Back in 2010, I was driving along—on the way to pick my daughter up at school—when the 1966 Beach Boys single “God Only Knows” came on the radio: it was as if I’d never heard it before. The richness of the production, the plaintive, multi-layered vocals, the sheer heart—and heartbreak—of the piece: absolute magic. I’d always enjoyed the Beach Boys (you’d be hard-pressed to find a better pop song than “Good Vibrations,” and I'm especially fond of two other Wilson classics: the Beach Boys' "'Til I Die" and the solo track "Love and Mercy"), but I was never a major devotee, as I know many people are. But that song. That song... I was twelve when “God Only Knows” came out. It took me forty-four years to get it—but, wow, did I ever.
Safe travels, Mr. Wilson. May you surf the cosmos and find all the love and mercy your soul desires.
