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Mon 13 October 2025 19:18, UK
It’s the sound of summer, it’s the sound of love, and many would say it’s also the sound of the greatest song ever written. The Beach Boys’ classic ‘God Only Knows’ is a watermark in pop music. There is a before ‘God Only Knows’ and there is an after ‘God Only Knows’ with the masterpiece representing the moment that pop went baroque and stood firmly on the shoulders of all that had gone before, gazing ahead and forecasting the sonic-surfing future.
It would’ve had its own place in music history for its beauty alone, but beyond the majesty was the diegesis of a story: the moment pop culture truly usurped traditional art – novels, classical music, and so on – as the cultural comfort blanket that humans crave and are proud enough to realise that. This moment was even heralded by Leonard Bernstein, one of the fellows who was busy being usurped by pop at the very moment that he was praising it.
“For a long time now I’ve been fascinated by this strange and compelling scene called pop music,” Bernstein told CBS’ Inside Pop programme. “I say strange because it is unlike any scene I can think of in the history of all music,” he said, hinting at the modern renaissance that it represented.
He added: “This new music is much more primitive in its harmonic language. It relies more on the simple triad, the basic harmony of folk music. Never forget that this music employs a highly limited musical vocabulary; limited harmonically, rhythmically, and melodically. But within that restricted language, all these new adventures are simply extraordinary.”
With ‘God Only Knows’, Brian Wilson and his band seemed to escape the notion of these restrictions and pushed pop to new heights. As Wilson explained himself: “It’s not really in any one key. It’s a strange song. That’s just the way it was written. … It’s the only song I’ve ever written that’s not in a definite key, and I’ve written hundreds of songs.” This was melded even further as elements were layered by the technology on top of each other, creating three-dimensions of sound that practically put a halt to mono recording on the spot.
Thus, the moment it hit the radio, it wobbled every musician’s head in that era. It was a flawless piece of music—somehow pairing innovation and beauty in a manner where one elevated the exultancy of the other. In short, ‘God Only Knows’ is a song that shaped the second half of the 20th century and beyond. We can all be thankful for that because it is the sort of beautiful utopia where prettiness unrivalled revels in progress and stirs us all with the same simple loveliness as a sunny day.
But you shouldn’t just take our word for it; there are countless musicians who have also asserted its position as perhaps the paramount pop song in music history. We’ve collated these glowing views from some of the most iconic names in music below.
Musicians on ‘God Only Knows’ greatness:
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