History NightmareFuel / TheBeachBoys

* The beginning of "Deidre" sounds very eerie, especially if you heard the song VideoGame/EarthBound sampled for "Cave of the Past".

** The revamped "Heroes and Villains" that was finally issued as a single on July 1967 is the track that opens this record. The song starts on a rather lighthearted manner, with first two verses being a bouncy ode to the Old West; its tone reminiscent of the good clean fun typical of early Beach Boys songs, and its surging rhythm evoking the dynamics of "Good Vibrations". It seems like a song full of groundbreaking promise: an attempt to surpass "Good Vibrations" as pop music's greatest achievement as planned; enticing us to eagerly anticipate what surprises Music/BrianWilson has in store for us. Only to fade out. And then... without warning, the CHORUS JUMPS AT US. But unlike earlier, we are subjected to a chorus so sad, so melancholic, it comes off as jarring. "Heroes and villains... just see what you done....," the Boys lament. They chant not once, but twice, and we are left with a sense of despair and helplessness. What did these heroes and villains do? And then it hits you, Are *we* the heroes and villains of the title? "Na na na naaa na...," they sing with unnervingly childish inflection as though they are taunting us for our actions. And as we begin to contemplate over our enforced guilt, the song JUMPS AGAIN to the bouncy verse. There's a slow rendition of the verse that follows it, and the music box-like instrumentation gives it a gentle feel at first. However, it then descends into disturbing territory, as the barbershop-style vocalizations become more ominous. Just before it could become creepy, it abruptly halts. Fading in is a soothing a capella reprise of the first verse. The sound quality is significantly different this time around, being of low fidelity. The hisses from the background are so dissonant on a sonic level, the idea that it could be a cult recording from a dark basement is not far off. And before the last couplet "I'm fit with the stuff to ride in the rough / and sunny down snuff, I'm all right by the heroes and villains" could be completed, it CUTS RIGHT OFF TO CHORUS for a second time and fading out to uncertainty. It's as though Brian gave up on the whole thing.

* The repetitive "Heroes and Villains" harpsichord motif. A massive EarWorm teetering uncomfortably on the edge between beauty and horror, it's been known to induce wildly different reactions to whomever is exposed to it. What's more, if you're listening to [=Smile=] for the first time, after hearing the first side you might [[ParanoiaFuel expect it to appear out of nowhere at any time]].

* [[https://spectator.imgix.net/content/uploads/2016/11/Beachboys.jpg?auto=compress,enhance,format,redeye&crop=faces,entropy,edges&fit=crop&w=620&h=413 This picture.]] Behold, Mike Love's NightmareFace.

'''''MIU'''''
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nN7WFwRFid0 My Diane]] has been repeatedly confirmed as being about the end of an affair between Brian Wilson and his wife Marilyn's sister, Diane Rovell. This is scary as adultery is a sin and means that Brian is going to hell.

* The beginning of "Deidre" sounds very eerie, especially if you heard the song VideoGame/Earthbound sampled for "Cave of the Past".

* A very notorious example would be the Fire section of The Elements Suite. While the piece was supposed to convey the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, Brian Wilson channeled the experience of his second LSD trip (wherein he experienced ego death and saw himself burning within the fires of hell) as the musical bedding for his composition. Roughly three minutes of this is purely screeching violins, organ jabs, and ominous timpani strikings amidst the array of chaotic sound effects. Probing deeper in to the music and you get a portrait of Wilson's deteriorating mental state at that time - he had studio musicians wear firemen hats while performing, even encouraging the engineer to throw piles of wood in a trash bin and burn them during the session. If that is disturbing enough, what is more disturbing is the aftermath of the recording itself. Unbeknownst to Wilson, at the time he was working on the Fire section, parts of neighboring Santa Monica were engulfed in flames. Once word got to him, he was so convinced that his music unleashed "bad vibrations", that he immediately halted work on this song. Eerie.

** The revamped "Heroes and Villains" that was finally issued as a single on July 1967 is the track that opens this record. The song starts on a rather lighthearted manner, with first two verses being a bouncy ode to the Old West; its tone reminiscent of the good clean fun typical of early Beach Boys songs, and its surging rhythm evoking the dynamics of "Good Vibrations". It seems like a song full of groundbreaking promise: an attempt to surpass "Good Vibrations" as pop music's greatest achievement as planned; enticing us to eagerly anticipate what surprises Brian Wilson has in store for us. Only to fade out. And then... without warning, the CHORUS JUMPS AT US. But unlike earlier, we are subjected to a chorus so sad, so melancholic, it comes off as jarring. "Heroes and villains... just see what you done....," the Boys lament. They chant not once, but twice, and we are left with a sense of despair and helplessness. What did these heroes and villains do? And then it hits you, Are *we* the heroes and villains of the title? "Na na na naaa na...," they sing with unnervingly childish inflection as though they are taunting us for our actions. And as we begin to contemplate over our enforced guilt, the song JUMPS AGAIN to the bouncy verse. There's a slow rendition of the verse that follows it, and the music box-like instrumentation gives it a gentle feel at first. However, it then descends into disturbing territory, as the barbershop-style vocalizations become more ominous. Just before it could become creepy, it abruptly halts. Fading in is a soothing a capella reprise of the first verse. The sound quality is significantly different this time around, being of low fidelity. The hisses from the background are so dissonant on a sonic level, the idea that it could be a cult recording from a dark basement is not far off. And before the last couplet "I'm fit with the stuff to ride in the rough / and sunny down snuff, I'm all right by the heroes and villains" could be completed, it CUTS RIGHT OFF TO CHORUS for a second time and fading out to uncertainty. It's as though Brian gave up on the whole thing.

* Not related to the band's music but what is surely a terrifying thought is that Dennis Wilson had the freaking '''''Manson family''''' living in his home for a while!

* The cover art of ''Surf's Up'', our page image. If you just glanced over it without seeing the title plaque, chances are your immediate assumption would be that this is some freakin' heavy metal right here. And without having heard the songs themselves, titles like "Don't Go Near the Water" and "'Til I Die" just sound creepy and ominous.
* "'Til I Die" immediately begins with a droning synthesizer chord progression that plays throughout the whole song. The song's themes of despair, anguish, and (of course) death further brings chills down the listener's spine.

* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnyGklpCc84 My Solution,]]" a ''Landlocked'' outtake. Nonsensical, drug-addled spoken word soliloquy about some kind of mad doctor(?) featuring dark, eerie synths equals some creepy shivers, for sure.[[note]]However, if you are now in need of some NightmareRetardant, Brian later reworked it as a joyful anthem of recovery for his 1998 album, ''Imagination''![[/note]]

* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tF1NeZlOWP4 My Solution,]]" a ''Landlocked'' outtake. Nonsensical, drug-addled spoken word soliloquy about some kind of mad doctor(?) featuring dark, eerie synths equals some creepy shivers, for sure.[[note]]However, if you are now in need of some NightmareRetardant, Brian later reworked it as a joyful anthem of recovery for his 1998 album, ''Imagination''![[/note]]

[[caption-width-right:300:[[LessDisturbingInContext DON'T GO NEAR THE WATER.]]]]

* The repetitive "Heroes and Villains" harpsichord motif. An massive EarWorm teetering uncomfortably on the edge between beauty and horror, it's been known to induce wildly different reactions to whomever is exposed to it. What's more, if you're listening to [=Smile=] for the first time, after hearing the first side you might [[ParanoiaFuel expect it to appear out of nowhere at any time]].
** Around the time of its release in 2011, ''The [=Smile=] Sessions'' had an official sub-site as part of The Beach Boys' official website. The first thing you were greeted with when opening it? [[JumpScare The "Heroes and Villains" riff]] (in its even darker outtake form, even), juxtaposed with the otherwise happy and cheerful album art, modified with some UncannyValley animation.

* ''Smiley Smile'', the album we got instead of ''[=Smile=]'', was no picnic either. In fact, most consider it to be even more creepy and nightmarish. A minimalist, quirky, and intimate production, it's been likened to being stuck in a small room with some imaginative, if harmless, manics for thirty minutes. It even manages to make some of the ''[=Smile=]'' songs that were relatively innocuous dark and creepy...

** The revamped "Heroes and Villains" that was finally issued as a single on July 1967, as well as being the track that starts this record. The song commences rather lightheartedly, with first two verses being a bouncy ode to the Old West; its tone reminiscent of the good clean fun typical of early Beach Boys songs, and its surging rhythm evoking the dynamics of "Good Vibrations". It seems like a song full of groundbreaking promise, an attempt to surpass "Good Vibrations", enticing us to eagerly anticipate what surprises Brian Wilson has in store for us. Only to fade out. And then... without warning, the CHORUS JUMPS AT US. But unlike earlier, we are subjected to a chorus so sad, so melancholic, it comes off as jarring. "Heroes and villains... just see what you done....," the Boys lament. They chant not once, but twice, and we are left with a sense of despair and helplessness. What did these heroes and villains do? And then it hits you, Are *we* the heroes and villains of the title? "Na na na naaa na...," they sing with unnervingly childish inflection as though they are taunting us for our actions. And as we begin to contemplate over our enforced guilt, the song JUMPS AGAIN to the bouncy verse. There's a slow rendition of the verse that follows it, and the music box-like instrumentation gives it a gentle feel at first. However, it then descends into disturbing territory, as the barbershop-style vocalizations become more ominous. Just before it could become creepy, it abruptly halts. Fading in is a soothing a capella reprise of the first verse. The sound quality is significantly different this time around, being of low fidelity. The hisses from the background are so dissonant on a sonic level, the idea that it could be a cult recording from a dark basement is not far off. And before the last couplet "I'm fit with the stuff to ride in the rough / and sunny down snuff, I'm all right by the heroes and villains" could be completed, it CUTS RIGHT OFF TO CHORUS for a second time and fading out to uncertainty. It's as though Brian gave up on the whole thing.

'''''Music/SurferGirl'''''

* ''Smiley Smile'', the album we got instead of ''[=SMiLE=]'', was no picnic either. In fact, most consider it to be even more creepy and nightmarish. A minimalist, quirky, and intimate production, it's been likened to being stuck in a small room with some imaginative, if harmless, manics for thirty minutes. It even manages to make some of the ''[=SMiLE=]'' songs that were relatively innocuous dark and creepy...

** "Wonderful", in its sparse arrangement of piano and sustained organ, benefits from a sinister vocal turn by Carl Wilson (making what was a song about [[TheirFirstTime losing consensual innocence]] feel like a song about being an unsuspecting target of prowling rapist, making it all the more creepy). The seemingly-jovial interlude [[FridgeHorror heightens the listener's fears]]. The whole song feels so somber and gloomy. Not something to [[JustForPun smile]] about.

'''''Music/{{SMiLE}}'''''
* "The Old Master Painter" track begins with a brief string rendition of the aforementioned and then progresses to a haunting version of "You Are My Sunshine", which has its lyrics put to past tense (eg. "You ''were'' my sunshine...") and make it appear as a melancholic song about a person suffering from a heartbreak. It does not help that Dennis Wilson's vocals have been altered to have an echoey timbre. The song ends on [[LastNoteNightmare a long descending note played on violins]], as if it's meant to project the idea that the singer had either lost his mind or apparently committed suicide.
* The instrumental outtake, "Look", opens with a stark and moody piano chord progression.
* [[LastNoteNightmare "OVER AND OVER..."]]
* The original ending to "Surf's Up". Wordless vocals continue to go on until the song gradually fades.
* A very notorious example would be the Fire section of The Elements Suite. While the piece was supposed to convey the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, Brian Wilson based the composition on his second LSD trip, wherein he experienced ego death and saw himself burning within the fires of hell. Roughly three minutes of this is purely screeching violins and organ jabs amidst the array of chaotic sound effects. If that is disturbing enough, what is more disturbing is the story of the recording itself. Unbeknownst to Wilson, at the time he was working on the Fire section, parts of neighboring Santa Monica were put to flames. Once word got to him, he was so convinced that the ordeal unleashed "bad vibrations", that he immediately halted work on this song. Eerie.
** While on this subject, the second disc of the ''Good Vibrations'' box set features what is ostensibly a small snippet of "Heroes and Villains"... then wham! Out of nowhere, it's "Fire"! And what's worse, it remains unknown whether this was a printing mistake, or some sort of creepy mind game...
* The repetitive "Heroes and Villains" harpsichord motif. An massive EarWorm teetering uncomfortably on the edge between beauty and horror, it's been known to induce wildly different reactions to whomever is exposed to it. What's more, if you're listening to [=SMiLE=] for the first time, after hearing the first side you might [[ParanoiaFuel expect it to appear out of nowhere at any time]].
** Around the time of its release in 2011, ''The [=SMiLE=] Sessions'' had an official sub-site as part of The Beach Boys' official website. The first thing you were greeted with when opening it? [[JumpScare The "Heroes and Villains" riff]] (in its even darker outtake form, even), juxtaposed with the otherwise happy and cheerful album art, modified with some UncannyValley animation.

'''''[[Music/{{SMiLE}}]]'''''

'''''[[Music/{{Smile}} SMiLE]]'''''

'''Music/SurferGirl'''

'''Music/PetSounds'''

'''Music/SmileySmile'''

'''[[Music/{{Smile}} SMiLE]]'''

'''Music/TwentyTwenty'''
* "I Went To Sleep" is quite evidently the product of someone with mental issues, and as Brian's only new contribution to the album (his other contributions were old outtakes), it shows what state of mind he was in at the time.

'''Music/SurfsUp'''

'''Other'''

'''Music/{{Sunflower}}'''

* The inner gatefold to the album features a very creepy picture of Mike Love with some kids.

'''Summer In Paradise'''
* All of ''Summer in Paradise'' qualifies. It's hard to believe that Mike Love could fathom such an album...but he did.

* [[http://i.imgur.com/BMdFDCe.jpg This picture]]. Brian doesn't look right... no, scratch that, actually he's looking RIGHT INTO YOUR SOUL.

** "The Old Master Painter" track begins with a brief string rendition of the aforementioned and then progresses to a haunting version of "You Are My Sunshine", which has its lyrics put to past tense (eg. "You ''were'' my sunshine...") and make it appear as a melancholic song about a person suffering from a heartbreak. It does not help that Dennis Wilson's vocals have been altered to have an echoey timbre. The song ends on [[LastNoteNightmare a long descending note played on violins]], as if it's meant to project the idea that the singer had either lost his mind or apparently committed suicide.
** The instrumental outtake, "Look", opens with a stark and moody piano chord progression.
** [[LastNoteNightmare "OVER AND OVER..."]]
** The original ending to "Surf's Up". Wordless vocals continue to go on until the song gradually fades.
** A very notorious example would be the Fire section of The Elements Suite. While the piece was supposed to convey the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, Brian Wilson based the composition on his second LSD trip, wherein he experienced ego death and saw himself burning within the fires of hell. Roughly three minutes of this is purely screeching violins and organ jabs amidst the array of chaotic sound effects. If that is disturbing enough, what is more disturbing is the story of the recording itself. Unbeknownst to Wilson, at the time he was working on the Fire section, parts of neighboring Santa Monica were put to flames. Once word got to him, he was so convinced that the ordeal unleashed "bad vibrations", that he immediately halted work on this song. Eerie.
*** While on this subject, the second disc of the ''Good Vibrations'' box set features what is ostensibly a small snippet of "Heroes and Villains"... then wham! Out of nowhere, it's "Fire"! And what's worse, it remains unknown whether this was a printing mistake, or some sort of creepy mind game...
** The repetitive "Heroes and Villains" harpsichord motif. An massive EarWorm teetering uncomfortably on the edge between beauty and horror, it's been known to induce wildly different reactions to whomever is exposed to it. What's more, if you're listening to [=SMiLE=] for the first time, after hearing the first side you might [[ParanoiaFuel expect it to appear out of nowhere at any time]].
*** Around the time of its release in 2011, ''The [=SMiLE=] Sessions'' had an official sub-site as part of The Beach Boys' official website. The first thing you were greeted with when opening it? [[JumpScare The "Heroes and Villains" riff]] (in its even darker outtake form, even), juxtaposed with the otherwise happy and cheerful album art, modified with some UncannyValley animation.

* [[http://internationalpopoverthrow.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/beach-boys.jpg This picture]]. Brian doesn't look right... no, scratch that, actually he's looking RIGHT INTO YOUR SOUL.

'''Music/Sunflower'''

* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tF1NeZlOWP4 My Solution]]", a ''Landlocked'' outtake. Nonsensical, drug-addled spoken word soliloquy about some kind of mad doctor(?) featuring dark, eerie synths equals some creepy shivers, for sure.[[note]]However, if you are now in need of some NightmareRetardant, Brian later reworked it as a joyful anthem of recovery for his 1998 album, ''Imagination''![[/note]]