God Only Knows

From Wikipedia:

“God Only Knows” is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1966 album Pet Sounds. Written by Brian Wilson and Tony Asher, it is a baroque-style love song distinguished for its harmonic innovation and complexity, unusual instrumentation, and subversion of typical popular music conventions, both lyrically and musically. It is often praised as one of the greatest songs of all time and as the Beach Boys’ finest record.

The song’s musical sophistication is demonstrated by its three contrapuntal vocal parts and weak tonal center (competing between the keys of E and A). Lyrically, the words are expressed from the perspective of a narrator who asserts that life without their lover could only be fathomed by God—an entity that had been considered taboo to name in the title or lyric of a pop song. It marked a departure for Wilson, who attributed the impetus for the song to Asher’s affinity for standards such as “Stella by Starlight”. Some commentators interpret “God Only Knows” as promoting suicidal ideations, although such an interpretation was not intended by the songwriters. Others have compared the song’s advanced harmonic structure to the work of classical composers such as Delibes, Bach, and Stravinsky.

Wilson produced the record between March and April 1966, enlisting about 20 session musicians who variously played drums, sleigh bells, plastic orange juice cups, clarinets, flutes, strings, French horn, accordion, guitars, upright bass, harpsichord, and a tack piano with its strings taped. His brother Carl Wilson sang lead, a vocal performance that became regarded as Carl’s best ever, with Brian himself and Bruce Johnston providing additional harmonies. The song ends with a series of repeating vocal rounds, another device that was uncommon for popular music of the era.

“God Only Knows” was issued as the B-side of “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” in July 1966 and peaked at number 39 on the Billboard Hot 100. In other countries, it was the single’s A-side, reaching the top 10 in the UK, Canada, Norway, and the Netherlands. Many songwriters, including Paul McCartney and Jimmy Webb, have cited “God Only Knows” as their favorite song of all time. In 2004, it was included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s “500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll”. In 2021, it was ranked number 11 in Rolling Stone‘s list of the “500 Greatest Songs of All Time”. […]

Everyone knows now that ‘God Only Knows’ was Paul’s favorite song — and not only his favorite Beach Boys song, but one of his favorite songs period. It’s the kind of thing people write in liner notes and say on talk shows. When people read it, they kind of look at that sentence and keep going. But think about how much it mattered to me when I first heard it there on Sunset Boulevard. I was the person who wrote ‘God Only Knows,’ and here was another person — the person who wrote ‘Yesterday’ and ‘And I Love Her’ and so many other songs — saying it was his favorite. It really blew my mind. He wasn’t the only Beatle who felt that way. John Lennon called me after Pet Sounds — phoned me up, I think the British say — to tell me how much he loved the record.

Brian Wilson – 2016 – From Instagram

I played it to John so much that it would be difficult for him to escape the influence.

Paul McCartney

McCartney described it as “the greatest song ever written”.^[93] His 1976 song “Silly Love Songs” incorporates a build-up of vocal counterpoints in the same style as “God Only Knows”.^[92] The song additionally inspired, in part, the Beatles’ “Here, There and Everywhere“.^[94][95] Wilson felt uncomfortable with the praise and said in 1976 that if McCartney’s “greatest song” assertion was true, “[then] what was there left for me to do?”^{[96][nb 7]} In 2002, Wilson and McCartney performed the song as a duet at the Adopt-A-Minefield Benefit Gala in Los Angeles. McCartney later said that he was so overwhelmed by Wilson’s presence that he “broke down” during the soundcheck rehearsals.^[98]