Practical Criticism No. 72: Brian Wilson (God Only Knows What We’ll do Without You…)

In episode 72 of Practical Criticism, Ajay takes the somber occasion of Brian Wilson’s recent death to play, for Rebecca, the Beach Boys’s immortal track “God Only Knows”—a song Paul McCartney called the “greatest ever written.” Is Sir Paul, for once, correct? Ajay and Rebecca ask after the song’s technical perfection, noting its intermix of pop, jazz, barber shop, and even Bach-esque baroque, while dwelling as well on its lack of tonal center, emotional ambiguity, and quality of being at once light yet incredibly substantial. Is “God Only Knows” the platonic ideal of pop? How can we think about “genius”—and its complicated avatar, Brian Wilson? 

You can download the episode by right-clicking here and selecting “save as.” Or, look us up on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

This episode of Practical Criticism was edited by Ryan Lentini. If you like what you’ve heard, consider subscribing to Brooklyn Institute’s Patreon page, where you can enjoy access to all past and future episodes of this podcast, as well as Practical Criticism, Faculty Spotlight, and other BISR podcast productions.