"Surf's Up"

I recently found a note from last month that I forgot to write about here.  In the Beach Boys' Instagram stories, I'd heard a clip of "Surf's Up," and I realized that in the first section (roughly until ~1:36), the bass plays mostly on the up-beats, perhaps in order to emphasize the "up" in the title phrase.  Here's the notation for the first verse (with the standard disclaimer that I may have something wrong):

Aside from the last two measures, the bass part in the second verse is the same.

"Surf's Up"

I never got around to writing about it, but years ago (10 April 2015, according to my records), I noticed that the end of "domino" in "columnated ruins domino" in "Surf's Up" descends, musically illustrating that falling.  After I listened to The SMiLE Sessions box set recently, I started thinking about this again and realized that there's more to it than that.  "Domino" is sung to the notes A F E D, and I think "Surf's Up" is in D minor, so these last three notes are a diatonic descent (they fall downward in the scale without skipping any notes).  One note falls into the next in the same way that one domino falls into an-other, so it's not just the descent that's musically significant here; it's also the intervals.

I also noticed that there's painting imagery in the line "Canvas the town and brush the backdrop."  This might connect with the short quotation of "The Old Master Painter."

"Surf's Up"

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

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When I listened to SMiLE a few days ago, I got thinking about the "Are you sleeping, brother John?" in the lyrics of "Surf's Up."  The music doesn't match, but the lyrics are from "Frère Jacques."   However, I think there may also be a subtle Beatle reference within that quotation.

The line "Frère Jacques" sung to its original melody is in the backing vocals for the third and fourth verses of the Beatles' "Paperback Writer."  According to Lewisohn's The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, the "Paperback Writer" single (b/w "Rain") was released on 10 June 1966 (but apparently the American release was earlier).  In any case, "Paperback Writer" was released around the time as SMiLE was being written and recorded.  It's probable that Brian Wilson knew "Paperback Writer," and since he felt a degree of competitiveness with the Beatles, it's possible - perhaps even likely - that he (or Van Dyke Parks who wrote the lyrics for SMiLE) took a few things from them, like that "Frère Jacques" quote.

Even if they did take it from the Beatles, it's a different way of using the same source material.  The Beatles used it more melodically, but on SMiLE, it's used more lyrically.