Brian Wilson Reveals His Favorite Lyrics From The Beatles

Often dubbed as the “American Counterpart,” The Beach Boys will always be associated with the Beatles. It’s safe to say that they were two of the most influential bands of the sixties, and they both had the strange skill of spanning genres and pushing forth into new areas of creativity.

Their relationship was mutually beneficial; each group pushed the other to greater heights. As for the Fab Four, John Lennon complimented the genius behind any Beach Boys’ songs, Brian Wilson. “He never tours or anything,” Lennon said in a 1965 interview. “He just sits at home thinking up fantastic arrangements out of his head.” A year later, the Beatles would imitate Wilson’s approach to music, seemingly giving up lengthy touring to focus more on studio sessions.

Wilson, in return, has high respect for his contemporaries. In fact, there’s a particular Beatle song that he adored the lyrics of so much, he never gets tired of praising it. The track in question came from Rubber Soul, which was a landmark album of the Beatles.

“I was living in this house in the Hollywood Hills,” Wilson said.  “Then, way up on Laurel Way, and I remember sitting in the living room one night talking with some friends when another friend came in with a copy of the Beatles’ new one, Rubber Soul, I don’t know if it had even come out yet. But he had it and so we put it on the record player and, wow. As soon as I started hearing it I loved it. I mean, loved it!”

One song, in particular, blew his mind and he considers it as his favorite. “‘Norwegian Wood’ is my favorite,” he continued. “The lyrics are so good and so creative, right from the first line: ‘I once had a girl/ Or should I say, she once had me.’ It’s so mysterious. Is he into her, or she into him? It just blew my mind.”