God only knows : faith, hope, love, and the Beach Boys / edited by Jeff Sellars.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Sellars, Jeff, editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Rock music--Religious aspects.

Rock music.

Beach Boys.

Wilson, Brian, 1942-2025.

Wilson, Brian.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (180 pages) : illustrations

Place of Publication:

Eugene, Oregon : Cascade Books, 2015.

Summary:

The Beach Boys are one of rock's most enduring and enigmatic groups, and while the band has been the subject of numerous biographies and other in-depth studies, there has been no focused evaluation of the religious and spiritual themes in their work. Spiritual and theological themes are present in much of their work, and when this realization is coupled with Brian Wilson's mission "to spread the gospel of love through records," and his sense of music as spiritual--of thinking "pop music is going to be spiritual... that's the direction I want to go"--this is a striking way to explore the band's music. In God Only Knows, the contributors attempt to come to grips with just a small amount of this band's massive output--by circling around its theological virtues. Each section of the book is a loose investigation of the guiding topics of faith, hope, and love. Each essay is a free exploration of theological and spiritual themes from the contributor's own perspectives.

Contents:

Introduction / Jeff Sellars

Wonderful thing : a children's song! Brian Wilson, SMiLE, and faith / Steven R. Guthrie

Emersonian individualism and the quest for wholeness in Pet sounds

Dire wave : Brian Wilson's "Til I die" / Dave Perkins

Searching for the perfect wave : the Beach Boys and the power of hope / Mary McDonough

Surf's up : a spirituality of awakening and hope in the Beach Boys / William Walker

You need a mess of help to stand alone : vulnerability, judgment, and love in the music and life of Brian Wilson / David Zahl

"I see love" : perceiving and building up love in Sunflower / Jeff Sellars

Apocalypse of love : the event of Pet sounds in process perspective / Austin J. Roberts.

Notes:

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed June 17, 2016).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781498207676

1498207677

OCLC:

951223408