Not made for these times.

“Why don’t you listen to the Beach Boys anymore?” my wife asked me, as we watched an awkward, white-suited, Brian-less lineup of the band play “Good Vibrations” on some “best of” the musical acts on The Ed Sullivan Show that was playing on PBS. The question took me by surprise. In our 22 years together my wife, who’s appreciation of the Beach Boys can be described as “mild” and does not extend beyond that song and the two big songs off Pet Sounds (“Wouldn’t It Be Nice” and “God Only Knows”), had never expressed concern for the well-being of my Beach Boys fandom.

“You don’t listen to the Beach Boys anymore,” she continued, as I sat slightly stunned at this glaring lack of musical self-awareness. “You used to listen to them all the time.”

I guess I did. I remembered the early days of our relationship, when I’d spin Pet Sounds frequently, often gracing (or so I thought) her return home from work with the album that I thought celebrated our love and gave her further insight, in case she was not certain, into just how sensitive I was. Side two headed downhill fast, but playing out this drama through spinning the album seemed kind of brave of me, like I was staring down another man’s failure while building off the best bits of Brian’s triumph of love.

“You don’t like them now,” I looked up, “do you?” As soon as that that question left my tongue I felt a little queasy, like she would take this opportunity to suggest we join a swingers’ scene.

“No.”

I was relieved and went back to contemplating the full implications of her question. Continue reading »