My Blog

Haven’t really written anything here in quite a while. Well, here I go again.

At a recent advanced screening of Big Love, a new HBO TV series, we were greeted by the opening strains of "God Only Knows," a classic hit from the 60’s by The Beach Boys written by the brilliant Brian Wilson. The song was also earlier and yes, beautifully used in movies like Boogie Nights and Love, Actually. I came to learn of this song only belatedly (about a decade ago to be exact) and although it was just a simple love song that doesn’t have anything to do with religion by any means, its emotional impact brought about by its majestic melody is truly nothing short of, well, heavenly. There is simply nothing quite like it and in my book, is indeed one of the greatest pop songs ever recorded.

Thank God for YouTube, those of you who haven’t actually heard about it can watch it in the following links:

The original Beach Boys version:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BC_UILNwWrc

Brian Wilson and The Corrs, Live!:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-jMKeB8qc4

By a group called The Fendertones:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiMwo40gfj0

And a wonderful acoustic version by Switchfoot:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eg637-MbpcY

Here’s a very revealing Wikipedia entry on the story behind the song:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_Only_Knows

And of course, the lyrics, whose relevance is certainly not lost on me:

I may not always love you
But long as there are stars above you
You never need to doubt it
I’ll make you so sure about it
God only knows what I’d be without you

God only knows what I’d be without you