The OBB? The Hawthorne OG?
The past week and a half or so has been pretty outta control. As things begin to get under control, I've got some stuff to write about the new Dylan biopic, Bob Pollard's triumphant Southgate House show, and maybe some other stuff.
In the meantime, I'd feel like less of a human being if I didn't try and steer more people toward WFMU's Beware of the Blog, where they've recently posted an entry about Brian Wilson's rap song, "Smart Girls." It's been years since I've heard this, so it was a pleasant surprise to see the post. Maybe Brian Wilson is not really the bees' knees to the majority of even Beach Boys fans, but I challenge anyone to deny the brilliance of a song that contains the opening lines "My name is Brian, and I'm the man / I write hit songs with the wave of my hand."
Sure, maybe in 1990, when "Smart Girls" was written and recorded during the Sweet Insanity "sessions" (guided by the infamous Eugene Landy . . . not seen as one of Brian's best times, to say the least . . . but maybe a time that was necessary for Brian to survive to the present day . . . but anyway), Brian hadn't actually written a "hit" song for, say, two decades. You can't deny that he's always been the man, though. After all, he's the guy who, against all odds, was all but solely responsible for Beach Boys Love You in 1977.
I'm babbling. What I mean to say is, sure, "Smart Girls" isn't something anyone is going to listen to repeatedly. But it's something everyone should listen to. It's got that classic pre-Pet Sounds Beach Boys humor thing going for it, much like "Drive-In" or "Parking Lot." Really, "Smart Girls" is a classic Beach Boys song written from a more mature standpoint . . . whereas "Drive-In" delivers the classic line (sung so straight by Mike Love), "Don't sneak your buddies in the trunk 'cause they might get caught by the drive-in," "Smart Girls" has it's own absurdly brilliant moments:
Now some guys like the flashy types,And some guys dig the archetypes,
I'm no different from the rest
I love hips, and legs, and breasts,
But strictly on a higher plain,
What really turns me on's her brain.
I dunno, it's obviously ridiculous, but after you hear it five or six times you stop laughing at how utterly goofy this stuff is and you start connecting with something "joyful" on a more ethereal level. I guess all's I'm saying is, "Smart Girls" has its place in Brian Wilson's body of work. And since Brian Wilson is one of the formost songwriters and producers of the "rock" era of American songwriting, "Smart Girls" has its place in the Great American Catalog of Musical Art.
