Wouldn't It Be Nice

"Wouldn't It Be Nice" is the opening track on the 1966 album Pet Sounds and one of the most widely recognized songs by the American pop group The Beach Boys. It was composed and produced by Brian Wilson, with lyrics by Tony Asher, Brian Wilson and Mike Love. The lead vocal was sung by Brian Wilson with Mike Love singing lead vocals on the bridge. The layering of harmonies upon harmonies, and lyrics on top of harmonies make this one of the quintessential Beach Boys songs. In the Endless Harmony documentary, Brian Wilson described the song as "what children everywhere go through… wouldn't it be nice if we were older, or could run away and get married". Wilson was quoted as saying: Listen for the rockin' accordions and the ethereal guitars in the introduction. Tony and I had visualized a scene. We had a feeling in our hearts, like a vibration. We put it into music, and it found its way onto tape. We really felt good about that record. In a 1996 interview, Wilson stated, "'Wouldn't It Be Nice' was not a real long song, but it's a very 'up' song. It expresses the frustrations of youth, what you can't have, what you really want and you have to wait for it."

[Verse 1: Brian Wilson] Wouldn't it be nice if we were older? Then we wouldn't have to wait so long And wouldn't it be nice to live together In the kind of world where we belong? [Chorus 1: Brian Wilson] You know it's gonna make it that much better When we can say goodnight and stay together [Verse 2: Brian Wilson] Wouldn't it be nice if we could wake up In the morning when the day is new? And after having spent the day together Hold each other close the whole night through [Chorus 2: Brian Wilson] Happy times together we've been spending I wish that every kiss was never-ending Oh, wouldn't it be nice? [Bridge: Mike Love, Brian Wilson, Carl Wilson] Maybe if we think and wish and hope and pray, it might come true Baby, then there wouldn't be a single thing we couldn't do Oh, we could be married (Oh, we could be married) And then we'd be happy (And then we'd be happy) Oh, wouldn't it be nice? [Chorus 3: Brian Wilson] You know it seems the more we talk about it It only makes it worse to live without it But let's talk about it Oh, wouldn't it be nice? [Outro: Mike Love] Goodnight, my baby Sleep tight, my baby Goodnight, my baby Sleep tight, my baby Goodnight, my baby Sleep tight, my baby