Jun 11, 2025

The Wizard Of The Beach


Brian Wilson
1942 - 2025
The legendary songwriter and co-founder of The Beach Boys passed away today.  He was 82 years old.

Brian Wilson was one of the most respected and successful musicians of the 20th century.  I'm far from being an expert on his music (in fact, I still haven't listened to Pet Sounds all the way through; a blind spot that I plan to rectify this weekend), but I've enjoyed what I heard on the radio and in movies over the years, like I Get Around in Flight Of The Navigator, God Only Knows in Boogie Nights, and Wouldn't It Be Nice in 50 First Dates.  If I had to pick a favorite song out of the ones I'm familiar with, it would be the first song on Side B of Surfer Girl.  I first heard it when I was in elementary school and it reminds me of when I lived with my mother and stepfather, neither of whom could ever understand why I'd rather stay in my room and read, or listen to music, or play Nintendo instead of pretending to be Huck Finn on the streets of Nuremberg.
There's a world where I can go and tell my secrets to
In my room
In my room (in my room)

In this world I lock out all my worries and my fears
In my room
In my room (in my room)

Do my dreaming and my scheming
Lie awake and pray
Do my crying and my sighing
Laugh at yesterday

Now it's dark and I'm alone but I won't be afraid
In my room
In my room (in my room)