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
Comment is about I can still hear music (blog)
Original item by Greg Freeman
Cheers, Ray! It was written quickly. The poetic equivalent of a three-minute single?
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Original item by Greg Freeman
Very good, Greg, I like the 3rd stanza a lot.
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Original item by Greg Freeman
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 ...'
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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.
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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..
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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!
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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
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Original item by Greg Freeman