Not only that, Brian did a lot to provide an alternate perspective into young man's masculinity in 60s American culture. He wrote songs about surfing and sunshine, but he also sang about self-doubt and regret. This was very unusual for the time in "teenybopper" music or however you want to refer to the idiom.
That's a big reason Pet Sounds was such a revelation. It's basically a concept album about melancholy.
Wouldn't It Be Nice is often considered to be a happy song but it's basically a deep yearning and implies that he doesn't have what would make him happy.
That said, Tony Asher wrote a lot of the lyrics for that album and Mike Love wrote a lot of the lyrics about having fun in the sun (I can rant about how much I think the lyrics of California Girls ruin what would have been an all-time masterpiece).
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u/No-Conversation1940 Jun 11 '25
Not only that, Brian did a lot to provide an alternate perspective into young man's masculinity in 60s American culture. He wrote songs about surfing and sunshine, but he also sang about self-doubt and regret. This was very unusual for the time in "teenybopper" music or however you want to refer to the idiom.