Surf’s Up by The Beach Boys Lyrical Review Part II

“Take Good Care of Your Feet”

I’m almost unsure how to even approach this song’s lyrics.  They are simply so absurd that I can’t reasonably be upset with them or even disappointed.  Where “Long Promised Road” seems to shoot for the stars and stumbled somewhere along the way, this song is aiming somewhere else entirely.

“Long Promised Road” almost feels like you’ve been offered authentic Italian food and then being given an amateur cook’s first attempt at spaghetti; meanwhile, this song is more like being offered a vanilla Big Mac by a guy holding a Burger King bag, and before you can confusedly ask, “What?” he drops the bag, and a cat runs out of it and into an alleyway.  The thing is, a cat is a good pet, but it surely isn’t a vanilla Big Mac, whatever that would be.  This is a good song, but you’d be lying if you said you were expecting it based on the last two songs from the album.

To fans that followed The Beach Boys through the post-Pet Sounds sixties and into the early 70’s, this song may not be so much of a surprise.  It is actually rather reminiscent of some of the songs from Smiley Smile, particularly songs like “She’s Goin Bald” and “Vegetables.” (both excellent songs by the way.)  This song would fit in perfectly with those on that album, but it’s not on that album; it’s here on Surf’s Up which has so far failed to truly establish an identity for itself.  It’s almost astonishing to think that just a few years ago, this very same band had put out Pet Sounds, one of the greatest and earliest concept albums in all of pop music.

“Take Good Care of Your Feet” doesn’t fit in among the other songs of the album, but that’s hardly its fault.  Let’s take a look at the song itself to see if it warrants almost giving its listeners whiplash for a second time now after dropping their needle on this confused record.  Thankfully, I can say that it does manage to stand on its own two feet (pun intended) despite the album’s identity crisis and it’s own inherent oddness.  Listening to it, I can’t help but think about Brian Wilson’s personal obsession with health during the time he worked on Smile and wonder if it influenced this song in anyway.

Perhaps, this is a cautionary tale from Wilson’s perspective who was not left in good shape himself by the end of the decade.  Maybe it really is just a weird song about feet that Wilson, Al Jardine, and Gary Winfrey thought would be funny.  Either way, I have a soft spot for it.  The lyrics feel very earnest.  I believe that this narrator really does rub his feet with avocado cream.  I believe that he wants me to as well.  For that, I admittedly do like this very weird song.

7.5/10

 

Author: Jackson Palmer

Jackson Palmer is a student studying literature at the Mississippi School of the Arts. He hopes to use the education he obtains there to write novels, short stories, poetry, and scripts for movies, television, and theater productions. Additionally, he would like to write within a number of genres such as comedy, drama, horror, etc. Some of his favorite writers and influences include Billy Joel, John Steinbeck, and Dan Harmon. He hopes to explore concepts and systems of thought such as existentialism, nihilism, and fulfillment within his writing. He would like to thank you visiting his blog and hopefully reading his work.