God Only Knows – The Greatest Love Song Ever Written

In my book I would like to present you what I believe to be one of the most touching love song ever written – “God only Knows”.

A song that inspired some of the great artists and was considered ground-breaking for its beautiful lyrics, the sophisticated use of several musical devices and the direct use of the name of god.

God only knows was written by Brian Wilson, a musician, songwriter and co-founder of the Beach boys, and Tony Asher, who was an advertising copyrighter and lyricist that Wilson worked with on songs for “Pet Sounds”,  the eleventh studio album by the American rock band “The Beach Boys”.

The album was released on May 16, 1966 and is considered to be among the greatest and most influential albums in music history. “God only Knows” was first released on May 14, 1966, as the opening track of side two on Pet Sounds.

At first Wilson planned to sing the lead vocal himself, but then decided that his brother Carl was better suited for the track. “I was looking for a tenderness and a sweetness which I knew Carl had in himself as well as in his voice,” said Brian.

“God only knows” is a love song but it starts with the confusing line “I may not always love you”. This line was the subject of an argument between the songwriters since Wilson felt it was too negative while Asher felt it would add novelty to the song.
In the liner notes to the reissued Pet Sounds album Asher referred to the line and said: “how many love songs start off with the line, ‘I may not always love you’? I liked that twist, and fought to start the song that way. Working with Brian, I didn’t have a whole lot of fighting to do, but I was certainly willing to fight to the end for that”.

The next few lines reveal the true meaning of the song when the narrator reassures the one they love that their love is as certain and everlasting as the stars.
“But long as there are stars above you
You never need to doubt it
I’ll make you so sure about it”

Then comes one of the most controversial lines in the song “God only knows what I’d be without you”. This line which was meant to emphasize the scope of the narrator’s love was actually a problematic theme.
At the time the song was written, referencing “God” in a title or lyric was generally considered a taboo for pop music and so Wilson and Asher feared that radio stations would refuse to play the song. Partly for that reason the song was released as a B-side and only managed to scrape the Top 40 in the United States, even though it is considered a Beach Boys classic.

In the second verse the narrator dramatizes their feelings by claiming that their life would be worthless without their love.

This song is considered to be one of the best song Wilson ever wrote.
In general, Brian Wilson was considered by many a musical genius.

Wilson was born on June 20, 1942 and grew up in Hawthorne, California.
Although Brian had begun his musical journey quite early in his life, he and his brothers first appeared as a music group only in the autumn of 1961, when Brian was 19 years old. This group also included their cousin Mike Love, and their friend Al Jardine. They called themselves “Pendletones”. Brian’s father, Murry Wilson, who was a musician himself, was impressed by the group and proclaimed himself the group’s manager. As band manager, Murry organized a contract signing with Capitol Records, and later on Around June 1962, Murry and Brian established the music publishing company “Sea of Tunes”. The company was later sold by Murry for the undervalued sum of $700,000 despite the band’s objections.

Brian and Murry’s relationship was complicated.
Like his brothers, Brian suffered abuse from his father that was mostly psychological and sometimes physical.
It was suggested that Murry was jealous of Brian’s talent and for that tried to take control of the band.
In 2014 the biographical movie “Love and Mercy” was released, depicting Wilson’s life. One of the movie’s themes is Wilson’s troubled relationship with his father.  In one scene Brian creates “God only know” and presents it to his father. Despite the fact that the song was obviously beautiful, Brian’s father dismissed it and described it as “too wishy washy”. While unclear if this specific interaction occurred in reality the scene does a good job of demonstrating the problematic relationship. Brian seeking his father’s approval, and Murry, jealous of his son’s genius, dismissing and belittling Brian.

The movie also depicts Brain’s struggles with mental illness, partly caused by heavy use of drugs.
Wilson attributed a lot of his creativity to the spiritual experiences he had while on drugs.
In one interview Wilson said that he wrote “God Only Knows” as an attempt to match the standard of the Beatles’ album Rubber Soul (released in December 1965). In his recollection, he was under the influence of marijuana and was “so blown away” with the album that he sat at his piano and began writing the song.

This song influenced not only fans, but also some of the great artists such as Paul McCartney who was once quoted saying “GOD ONLY KNOWS IS THE GREATEST SONG EVER WRITTEN”.
Both the Beach boys and The Beatles said more than once that their work was inspired and derived from one another. Both bands were considered to be amongst the most famous, successful and influential of their time and the competition between them was one of the reasons for their innovation and creativity – always pushing to eclipse the other band.
McCartney even performed this song with Wilson at a Adopt-A-Minefield Benefit Gala in Los Angeles in 2002.

On October 7, 2014, a cover version of the song Was broadcast simultaneously across BBC television and radio channels to launch BBC Music. The new adaptation featured Brian Wilson himself as well as various guest stars including Pharrell Williams, Sir Elton John, Lorde, Chris Martin, Stevie Wonder, One Direction and Dave Grohl.

To this day “God only knows” is wildly considered a breakthrough in song composition and production and despite being released nearly 60 years ago it is still a highly beloved and relevant song.