Entry #1: Please Let Me Wonder by The Beach Boys

Track: “Please Let Me Wonder” 2:47
Artist: The Beach Boys
Year: 1965
Album: “The Beach Boys Today!” (8^th March 1965)

First Release: B-Side of “Do You Wanna Dance” US only 45 (15^th Feburary 1965)

Please Let Me Wonder, like many tracks I often adore today, never was a track I originally had a great relationship with. During my earlier days of working through The Beach Boys back catalogue, mainly through pickups at record fairs and the odd lucky find at a boot fair, Today! was not an LP I was quick to find. Many of their other LPs, most notably the 60s LPs, had found their way into my collection, but for a while The Beach Boys Today! was left stranded as a collection of files on my PC. I’d played what I had a few times, but it was the 2^nd side of the LP [figuratively speaking] that bothered me. 6 tracks of pure up-tempo pop goodness suddenly ground to a halt in a cloud of muddy ahhhs and ooooohs, and I couldn’t work with it. THEN I got the LP, and the understanding of Please Let Me Wonder clicked.

Sticking of side 2 of an LP always allows for a fresh start to the collection of tracks. One can make a statement on side 1 and then make a completely different, yet cohesively linking one, on the next side. And Today!’s second side of Pet Sounds Prequel ballads does this perfectly, and Please Let Me Wonder is without a doubt the perfect example of this.

The aforementioned muddy quality of this track is certainly an easy reason to dislike the track within the first few seconds. The group vocals of the intro seem far less distinct at first compared to the first half of the LP, and the instrumentation refuses to stick out. This, along with the mono mix of Don’t Back Down from the previous “All Summer Long” LP, seem like unusual occurrences under Wilson’s watchful eye, but even the phasing on production masterpiece “Good Vibrations” shows audio quality probably wasn’t his priority. Regardless, once Brian’s beautiful [And single tracked!] lead vocal kicks in, it all makes sense. The voice manages to leap out of the fog, like a beautiful thought surrounded by a confused situation. “This would have been worth waiting forever” Wilson sings, bringing the listener into the moment. Finally, alone with the person of his dreams, he likely has the chance to admit his true feelings to them, but, like anyone who has been in the situation has felt, he is shaking. His heart is breaking. The fear is creeping in. Does his dream really love him? Is he going to leave heartbroken? The words can’t even come out his mouth.

And then the chorus kicks in. “Please let me wonder, If I’ve been the one you love, If I’m who you’re dreaming of”. The search for answers has been left stilted, and Brian [though the chorus lead is sung by Mike] is left with a preference that instead of total rejection, he should just be left wishing, WONDERING, if his love feels the same way as he does. He is not seeking answers, rather an alternative to what seems like another devastating heartbreak.

The 2^nd verse continues the fight in the first verse for a sign of love from Wilson’s dream, desperately trying to prove just how much this girl means to him. “I build all my goals around you” Brian weeps into the microphone, “[So that] my love would surround you”. The words of a man desperately trying to prove his love to someone he knows may be fading from him quicker than he can bring them back. The struggle is noted perfectly in Brian’s voice. He’s trying to keep it straight, but there is a clear shakiness in his delivery that creates an uncertainty with the listener. For Brian defeat is just around the corner, and if anything, it’s tearing him apart. Brian’s lyrical conclusion rounds out the reasoning for the distress in his voice. “For so long I’ve thought about it, and now I just can’t live without it”. Brian’s perspective of his love is one he wants to be unchanged, an idea later reflected upon in his 1966 solo single [and later Pet Sounds closer] “Caroline, No”. The swift transition back into the chorus only further leaves Brian no choice but to surrender before he is defeated. He knows what he truly dreams of will never be his, but to be officially denied it will destroy him. He needs to be left pondering on the matter, with no real closure, even if he has near enough been granted it. The solo section simply serves to allow the listener to reflect upon Brian’s distress, before hammering the point home with another chorus to fade. However, just before Brian calls it out and leaves, he surrenders to himself, and quite plainly states – “I love you”. The ponderous instrumentation and quick fade leaves the listener begging to know what may have occurred next, although Brian’s attitude throughout has, in theory, addressed the point already.

Interestingly, an earlier version of the track, sung by Mike Love, features a far more distressed, if melodically unstable, set of lyrics, most notably in the line “so please don’t say what you plan to say”. Here the concept of leaving the love in question out in the open is disregarded – Mike doesn’t want to know, and makes this point clear. However, from a musical stand point, this version is certainly the inferior take. Mike’s vocal does not emit the emotion in Brian’s heartfelt delivery, and the lyrics and melody seem forced at the best of times, leaving the listener uneasy without having tossed their emotions around.

In conclusion, Please Let Me Wonder is easily one of my favourite Beach Boys tracks, and well as one of my favourite musical moments in general. The emotion of the song feels spot on, as does Brian’s perfect vocal and the instrumentation. Mike’s alterations to Brian’s original lyrics also manage to create a more structurally sound track, leaving me moved each and every time.

-         -  Freddie