"Let the Wind Blow" | |
---|---|
Song by the Beach Boys | |
from the album Wild Honey | |
Released | December 18, 1967 |
Recorded | November 1967 [1] |
Genre | Ballad |
Length | 2:19 |
Label | Capitol |
Songwriter(s) | |
Producer(s) | The Beach Boys |
Audio sample | |
Licensed audio | |
"Let the Wind Blow" on YouTube |
"Let the Wind Blow" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1967 album Wild Honey. Written by Mike Love and Brian Wilson, the song is a ballad with lyrics that metaphorically relate nature to the essence of love. [2]
According to biographers Andrew Doe and
John Tobler, "Let the Wind Blow" was composed primarily by Love and "rearranged" by Brian.
[3]
[4] It marked the first composition recorded by the group that is in
3
4 time from beginning to end.
[5]
In his analysis of the song, musicologist Daniel Harrison called it "the most arresting and compositionally assured song on the album" adding that "it echoes the formal and harmonic technique of ' God Only Knows'." [6]
Stylus Magazine wrote: "'Let the Wind Blow' is a moody ballad that swirls and throbs with a subtle psychedelia more hinted at than indulged in; proof of a growing sophistication that improves upon the Smiley Smile formula." [7] In 1968, Gene Sculatti said the song was further evidence of Wilson's "weird ear for melody". [8] PopMatters wrote that, in contrast to the Wild Honey single " Darlin'", "'Let the Wind Blow' ... is forlorn and urgent, with a gripping chorus and somber production. It’s fantastic." [9]
Sourced from Craig Slowinski. [10]
The Beach Boys