2: in my room-- the beach boys

yes, another selection by the smiley sunsoaked band from california. even i was surprised by how high on the list this song ended up, but the more i thought about it, the better i understood. the beach boys have had a profound impact on my life. from a very early age (they were my first concert after all). i feel like they influenced me so heavily and so early on that they have informed everything i have listened to. i have always had a deep appreciation for this song. its harmony, its soft flow, its endearing pop, its youthful sentiments. it is a deceptively simple song that has can appeal to a wide audience. it was not until recently, though, that i realized what kind of impact this song had on me.

i dont know when i first heard this song. it was not on the 'made in u.s.a.' compilation that i obsessed over at a young age, but i know i was familiar with this song around the time i was listening to that album. my first experience must have been on the radio. in fact, i have a vague memory of me asking my mother to turn this song up when we were driving around town in her station wagon (this takes it way back). but regardless of when i first heard it, there was something that connected me to this song at age 7, age 12, age 17, and even today.

if the song 'basket case' represents one strain of my musical preference (the coolness factor), this song represents the beginning of its opposing strain: the personal song. this song became differentiated in my mind from songs about the wheels on the bus, the itsy bitsy spider and even songs about daddy taking the t-bird away. for the first time, i heard and felt in music what i was thinking. and though it wasnt complex, it was a sentiment i could relate to and feel a part of. they were singing about feelings that everyone could understand, no matter what age you were. after hearing this song, music began to mean something totally different than what i had thought it could. it was no longer something that was something to have on to pass the time or something to be done in music class at school. you could use it to connect. you could use it to learn something. you could use it to feel.

if music in my life appeals to me in three different ways (for its functionality, for how it makes me feel cool, for its emotional connection), it is the strain that i discovered in this song that has dictated the majority of my musical preference. i like stuff that i can hear and feel a part of, something that is emotionally revealing. stuff that is deep. stuff that makes you feel that indescribable feeling that absolutely great music conjures up inside of me. music that is thoughtful and personal in varying shades of pop has defined my musical life. this explains why i liked nirvana, sebadoh, coldplay, the replacements, otis redding, and most of the music on this list. years and years after i first heard this song i feel connected to it and i seek out songs that do for me what this song did. so, yeah, even though i never would have guessed it, this song is a very fitting choice for the second spot on this list.


i was there, i swear: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YabBXayt3bs