Since the article on the website of Van Dyke Parks is 'gone', I'd like to repost it:
Source: http://www.brianwilson.com/cgi-bin/webforum/viewmessage.cgi?r=11027741247024119890&l=level2
posted by Tom Tobben on December 11, 2004
Musical, Literary, and Historic References in Brian Wilson's SMiLE
Compiled by Tom Tobben
Like a fine piece of literature or a Charles Ives symphony, in SMiLE Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks make extensive use of references or allusions to other songs, literature, and American history. And, like America itself, SMiLE is a "melting pot" of many diverse influences uniquely blended together by Brian and Van Dyke into a cohesive whole. These references enrich Brian's masterpiece and extend the themes and imagery of the songs and musical movements beyond the words and melodies themselves, by intrinsically linking them to our rich cultural heritage and important events in our history.
Among the many such touchstones in SMiLE are the following:
----------- AMERICANA MOVEMENT:
1) "Our Prayer" (This spiritual a cappella hymn introduces the "SMiLE" album, which Brian referred to as a "teenage symphony to God" when he was originally creating the album back in 1966. The song is reprised at the end of "SMiLE" just before its spiritually uplifting finale, "Good Vibrations". The spiritual theme recurs in several places throughout the album.)
2) "Gee" (1954 popular doo-wop song by the Crows, written by George Goldner and William Davis, sometimes credited as one of the first rock and roll songs. The initial lyric "how I love my girl" introduces SMiLE's major theme of the sustaining power of love. )
3) "My children were raised, you know they suddenly rise . . . healthy, wealthy, and wise" (Relates to Benjamin Franklin's famous maxim, "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise", prefixed to his Poor Richard's Almanac.)
4) "Rock, rock, roll Plymouth Rock roll over" (Musical nod to early rock and roll music, such as Bill Haley's "rock, rock, Rock Around the Clock" and Chuck Berry's music - e.g., "Rock and Roll Music", "Roll Over Beethoven", "School Days"—"hail, hail, rock and roll".)
5) Plymouth Rock (Famous coastal location in Massachusetts where the Pilgrims landed on the Mayflower in November 1620 and, after a rugged winter and first summer, held the first Thanksgiving Day to celebrate their bountiful harvest and their first successful year in the New World, aided by the friendly Wampanoag Indians who had helped them get established. The Pilgrims had been persecuted in England for their religious beliefs and came to the New World seeking religious freedom and a government based on "just and equal laws...for the general good." In their Mayflower Compact, they agreed to abide by the will of the majority in governing themselves, which eventually became a fundamental tenet for the future American democracy.)
6) "Ribbon of concrete" (Negative image variant of Woody Guthrie's noted "ribbon of highway" in his famous song "This Land Is Your Land" about the expansive natural beauty of America.)
7) "Once upon the Sandwich Islands, the social structure steamed upon Hawaii" (Reference to Captain Cook's discovery of the Hawaiian Islands in 1778, renamed by Cook as the Sandwich Islands. These islands were gradually colonized and taken over by American missionaries and businessmen, who eventually deposed the established monarchy of Queen Liliuokalani in 1893 with the help of the U.S. Marines. Hawaii was annexed as a territory of the United States in 1898, during the Spanish-American War.)
7b) (New update from: http://www.vandykeparks.com/miscfiles/smilereferences.htm) "Bicycle rider (just see what you've done - done to the church of the American Indian)" (Besides serving as a symbol of the Caucasian civilization taking over the land, and decimating the American Indians and their cultural heritage while seeking their manifest destiny (see explanation below), "bicycle rider" may also refer to Bicycle Rider Back playing cards. The United States Playing Card Company, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, first began manufacturing the famous Bicycle Rider playing cards in 1885. Thus, they were very likely used by gamblers and settlers in the late 1800s during the latter days of the old wild west, and ever since that time.)
"The Old Master Painter" (Popular hit written by Haven Gillespie and Beasley Smith; Hit Parade chart hit by Peggy Lee (with Mel Torme) reaching #9 on pop charts in 1950; also recorded by Frank Sinatra. Following the recurrent spiritual theme in "SMiLE", the "old master painter" is God, who painted the many beautiful colors and hues found in nature.)
9) "You Are My Sunshine" (State song of Louisiana; popular song written by former Louisiana Governor Jimmie Davis and Charles Mitchell.)
10) "Home on the Range" (State Song of Kansas; Brian's Wilson ancestors moved by train from their home in Hutchinson, Kansas to California during the early 1920s, seeking a better life. Written by Dr. Brewster Higley and Daniel Kelley in 1876.)
11) "Iron Horse" (Term used to refer to the railroad locomotive, popularized during the westward expansion of the mid-late 1800s in the U.S., when trains replaced horse-drawn wagons for hauling cargo long distances.)
12) "waves of wheat" (Possible allusion to "waves of grain" from the patriotic American song "America the Beautiful", written by Katherine Lee Baxter and Samuel Ward. Brian Wilson's ancestral state of Kansas is the largest wheat-producing state in the U.S.)
13) "Grand Coulee (Dam)" - (Dam authorized by Franklin D. Roosevelt and built in 1933 during the Great Depression to harness the Columbia River as a source of energy and water for the northwestern U.S. Also a folk/protest song written by Woody Guthrie, and also recorded by a young Bob Dylan.)
14) "(I've Been) Working on the Railroad" (Traditional American folk song. See also the development of the transcontinental railroad described below. )
15) The lyric "Grand Coulee working on the railroad" also alludes to "coolies", who were Chinese immigrants used as a cheap source of labor to help build the section of the transcontinental railroad from the west coast eastward. Irish immigrants were a source of cheap labor for the westbound section of the railroad. The Central Pacific (built eastward from Sacramento, California) and Union Pacific (built westward from Omaha, Nebraska) railroad lines forming the final link in the transcontinental railroad were finally joined at Promontory Point, Utah with the laying of the "golden spike" in 1869, and opened the path for rapid westward expansion to help realize America's so-called "manifest destiny" for the western U.S.
16) American concept of "Manifest Destiny" (In 1845, the writer John L. O'Sullivan, who is credited with popularizing the concept of "manifest destiny", stated "Our manifest destiny is to overspread the continent allotted by providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions." Lyrics such as "bicycle rider, just see what you've done - done to the church of the American Indian", "ribbon of concrete - just see what you've done...", "over and over the crow cries uncover the cornfield, over and over the thresher and hover the wheat field", "who ran the iron horse," in the Americana movement of SMiLE all speak to the negative aspects of westward expansion and manifest destiny.)
----------------- INNOCENCE AND EXPERIENCE MOVEMENT:
17) "Child is father of the man" (Quote of William Wordsworth's famous line in his poem "My Heart Leaps Up" and also used as an epigraph at the beginning of Wordsworth's famous poem "Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood" written in 1802-1804. This line is one of the major thematic touchstones in Romantic Poetry of the early 1800s, and is a natural thematic link with William Blake's "Songs of Innocence and of Experience" poems. Much of Romantic poetry also reflects the idea of God and spirituality as being embodied and reflected in Nature and in youthful innocence. As children grow older and experienced, they risk becoming corrupted by our adult human failings and weaknesses, and losing their natural innocence and intuitive love. The Innocence and Experience movement in SMiLE, and particularly Brian and Van Dyke's masterpiece "Surf's Up", serves as the album's thematic centerpiece, focusing on the innocent spirituality and innate love of youth, contrasted against the many imperfections and failings of adult society.)
18) "Wonderful" (Introduces the Romantic "innocence and experience" theme while growing up. Illustrates an innocent young girl, her experience of becoming an independent young woman, and the abiding love of her parents sustaining her through the transition.)
19) "The pit and the pendulum" (Reference to Edgar Allan Poe's famous short story of one person's torture and terror, set during terribly inhumane era of the Spanish Inquisition.)
20) "Columnated ruins domino" (Recalls past fallen civilizations, and their famous columned edifices toppled into ruins like dominoes)
21) "Are you sleeping, Brother John?" (Well-known "children's song", also known as "Frere Jacques")
22) "Auld Lang Syne" (Famous sentimental song about recalling things past, originally written by the English Romantic poet Robert Burns in 1788)
23) "adieu or die" (Pun on the famous phrase "to do or die", adapted from Alfred, Lord Tennyson's well-known poem, "The Charge of the Light Brigade", written in 1854 about a deadly battle in the Crimean War, in which many British cavalrymen were needlessly killed following orders in the confusion of battle. The full verse from the Tennyson poem, "Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die" has often been used or paraphrased by others.)
------------ ELEMENTS MOVEMENT:
24) This movement refers to the four natural elements: Earth ("Vege-tables"), Air ("Wind Chimes" and "Good Vibrations"), Fire ("Mrs. O'Leary's Cow"), and Water ("In Blue Hawaii"). The ancient concept of four fundamental natural elements is found in both eastern and western philosophies, from Buddhism to the Greek philosophy to astrology.
25) "I wanna be around" (Title of well-known pop song about heartbreak and revenge, written by Johnny Mercer and Sadie Vimmerstedt, recorded by Tony Bennett in 1963).
26) "Vega-tables" (Reflects Brian's interest in healthy food and exercise. During 1969-1970, Brian co-owned and helped operate the Radiant Radish, a health food store located in West Hollywood.)
27) "Lazy mister moon" (Possible nod to the song "Lazy Moon" by J. Rosamond Johnson and Bob Cole, written in 1903.)
28) "Ukelele Lady" (Song referring to Hawaii, written by Richard Whiting and Gus Kahn. Also recorded by Arlo Guthrie in the 1970s, as well as by other artists.)
29) "Blue Hawaii" (Popular movie and song featuring Elvis Presley, glamorizing Hawaii, released in 1961)
30) "Liliuola Kalani" (Likely reference to Liliuokalani, final Queen to rule the Hawaiian Islands in the late 1800s; deposed as Queen and was eventually named "governor" before Hawaii became a territory of the United States.)
31) "Long, Long Ago" (Song about sentimental remembrance of times past and lost love, written in 1833 by Thomas Haynes Bayley, who is also known for the quotation "absence makes the heart grow fonder".)
32) "Whispering Winds" (Song recorded by Patti Page and a minor popular hit in 1952, when Brian Wilson was 10 years old).
33) "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow" (aka "Fire") (Refers to the Great Chicago Fire on Oct. 8-9, 1871, which destroyed much of old Chicago. Though never proven, Mrs. O'Leary's cow supposedly kicked over a lantern in the barn while being milked. The fire quickly spread and eventually encompassed much of the City. The Great Fire destroyed 17,000 buildings and left 90,000 people homeless and 300 people dead. The fire was eventually extinguished by heavy rainfall two days later. )
34) "If I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take my misery" (Ironic twist on the final words in the well-known children's bedtime prayer, "Now I lay me down to sleep...")
35) "Water, water, water...I could really use a drop to drink" (Recalls Samuel Taylor Coleridge's memorable lines "Water, water everywhere, Nor any drop to drink" in his famous poem "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner".)
36) "I lose a dream when I don't sleep . . . There's still a promise we must keep" (Recalls the noted lines "But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep" from Robert Frost's famous poem "Stopping by Woods on A Snowy Evening".)
37) "Hawaii" (Musical reference to the 1963 Beach Boys song about the pretty girls and great surfing in Hawaii, written by Brian Wilson.)
38) "Good Vibrations" (During the mid-late 1960s, Brian became familiar with Eastern philosophies. In Buddhism, Air (wind) is also referred to as the "vibrating element". "Good Vibrations" serves as the ecstatic end piece to the Elements movement, to the theme of the sustaining power of love, and to the SMiLE album.)
------------------------------
The masterpiece, SMiLE, was originally created and developed by young artists Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks when they were only 24 years and 23 years old respectively. Quite amazing!
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I apologize for the length of this e-mail, but I was amazed at how much I found when I decided to catalogue all these references, and I wanted to share them with all of you fellow Brian Wilson fans. If you see any additional literary, musical, or historical references that I missed, or any inaccuracies in what I've posted, please add them here or contact me at I originally created this as an MS Word document. If you'd like me to send you a copy, please e-mail me.
See also (newer version from March 2005): http://www.vandykeparks.com/miscfiles/smilereferences.htm
David Anderle
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