Lyrics for Brian Wilson as interpreted by ojms

Brian Wilson Lyrics
Words and Music by Steven Page,

Drove downtown in the rain
Nine-thirty on a Tuesday night,
Just to check out the late-night record shop,
Call it impulsive, call it compulsive, call it insane
But when I'm surrounded I just can't stop

It's a matter of instinct, it's a matter of conditioning,
It's a matter of fact
You can call me Pavlov's dog
Ring a bell and I salivate - how'd you like that?
Dr. Landy tell me you're not just a pedagogue
'Cause right now I'm

Chorus
Lying in bed just like Brian Wilson did
Well I'm lying in bed just like Brian Wilson did

So I'm lying here just staring at the ceiling tiles,
And thinking about what to think about
Just listening and relistening to Smiley Smile,
and wondering if this is some kind of creative drought
because I'm

Chorus

And If you want to find me I'll be out in the sandbox,
wonderung were the hell all the love has gone,
Playing my gituar and building castles in the sun
and singing "Fun, Fun, Fun",

Chorus

I had a dream that I was three hundred pounds
and though I was very heavy
I floated 'til I couldn't see the ground
I floated 'til I couldn't see the ground
Somebody help me, I couldn't see the ground
Somebody help me, I couldn't see the ground
Somebody help me because I'm

Chorus

Drove downtown in the rain
Nine-thirty on a Tuesday night,
Just to check out the late-night record shop,
Call it impulsive, call it compulsive, call it insane
But when I'm surrounded I just can't stop

Who was "Brian Wilson"?
Brian Wilson was one of the Beach Boys that got hooked on drugs
and then taken financially taken advantage of/destroyed by his Psychiatrist,
Dr. Landy. Smiley Smile was the name of a Beach Boys’
record and Fun Fun Fun was a song on the record.

Andy Creeggan: Congas, vocals
Jim Creeggan: Double Bass, vocals
Steven Page: Guitar, lead vocal
Ed Robertson: Guitars, vocals
Tyler Stewart: Drums

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  • 29 Comments
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wiseone
04-23-2002

Rated 0 
This song is about being depressed. Brian Wilson was a beachboy that went through an extreme depression.

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NtoTheDrk
05-03-2002

Rated 0 
I love this song. wiseone is right. It's about depression, in extreme detail. I love the lines:
I had a dream that I was three hundred pounds
and though I was very heavy
I floated 'til I couldn't see the ground
I floated 'til I couldn't see the ground, somebody help me

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beatls8
06-04-2002

Rated 0 
This song is about Brian Wilson's period of being a recluse. It's word describe about everything that went on in his life at that time. Ex: He was 300 pounds. The lyric that talks about playing in the sand refers to the rumor that Wilson filled his bedroom up with sand to increase his creativity. Brian Wilson loves this song and has performed it on his most recent live CD and he performs it in concert as well. It's great that he can take the song in stride.

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tobosoqueso
06-13-2002

Rated 0 
I'm more than depression...Steven is expressing the parallels between his creative struggle and Brian Wilson's. Slightly biographical on Wilson.

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wrion
07-21-2002

Rated 0 
I read somewhere, I think in the liner notes of the Greatest Hits album, but i'm not sure, that when he first heard it, Brian Wilson didn't like it.

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goodmorningmisterben
08-16-2002

Rated 0 
hearts for brian wilson. both the song and the man.

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sarahmansour
09-10-2002

Rated 0 
Tobosoquesco is probably right, hence the reference to a "creative drought ".

** Steven Page for President!!**

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Emily1014
04-20-2004

Rated 0 
I love this song

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epp88
05-04-2004

Rated 0 
like most bnl songs, its a lot deeper than it looks. naturally, its about the beach boy's brian wilson. however, they're are hidden references into about wilson's depression, weight gain, and drug problems

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MuSiCfReAk728
06-05-2004

Rated 0 
i didnt even kno why i liked this song, but the first time i heard it, i was addicted. then i read the lyrics and along with epp88, it's a lot deeper than it sounds and looks. it's all about brian wilson and his battle with depression and drug problems and weird gain. i'm both a beach boys fan and a bnl fan, so i automaticlly liked this song

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Sir_Larrikin
06-15-2004

Rated 0 
The thing that appeals to my song is how it contains Wilson's history and song/album titles. The reference to Dr. Landry refers to the psychiatric guru that lived at Wilson's house, and (many feel) took advantage of Brian's mental sickness and addictions (a pedagogue is both the master and teacher of a person -- sort of like a cult or religious leader, or in this case, a pychiatric leader). The ref about the sandbox is true -- Wilson actually DID have a big sandbox in his house, to try to inspire creativity. Also, the line about him being in bed refers to the fact that there a period of time where Wilson couldn't leave his bed -- he was depressed and on coke/alcohol to a degree that he sat in bed, eating, doing drugs, and gaining lots of weight.

His creativity was so constipated that he couldn't move. He became depressed right after his father's death (a man who was both abusive and controlling -- point in case, "When I Grow Up To Be A Man" was written after a big fight between Brian and his dad, where his dad basically called him an immature child - despite his musical success). Wilson also had mental problems due to a couple bad acid trips. His wife took their two daughters (Wendy and Carnie) and left him, after he (in a drunken, stoned state) gave Carnie (then a young child) a toke of marijuana. Go figure. ;-)

Anyway, I love the musical refs -- Smiley Smile was a 1967 album by the Beach Boys (featuring "Good Vibrations" - a song written after the death of his mother, which Wilson considers one of his greatest songs). The line about building castles in the sun might be a reference to the song "Mount Vernon and Fairway" - or maybe it's just another reference to Brian's zen attack on his writer's block through play in the sandbox. "Fun Fun Fun" was a song of the Beach Boys.

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thejames
09-26-2004

Rated 0 
Sir Larrikin - I'm impressed, very nicely done. I just want to add that I love this song, and musically I think it is possibly their greatest ever!

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amazon_0505
01-15-2005

Rated 0 
Also very impressed, and a bit frightened, by how much you know about Brian Wilson, although you probably read it in his bio or something. This is a great song and has many references to Brian Wilson but, like many BNL songs, it has many layers. He is "lying in bed like Brian Wilson did". The writer is also going through a depression and a writers block that reminds him of all that Brian Wilson went through. Great song, especially live on the greatest hits CD or in concert. Love BNL.

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TheSilverNoble
12-12-2005

Rated 0 
Like many said... somwhat biographical, I think the writer was talking about how he could understand how Brain Wilson could lay in his bed for... was it really years?
The line about the record store... I think he was just going to the record store, as he does every week, hoping to find some new CD or something to inspire him.

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shassouneh
01-15-2006

Rated 0 
I just Love the first line "Drove downtown in the rain". For some reason it just announces "hey good song straight ahead, so don't touch that dial!"
Maybe its just me hehe

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sl8r
01-30-2006

Rated 0 
any1 kno about the Pavlovs dog reference i kno about the dogs but how duz it tie in to this song?

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MoonlitKnight
01-31-2006

Rated 0 
the pavlov dog reference refers to the writer going to the record store,being surrounded by other peoples creativity,hoping that it will inspire his own...i.e like Pavlovs dogs that salivated when a bell was rung.Pavlov had always fed the dogs after he first rang a bell. It's an oblique reference to reward training....Bell ringing=salivating=food...Visiting the record store= inspiration=creativity.

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sl8r
02-07-2006

Rated 0 
makes sense, thanks

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albinomoose
03-22-2006

Rated 0 
I love this song...I love all BNL songs cuz like so many people have been pointing out they seem so simple, but they have deeper meanings...I also think their use of words is phenomenal...Completely irrelevent, but the Pavolov's Dog reference helped me out in psych. since I already knew the song.

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Sir_Larrikin
11-02-2006

Rated 0 
sl8r: I believe the Pavlov's Dog reference is talking more about Dr. Landy's system of "helping" Brian. Notice, after the line about Pavlov's Dog, the next lyric asks Dr. Landy if he's just a pedagogue. It's addressing Landy's techniques, and comparing Wilson to the dogs in the aforementioned experiment.

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ascrodin
12-02-2006

Rated 0 
Sir Larrikan, I have one correction to make concerning your post about "Smiley Smile." "Good Vibrations" was NOT recorded after Brian Wilson's mother died. Audree Wilson died in 1997, "Good Vibrations" was recorded and released as a single in 1966, and featured on the album "Smily Smile" in 1967, 30 years before Brian Wilson's mother died.

And another thing, "Good Vibrations" was originally meant to be included on the legendary "lost" follow-up to "Pet Sounds", "SMiLE". Wilson had his famous mental breakdown during the period when "SMiLE" was being recorded. Brian never finished SMiLE (until 2004). SMiLE was supposed to be Wilson's grand masterpiece, it would've blown "Sgt. Pepper's" out of the water if it were finished back in the 60s. Instead of putting out SMiLE, the Beach Boys made "Smiley Smile", featuring the hit single "Good Vibrations", plus low-key, minimalist, rough sounding remakes of several SMiLE songs. "Smiley Smile", although it is a good album, is nothing compared to SMiLE. The "Creative drought" may refer to the fact that Wilson went through an actual "creative drougt" after SMiLE, "Smiley Smile" being a product of this "drought".

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ascrodin
12-02-2006

Rated 0 
Sir Larrikan, I have one correction to make concerning your post about "Smiley Smile." "Good Vibrations" was NOT recorded after Brian Wilson's mother died. Audree Wilson died in 1997, "Good Vibrations" was recorded and released as a single in 1966, and featured on the album "Smily Smile" in 1967, 30 years before Brian Wilson's mother died.

And another thing, "Good Vibrations" was originally meant to be included on the legendary "lost" follow-up to "Pet Sounds", "SMiLE". Wilson had his famous mental breakdown during the period when "SMiLE" was being recorded. Brian never finished SMiLE (until 2004). SMiLE was supposed to be Wilson's grand masterpiece, it would've blown "Sgt. Pepper's" out of the water if it were finished back in the 60s. Instead of putting out SMiLE, the Beach Boys made "Smiley Smile", featuring the hit single "Good Vibrations", plus low-key, minimalist, rough sounding remakes of several SMiLE songs. "Smiley Smile", although it is a good album, is nothing compared to SMiLE. The "Creative drought" may refer to the fact that Wilson went through an actual "creative drougt" after SMiLE, "Smiley Smile" being a product of this "drought".

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dragline
05-06-2007

Rated 0 
i think people are putting too much value into the brian wilson references. above all, i think the song is about the narrators depression and is only using brian wilson as an example

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MyOwnHero18
07-11-2007

Rated 0 
This is probably my favorite song but that can be argued. Sir Larrikin nailed the meaning down. It also does have levels like others have said. By the way sitting in a psych class and one even hears the name Pavlov and one automaticly starts singing in ones head "Brian Wilson" its a reaction one can't stop.

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mentalistic
12-01-2007

Rated 0 
THE best song ever written, cant get enough of it! Fair play sir larrikin exactly what its about!

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