In a post about Grace Kelly in the movie The Swan I asked who the boy was that played her younger brother. It was Van Dyke Parks, first a child actor, but best known for his musical collaborations with Brian Wilson.
Van Dyke’s lyrics have been characterized as being obscure, most famously the line “columnated ruins domino” in “Surf’s Up,” a song that was originally a centerpiece of the SMiLE album that Wilson abandoned, but finally completed and released in 2004.
Here is “Surf’s Up” as recorded for the Beach Boys album of the same name in 1971. Another great example of the virtues of Vinyl Music. Rubber Soul.
[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/SEP07/SurfsUp.mp3]
Hmm. Maybe he wants his ashes blasted into space.
Awesome song, to say the least! Anybody else note the uncanny resemblance between Van Dyke and James Doohan in his late years? “Cap’n! I cannae think up good lyrics on such short notice!””