Good Vibrations: The Beach Boys' Pop Masterpiece Chords

[Dm] Is it possible for [E] a song to simultaneously be revered and [Am] underappreciated?
If so, [Ab] I think Good Vibrations by [F] the Beach Boys [Dm] falls into this category.
[E] Music critics have lauded the song and even placed it near the [Am] top of [Fm] several top songs of all [F] time lists,
yet you seldom hear it [Dm] brought up at parties or played on rock [E] radio.
It seems, at least to me, that the song hasn't been canonized and immortalized in the halls of so-called classic rock,
not in the way that Bohemian Rhapsody or A Day in the Life have.
And I think that's wrong.
[Am]
Good Vibrations is [Dm] a masterpiece of songwriting and production,
and one that helped set the pace for a golden age of [E] music.
Let's take a closer look.
[Am] _
_ _ _ _ [C] _ [F] _ [Dm] _ _
_ The year [Am] was 1966, and psychedelia was beginning to emerge in American music.
The Beatles were innovating with their [Dm] seminal album, Revolver,
and across the Atlantic, the Beach Boys were working on their own revolutionary offering, Pet Sounds.
[Am] This is where Brian Wilson began what would become [Dm] his opus.
Originally meant for Pet Sounds, Good Vibrations quickly grew into something else entirely.
[Db] Keep in mind this is just a year removed from the Beach Boys releasing Summer Days and Summer Nights.
That's a fine album, but it's one full of simple, [Fm] two [Db]-minute rock and roll songs.
This is what a lot of pop looked like [Bbm] at the time,
with these songs being pumped out in a [Gb] day or two, usually using just a few [Eb] recording sessions.
[Ab] But this isn't [Gb] the case for Good Vibrations, [D] which took the Beach Boys more than a dozen sessions across [G] four different studios.
By the time they were done recording, the band had more than 90 hours of material on tape,
including a dozen different [D] instruments and even more vocal harmonies.
All in all, the budget for the single was between $50,000 and $75,000,
which is [Dm] equivalent to somewhere between $370,000 and [Am] $550,000 today.
[Dm] And the result [Gb] was incredible.
[B] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [Gb] _
The thick layers of melody and harmony wrapping [Am] through each other
was the most impressive [D] use of the wall of sound production technique to date.
The [Am] lyrics were simple yet [Dm] enrapturing, and the song's structure was absolutely trailblazing.
Let's take a walk through that structure.
[Ebm] The first verse is built around an ethereal [Db] descending chord progression [Bbm] in E-flat [Abm] minor.
_ _ _ _ [Gb]
And then 24 seconds in, we hit the first chorus.
[B] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [Gb] The chorus starts in G-flat major, which is the relative major to the verse's E-flat [Ab] minor,
[Db] and then with each [Bb] repetition, [Ab] the chorus climbs [Db] upward,
providing a counterpoint to the [Bbm] verse's [Ebm] descending chord progression.
Then we go back to the verse.
There's a lot we could talk about with the verse, but one of my favorite quirks is the [Db] bass line.
_ [Bbm] _ _ [Abm] Listen _ to how high it [Ebm] is.
Instead of just playing the root of the main chord in the song,
the bass is actually creating [Db] a counter melody.
At the time, almost nobody [B] was using bass lines in this way.
After this verse, we return to the chorus, carried by a cosmic electro theremin.
_ And of course, the Beach Boys' patented harmonies.
_ _ _ [Gb] _ _ [Ab] A _ [Eb] minute and 40 seconds in, we hit the first of two interludes.
Music theorist Daniel Harrison called these episodic digressions.
This section is greeted with a sudden tape splice,
which is a clear edit between two sections that were recorded at different times and studios.
[D] _ [Eb] _ [Bb] _ _ _
_ Here _ we hit my favorite lyric of the song, which is beautifully simple but [Eb] incredibly evocative.
I don't know where, but she sends [Ab] me [Eb] there.
You might normally call this section a bridge,
but its musical relationship to the rest of the song isn't quite as clear,
and instead of cutting back to the chorus like a bridge might,
we cut into another [Bb] episodic movement.
_ [F] _ _
_ _ _ [Gm] _ This tape splice [F] is even more dramatic than the first,
transitioning into a slow-moving, mellow [Gm] episode in F.
[C] _
_ _ [F] Now, just as we're floating through [G] space with the Beach Boys,
[C] a [Dm] stunning five-part harmony wakes you back up as we punch back into [G] the chorus.
_ [Eb] _ _ _ [Bb] _ _ _ _
_ [Eb] This chorus is the reverse [Db] direction of the others,
starting at [Ab] Bb and working down to Gb.
[Gb] Then, a series of [Bb] harmonies carry us to the final section, the coda,
[Ab] where we ride out on chugging cellos and a cosmic theremin. _ _ _ _ _ _
[A] By the time the song fades, we have walked [D] through six different sections
and journeyed through all seven degrees of the song's Eb minor scale.
In just three minutes and 39 seconds,
Brian Wilson managed to put together a song dense enough
that you could teach an entire music course on it,
all while maintaining a devotion to radio-friendly, ear-catching hooks.
Lyrically, [Dm] the song works as a simple, upbeat love song,
but also hints at the Eastern philosophy and cosmic thoughts
that would soon be taking over the American mainstream
with the advent of the psychedelic era.
Derek Taylor, the band's publicist, dubbed the song
[Am] _ [Dm] after the dedication to musicality, unique [Am] instrument melodies,
[D] and movements throughout the song.
Good Vibrations was one of the first songs to attempt [Dm] something so ambitious,
and it [Am] succeeds with flying colours.
[Dm] The production elements and symphonic [D] structure of the song
would be [Dm] echoed in dozens of songs in the decades to come.
So whenever you're talking about the greats in rock,
be sure to give Brian Wilson and [Eb] the Beach Boys a little love.
[Bb] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ [Ab] _ [Db] _
[Ab] _ _ _ _ _ [Am] _ _ _
_ _ [G] _ [Em] _ [Dm] _ _ _ _
_ [E] _ _ _ [Am] _ _ _ _