time. The song, like several on the album, has a carefree, humorous quality. "Vega-Tables" also represents the 'Earth' theme of "The Elements", which is part of the third suite. "On A Holiday", originally an instrumental, has a reprise of the "Roll Plymouth Rock" lyric and a distinctly jaunty pirate theme with some nursery rhyme-style lyrics such as "And isn't that a moon for a milky way?" The song segues into "Wind Chimes," the "Air" part of the "Elements" with the line "Whisperin' winds send my wind chimes a-tinklin." This is followed by the "Fire" element, the Grammy-award winning "Mrs O'Leary's Cow", which has an almost ghost train/fun house kind of sound. The song is regarded as something of an expression of Brian use of psychedelic drugs at the time and the title refers to the suspected cause of the Great Chicago Fire, a cow that knocked over a lantern. The following song, "In Blue Hawaii" (the "Water" element), also makes reference to a cow, "Wholly Holy Cow!" The song acts as a soothing solution to the intense heat of the previous song: "I could really use a drop to drink, somewhere in a placid pool and sink."

Smile's final track, the magnum opus "Good Vibrations" (which has been described as a "pocket symphony"), is undoubtedly the best known song on the album. However, the Smile version was recorded with the original lyrics penned by Pet Sounds lyricist Tony Asher, rather than the later lyrics written by Mike Love. It also includes the previously excluded "Humm-Be-Numm" harmony section prior to the final refrain. "Good Vibrations" broadly goes through three distinct phases, as the album does, and makes full use of sounds from an Electro-Theremin, which until 1967 had previously been used mainly in horror films.

In subsequent interviews to promote the album, Brian has concentrated on the happy, humorous qualities of the music, which are evident. However, there is also a clear sense of melancholy in his voice and throughout the album, especially on "Old Master Painter"/"You Are My Sunshine" and "Surf's Up." The lyrics to "You Are My Sunshine" have been altered to past tense, adding a reflective somberness. The intensity of the chorus on "Cabin Essence" and of "Mrs O'Leary's Cow" show that the humor had become entwined with a dark, powerful, intensity, especially as evidenced by the famous stories surrounding the original creation of the abandoned 1960s album such as Brian Wilson's belief that he had caused a nearby building to burn down because he had created the 'Fire' instrumentation, which was rerecorded as 'Mrs O'Learys Cow' on the 2004 Smile album. Another famous story is that he sat in a sand pit to gain inspiration.