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27 - Wouldn't It Be Nice (The Beach Boys) · Barracuda Breakdowns

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, I want to dive into Wouldn't It Be Nice by the Beach Boys.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: It's the first song off the 1966 pet sound album.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's one of their biggest songs ever.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: And it was largely written by Brian Wilson, and Tony Asher wrote the lyrics.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: And apparently Mike Love had some hand in the composition.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: I know there's like kind of controversial or disputed.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: But oh, I want to get into the musicality of the song.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: It has three different key changes, which is awesome.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: And he does a lot of like abrupt modulations.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: Like the key changes are pretty abrupt.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: It's like good vibrations.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: You know, like the key will just instantly change.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes the tempo will change.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: In good vibrations, it does that too.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: And in this song it does it.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: It starts with a slowdown, which is rare in a pop song.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: And uh let's get into it.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: So it starts with it sounds like harp is in the intro, but I looked it up, and it's actually like a combination of 12-string Mando guitar and 12-string guitar.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: And they like played it directly into the recording council.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: Console.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: And uh it had like a kind of harp-like tone quality to it.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: So this is it on guitar, it goes.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: Like that, that's like the pivot chord right there, okay?
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: So this that's the two chords it's outlining.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: A major to F sharp minor, which is the relative minor of A major.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: Then it goes to the minor two chord.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: It goes to D major.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: So it's outlining A major, F sharp minor, B minor, D major.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: So that is B minor to D major.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: So it's just like one to six, two to four.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: So it sounds like kind of jolly and nice, like everything's fine and dandy.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: Like it just instantly goes to C.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: It's key's kind of outlining C6.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: C6 just has like the major six.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: It just looks like that.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: C major, but it has that has like an A in it, right?
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: Or you can play it like this.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: There's a bunch of different ways to play it, but I like to play it like this.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: So it's like and but right away it's like that's like the chord right there.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: That's like, what?
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like wouldn't it be nice if we like whoa, like this is F major.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: This is like the main key of the song, right?
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: Instant.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: It's just so instant, a huge color change, and everything kicks in, like the drums and everything.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: Wouldn't it be nice if we were older?
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: It's so high, but he's like belting it, right?
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: He's like, wouldn't it be nice if we were older?
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: Then we wouldn't have it's like he's really like using his chess voice there, it sounds like.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: Then we wouldn't have.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: There's the four chord B flat standard to do that, but it's like a really nice color.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: Then have to wait so long.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: And wouldn't it be nice?
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: So that's a two-five one.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: So we're in F major, right?
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: So two five one, maybe you've heard of that cadence.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: It's a very common chord progression, very common in jazz.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: Pop music has it a lot too.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: So it's like major one, F, then we wouldn't to the four, and then two, five, one.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so the two is G minor and then C.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: Or you do C seven, or it might be even G minor seven.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe C seven, yeah.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: Dominant seven.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: Just like a nice extra flavor.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: Wouldn't it be nice to live together in the kind of world where we belong.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: And then it goes, what happens now?
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: It goes to the relative minor.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: This is not a key change, it just goes to the relative minor.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: It's common, F major to D minor.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: It's nice to do this between sections, it because this is like major based, and then this is minor based.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: You know what's gonna make it that?
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: Like every syllable has a different note.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's so nice.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: He's like going up the G Dorian scale.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: Like completely, just like root, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: Octave.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but the chords are D minor seven, which is the relative minor of F major.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: You know what's gonna make it?
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: No, this is awesome.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: That much better.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: Like that is so cool.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: It's F sus 9.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: I used to think it was C minor seven, like a lot of chords online say and it sounds like very similar.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: They're like almost almost identical.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: You know what's gonna make it that much better.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: But the bass is definitely playing an F.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like F sus 9.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: So you got the F there, and then you got the fifth, F again.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: That's the fourth, okay?
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: And then that is awesome.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's the seventh there.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: And then that's the ninth, so that's got G in it.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: Look at that chord.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: So Brian Wilson.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just doing three, three, three, four, three starting in the A string.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: You know it's gonna make it that much better.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: Look at that, so dreamy.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: That much better.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: And then when we can say goodnight um, and he doesn't repeat that chord, he's moving on, man.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: Brian Wilson's moving on.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: Stay together.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: What'd it be nice?
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: It's so beautiful.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: So he does A minor seven, which is the minor three chord of F.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, the minor three chord, but he makes it a minor seven.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: Stay together.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: Here's a two-five one.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: Back to the major section.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: Wouldn't it be nice if we could wake up in the morning when the day is new, and after having spent the day together, hold each other close the whole night through.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: Back to it.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: So we we've kinda had like intro and then verse chorus verse chorus.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: So I guess you call this a chorus.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: I like how he says the title of the song in the verses.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um What happy What happy times together?
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: Be spending.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: D minor seven to F sus9.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: We'd be spending.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: I wish that every kiss was depending.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: I like to remember the first time I heard that.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, man, that's like so romantic.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: Never ending, so like classy.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: Wouldn't it be nice?
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: And then it's like, this is like that Brian Wilson moment where everything transforms.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: And then what is happening here?
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: We enter a different key.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: D major.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, not D minor, which is the relative minor of F major.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: We're now in D major.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: And this is the section where it goes, maybe if we think and wish and hope and pray it might come true.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: This is really cool because the that harp sound is going on in the background, the from the intro, but the chords aren't.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: Like the um the harp is outlining that, but there's like new chords going on here, and it's D major seven.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe if we think and wish and hope and pray.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: That's G major seven now.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: Super dreamy.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: It might come true.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so F sharp minor seven, and then B minor seven.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: Like just listen to the chords.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: Nice.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe then holding an E there.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: It's like D like add nine, adding a nice ninth.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: We think it wishes and hope to pray.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: I love I love that melody.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe then there wouldn't be a single thing we couldn't do.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: Gorgeous.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: So according to D major, we're doing major one, but doing a major seven chord, right?
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: So it's the one, it's the root, and then we go to the four, which is G, major seven.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: And then we go to the minor three, and then to the sixth, which is the relative minor of D major.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: And then there wouldn't be a single thing we couldn't do.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: And then this part is awesome.
• 9:48
  unknown: We could be married, and then we could be married.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: It just oscillates between F sharp minor and B minor.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: Seven, right?
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: And then we'd be happy, then we'd be happy.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: That's that pivot chord from the intro.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: What a phase right there.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's C, and that's what happens there.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: When we'd be happy, and then we'd be happy.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: Sudden, super abrupt.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: Wouldn't it be nice?
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: And it's going, it's just holding on F and it starts to slow down.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: It does a retard.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: And then it goes back to that chorus, right?
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: The you know it seems no more we talk about it.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: It's so like free time now, right?
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: It only makes it worse to live without it.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: But let's talk about it.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's so gorgeous, but let's talk about it.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: Wouldn't it be nice?
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: Gorgeous.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: I love how they they live without it.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: That's A minor seven to G minor, and it doesn't go to C right away, it doesn't go to the five chord, it goes back, it repeats it.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: But let's talk about it.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: Wouldn't it be nice?
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: This holds just the one chord.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: That's all you need after all that complexity.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: Just holding that one until the outro, just until the fade out.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: And I think this outro, like that lyric, is what Mike Love contributed, but if you guys know any more, please comment.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: I'd love to know.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um but yeah, just such a gorgeous song, like starting from A major, and then wouldn't it be F.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: And like and it goes at relative minor, and then it goes back and then like staying in F.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: And then we do this weird, and now New World D major, D major seven.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: Just so nice.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_00: And then again, another pivot, we could be happy, wouldn't it be?
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: F major one, man.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: Oh man, so it's in the key of A, F, D, F.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: Really, really nice.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: And perfectly executed.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: Everything happens so concisely in two and a half minutes.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_00: Like what a blast of color in just two and a half minutes.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: Hope you enjoyed that, guys.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: Please leave a rating if you're listening to this on a podcast platform.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're interested in working together on a music production level to not only bring your songs to life, but to really define and shape your sound with me, just go to learn.dambarricuda.com slash own your sound.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: So check it out if you're interested, and I'll see you in the next episode.