Sun-blinding vision
of a surfing state,
songs with their feet down
hard on the accelerator.
But the little deuce coupes
have long gone to the scrapyard.
The wild west is back,
if it ever went away.
Beady-eyed outlaws
who don’t like strangers
have taken over the town,
heroes replaced by villains.
Smile, the album
he never quite finished.
Sweet harmonies
fade away and disappear.
Yeah, things are pretty sad and challenging in California right now (the place I grew up in & currently reside; although I could never qualify as a California girl described in the early Beach boy songs!). My teenage grandkids did go to the beach yesterday. The sun keeps shining; people take to the streets; forces collide; we hope things move towards peace and understanding and kindness. We have a long way to go. Blessings on Brian Wilson; freed from this earthly plane, his music lives on (send us some good vibrations, Brian!). Thanks for this commendable poem, Greg! A precise, well-written depiction of the current state of affairs here on the West Coast of Cali.
Good Vibrations by the Beach Boys
https://youtu.be/apBWI6xrbLY?feature=shared
Cheers, Ray! It was written quickly. The poetic equivalent of a three-minute single?
Very good, Greg, I like the 3rd stanza a lot.
Thanks for your comments, Uilleam, Graham, Steve, Isobel, and Stephen, and for the Likes, Auracle, Naomi, Holden, K Lynn, Red Brick, Aisha, and Manish. My first LP, bought with paper round earnings, was Best of the Beach Boys vol 2. Included on it were I Get Around and California Girls. I have no idea what was on vol 1 ... My favourite lyric may be simple but it's perfect: 'We've been having fun all summer long ...'
Nicely done, Greg. 👏
How poignant Greg - I love how you tie in nostalgia for yester year with the hideous realities of the here and now. If only America wasn't such a big player in world events.
It's sad when glowing memories and deserved tributes run into the ugly present. For me, 'Holland' was a great, and mysterious, album. And Pet Sounds, of course. One of their later songs, if I remember, included the line : 'we don't understand why they sent in the National Guard'. Plus ca change..
I wasn’t really a Beachboys fan but those tunes burrowed their way into your psyche somehow. Wilson was a real innovator who quite literally ‘showed the way’ for other notable writers.
This is a colourful tribute Greg, gently done. Bravo!
Conspicuous consumerism and plastic surgery can paper over the cracks for a while, but will never cure any country's deep-seated ills.
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Greg Freeman
Sat 14th Jun 2025 19:08
Thanks, Hélène. Wishing you and all California, all the best for the future. You might be interested to read this. I'm sharing a FB post by the LA-based poet Charlotte Innes, who took part in a No Kings demonstration there yesterday:
"I’m home now, pretty exhausted, but so glad I went. The protest was totally peaceful and upbeat, with a brass band and people dancing spontaneously as the band went by. After hanging out in front of City Hall for a while, we marched down Spring Street. I think the marchers must have turned along 7th and marched back along Hill. I skipped out at 5th to join the returning marchers on Hill, then stopped at the City Hall park to eat my sandwich. That was where I saw the Baby Trump blimp! There were some great signs too, and I had several wonderful conversations throughout the day. On the bus back to Silver Lake, the driver’s shift ended mid-way and as he got off (and let the next driver on) he paused for a moment and thanked us for our good work! “Something has to be done,” he added. Wow! Both going Downtown and coming back the bus was packed with protesters. It was a good feeling."
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/14/no-kings-protests-trump-military-parade