At least a third of The Beach Boys' songs may qualify, due to their sheer beauty — even if the subject matter isn't necessarily sad.
- "Sloop John B":Well, I feel so broke up,
I want to go home. - "'Til I Die"I'm a leaf on a windy day
Pretty soon, I'll be blown away
How long will the wind blow?
How long will the wind blow?
Until I die... - "Caroline, No
". Brian Wilson wrote it about an unrequited love of his.- The They Might Be Giants cover is also quite heartwrenching. John Flansburgh can sure pull off any sad love song.
- Also: "Surfer Girl", "God Only Knows", "Don't Worry Baby", and especially "In My Room".
- The entire second side of The Beach Boys Today!! (well, maybe not the "Bull Session"... unless you think about Carl and Dennis), starting with "Please Let Me Wonder".
- Despite the rather cheerful music, "When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)" is this to those unsure of where they will be when they reach adulthood.
- The counting sung in the background, which represents the years going by as you age. This can be both sad and scary for some who realize that their life is passing them by.
- The fact that this song becomes Harsher in Hindsight when you realize that Brian was basically robbed of a healthy and happy adult life for most of his mid-20s to early-50s thanks to the trauma from the abuse that his father Murry Wilson dealt him.Won't last forever
It's kind of sad
- Despite the rather cheerful music, "When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)" is this to those unsure of where they will be when they reach adulthood.
- "A Day in the Life of a Tree" manages to be both utterly bizarre and soul-crushingly sad.
- "When I Grow Up" A coming of age song that manages to pack more emotional punch in two short minutes than most coming of age MOVIES do in two hours. Starting with the second verse, the backing vocals count up the age of the singer (beginning at fourteen) as he continues to wonder what things from his childhood will still be apart of him in adulthood. But it's not until the song enters it's outro (once the age reaches 21, the legal age of an adult), that it takes on a truly heartbreaking tone (repeating the lines "Won't last forever" and "It's kind of sad") as the age count continues (the last audible one is 32) with the song's fade out conveying the fading away of childhood innocence as it is slowly but surely left in the past.
- The entire three-part "suite" that ends That's Why God Made the Radio. If it is indeed the final Beach Boys album, it's hard to imagine a more fitting conclusion than "Summer's Gone", fading into rain at the end...Summer's gone
I'm gonna sit and watch the waves
We laugh, we cry
We live, then die
And dream about our yesterday- "Think About The Days" is easily one of the most hauntingly beautiful songs ever written. It's sad in that this reunion album is missing Carl and Dennis and that this is almost certainly the last time Brian, Mike and Al will ever record together. Also, the incredibly sorrowful sounding harmonies.
- "Think About The Days"
- "(Wouldn't It Be Nice to) Live Again", left on the shelf for decades for God only knows what reasons. With Dennis' heartfelt vocal delivery and sparse, powerful instrumentation, it was already quite the tear jerker from the beginning... but with his death, it becomes that much sadder.
- Another Dennis penned song (that he shares co-lead vocals with Blondie Chaplin on) called "Carry Me Home" spent 50 years in the vault before being released in the Sail On, Sailor compilation. The lyrics lay out Dennis' opposition to the Vietnam War through the pleas of a wounded soldier begging not to die. The lyrics are heartbreaking.
- From Pet Sounds, "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times."Each time things start to happen again
I think I've got something good going for myself
But what goes wrong?
Sometimes I feel very sad
Sometimes I feel very sad - The band's Fourth of July concert in 1983 features a clip of Dennis Wilson speaking to the crowd before performing a rendition of "You Are So Beautiful". He was in terrible shape by this point due to his drug and alcohol problems and could barely even speak. It's pretty damn heart breaking to see him like this knowing he'd be dead not long after.
- Carl Wilson's appearances during his last tour with the group in 1997 as he's dying of lung cancer. He had to sit for the entirety and take oxygen after each number. He only stood to sing his signature number, "God Only Knows". He was also very heavy and wore an obvious wig. He still sounded tremendous, though.
