September 20, 2023 – On the Radio
The Beach Boys have been part of summer for as long as I can remember. The band has produced songs with happy, sappy, teenybopper lyrics about beaches, surfing, puppy love, and endless summer, delivered with youthful energy, since forever.
Upbeat tunes like Good Vibrations, Fun Fun Fun, and California Girls never fail to conjure positive emotion. I am happy to listen to The Beach Boys, All Summer Long.
Which is why I was interested to see a new(ish) Beach Boys song on CKUA’s playlist. I activated the “On-Demand” feature on the CKUA Radio App and listened to Summer’s Gone. I wish I hadn’t.
Summer’s Gone is a funeral dirge.
A band that once sang:
I’m pickin’ up good vibrations
She’s giving me the excitations (oom bop bop)…
Now sings:
Old friends have gone
They’ve gone their separate ways
Our dreams hold on
For those who still have more to say,
Summer’s gone,
Gone like yesterday.
I know, The Beach “Boys” are in their eighties, we are all getting older, but seriously…!
While I was listening to the dreadful lament, I was reminded of another low point in The Beach Boys’ history.
In 1968, founding member Dennis Wilson struck up a friendship with a charismatic, aspiring singer/songwriter named Charles Manson. Wilson saw talent in the ex-convict and agreed to let Manson live with him and work in his home studio.
Several weeks into the relationship, Wilson was getting bad vibes about Charlie Manson. The Beach Boys purchased a poorly written song, with the ominous title, Cease to Exist, from Manson. They paid him a few dollars and a well-used BMW motorcycle, and asked Manson to leave. The band altered the lyrics, retitled the piece Never Learn Not to Love, and recorded it as a B-side single in January 1969, without giving Manson a credit.
In August of that same year, Charlie Manson and the Manson Family cult committed the horrific Tate/LaBianca murders.
These are the altered lyrics to Cease to Exist. I cant imagine how disturbing Manson’s original words were…..
Cease to resist, come on say you love me
Give up your world, come on and be with me…
Submission is a gift given to another…
The Beach Boys haven’t lost the magic entirely, but their devolution from summertime pop to funeral music is …
… Sad, and Kinda Creepy
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