Listening Too Long To One Song: The Beach Boys 'Disney Girls (1957)

It's a crazy day at work today, and in addition I am in the process of editing a recent interview that I conducted with Aaron Kyle from Le Switch. Therefore I am not left with my usual amount of time to obsess about a pop song (that's probably a good thing.) All I can really say about "Disney Girls (1957)" is that it's perfect. There is the sweet waltz of the melody. The sigh (good sigh) inducing nostalgic lyrics which were written by Bruce Johnston in response to the seeming deterioration of the (then) current generation, and to celebrate simpler times: "Reality, it's not for me, and it makes me laugh/ Fantasy world and disney girls, I'm coming back." Perhaps too sweet and simple a world to imagine living in all the time, but it's a nice thought. And I think most people would be kidding themselves if they said that they never longed for a much less complicated life. This song offers a perfectly brief escape into that feeling without having to spend too much time there. Then there is the build up to the multi- part harmonies about 3/4 of the way through that seem to bring everything in the world around you to a stand still, and leave you wondering, "How does anyone pull that off?" I know they are the Beach Boys, and they are known for pulling off those insanely beautiful, layered harmonies, but seriously, how? The song shows up on the 1971 album "Surf's Up." You can find it, reissued along with "Sunflower," here.