ben patton blog

Dear Uncle Sam,

I just returned from an ill-fated trip to Hong Kong, over the course of which i was attacked by cockroaches, robbed, unexpectedly separated from my travel-companions for much of the trip, and made ill by exotic foods like “Dried Sea Slug”, “Shark’s Fin” and “Ox stomach”. Glad to be back in Cebu, which seems comparatively homey. In 1964, the Beach Boys released a double single of “I Get Around” and “Don’t Worry Baby”. The former, written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love, was the West Coast teen band’s first number one hit. I’ve chosen “I Get Around” for this installment of “Songs I Wish I’d Written”.

Was there ever a more perfect two minutes and twelve seconds? It’s quintessential of the genius of Brian Wilson to create a work of art that, on the surface, appears almost proudly unsophisticated and adolescent, but, upon closer inspection, reveals extraordinary intricacies and innovations.

The thick three part harmonies on the chorus, lead by Brian Wilson’s famous falsetto vocal, are dense and complex, and could only have been arranged by someone with Wilson’s understanding of jazz theory.

The words were written by actual teenaged boys, and when they describe being popular and hip, you must remember that they were at the peak of their fame, in real life. –Not to mention that they were making more money than any kids their age. These lyrics speak for us. They state what we’ve always wished we could say. What adolescent boy doesn’t want to be top dog? And what grown man isn’t really an adolescent boy?

“I get around / From town to town I’m a real cool head / I’m making real good bread”

The mono 1964 recording still does the trick, after all these years, but I do wish I could find a stereo remix somewhere. My friend Jack Reiely, once the Beach Boys manager and co-lyricist, insists that such a mix does exist out there somewhere. There is an available stereo live recording from the Beach Boy’s first live album, “Beach Boys Concert”, which is great, if you can handle all the screaming girls.

I’ve heard my father name “I Get Around” as one of the key songs of his adolescence. He was just the right age for it, in 1964, and something of a surfer too, I understand, albeit on the opposite coast. I sometimes picture a young blond version of my Dad, when I hear that song.

Damn, I wish I’d written that song.