I Know There's an Answer

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If the message is to "seek answers within", then the song's opening line, "I know so many people who think they can do it alone" (which Mike didn't change), no longer makes sense as an argument to be refuted. In fact, the new message contends, those people are right, they can do it alone, by recognizing their self-worth and realizing their unexplored potential. [28]

Composition

"I Know There's an Answer" is structured in a verse/refrain/verse/refrain/bridge/refrain pattern. Unusually, the verses are divided by an eight-bar A section ("I know so many people ...") and a six-bar B section ("I know there's an answer ...". According to music historian Charles Granata, "The coupling of an eight- and a six-bar passage to create a fourteen-bar verse is rare (most verses are eight, twelve, or sixteen bars long); in this case, the listener isn't aware of the verse's compositional irregularity because the tune is so well-written." [2]

The song is in the key of B [33] and its lead melody spans two octaves. [28] Inverted chords are used just as they are in other Pet Sounds compositions. [34] Unlike other tracks on Pet Sounds, which modulate their respective keys down a minor third, the brief key change in "I Know There's an Answers" ascends a minor third (on the lyric "now what can you tell them"). [35] Granata identified the "aah, di-di-di-di-da" backing vocals and Love's "ba doo-be-doo-be-dooooo" vocal break as the album's "most striking bit of doo-wop". [36]

A bass harmonica solo, played by session musician Tommy Morgan, is featured during the instrumental break. [37] [nb 4] Morgan later commented, "Brian used instruments imaginatively. Not many people used bass harmonica at the time—Brian certainly used it before the Beatles. My solo ... was improvised, but whenever I played as part of the bass line, I played exactly what Brian told me to play." [37]

In Lambert's estimation, "This is one of Wilson's most vibrant instrumental conceptions, featuring organ, tack piano, harpsichord [ sic ], banjo, guitar, and bass harmonica. More so than any other song on the album, this one celebrates instruments and instrumental colours." [38] Session musician Carol Kaye commented, "Brian's putting us all on here with this royal 'blues' start and finally pretty song with its many facets of moods. He truly experimented on this." [39]

Recording

Al Jardine sang lead on "I Know There's an Answer" Al Jardine Pet Sounds.jpg
Al Jardine sang lead on "I Know There's an Answer"

Wilson produced the backing track for "I Know There's an Answer" (then slated and logged as "Let Go of Your Ego") on February 9, 1966 at Western Studio. [2] With the exception of an overdubbed banjo, played by Glen Campbell, the track was recorded live with an orchestra of 15 musicians. [40] Before one of the takes, Wilson jokingly referred to the song as "Let Go of Your Libido", mispronouncing "libido", [41] after which he asked if anyone had heard the 1959 comedy album How to Speak Hip . [42] He recorded a guide vocal for the track later that day. [20]

Vocal overdubs followed a week later, by which time the song had been renamed to "Hang On to Your Ego". [2] As the session began, Love struggled to sing the song and repeatedly mocked the lyrics, at one point singing the opening lines in the style of comedian Jimmy Durante and actor James Cagney. Jardine similarly encountered issues singing the vocals to Wilson's satisfaction and remarked, "Hey, Brian. This is a little tricky. ... I cannot hack this without your help. I mean it. I'm mentally destroyed." [12] Love continued to joke around and distract Jardine, causing Wilson to lose his patience and shout through the studio intercom, "Hey, you guys. Don't fuck around. Please, we've got to do it, Mike. Come on. ... Guys, let's cut this fucking thing!" [43] After Jardine's 14th take, Wilson announced that he had been satisfied with the performance, although Jardine felt that Wilson may have been "just accepting it". Jardine's vocal takes ultimately ran up to 18. [44]

On February 16, Wilson completed a mono mix of "Hang On to Your Ego". [45] The group later rerecorded the vocals to accommodate the song's reconfiguration as "I Know There's an Answer". [16] Except for the chorus, the final vocals were recorded on or around March 3 at Western. Further overdubs to the track, including the chorus vocals, were likely tracked on April 17 at Western. [40]

Critical reception

Reviewing the Pet Sounds album upon its release, Record Mirror 's Norman Jopling wrote that "'I Know There's An Answer' is a bell-like item and starts off Ronette-ishly. Prominent bass, dramatic vocal work. Like 'Don't Talk', there's a strong hymnal flavour on this one, but the only complaint is that the backing dominates the vocals. Sax break [ sic ], which is very unusual on Beach Boy records, and tambourines galore at the end." [46]

Retrospectively, music journalist D. Strauss remarked that "I Know There's an Answer" demonstrated how Pet Sounds made the Beach Boys "the first major rock group to look music trends firmly in the eye and declare that rock really didn't matter . Rock is supposed to be about, you know, fucking, and Brian Wilson was recording a song ('I Know There's an Answer') that was originally entitled 'Get Rid of Your Libido.' [ sic ]" [47] Consequence writer Ben Kaye described "I Know There's an Answer" as an "ode to finding yourself", while praising the harmonies and the song's unique place within the band's catalogue. [48] In 2015, Mojo ranked it as the 20th-greatest Beach Boy song, describing it as a "fried treatise on how LSD separates the turned-on 'us' from the uptight 'them'." [49] The same year, the French edition of Rolling Stone magazine ranked it the band's 19th greatest song.[ citation needed ]

Personnel

Per band archivist Craig Slowinski. [40]

The Beach Boys

Session musicians (later known as "the Wrecking Crew")

Technical staff

Frank Black version

"I Know There's an Answer"
Song by the Beach Boys
from the album Pet Sounds
ReleasedMay 16, 1966 (1966-05-16)
RecordedFebruary 9 c.April 17, 1966
Studio Western, Hollywood
Genre Psychedelic pop
Length3:08
Label Capitol
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) Brian Wilson
Licensed audio
"I Know There's an Answer" on YouTube
"Hang On to Your Ego"
Frank Black - Hang On to Your Ego.jpg
Single by Frank Black
from the album Frank Black
Released1993 (1993)
Recorded1992
Length3:23
Label
Songwriter(s)
  • Brian Wilson
  • Terry Sachen
Producer(s)
Frank Black singles chronology
"Los Angeles"
(1993)
"Hang On to Your Ego"
(1993)
"Frank Black"
(1993)
Music video
"Frank Black - Hang On To Your Ego (Official Video)" on YouTube

Credited to his moniker Frank Black, Pixies member Charles Thompson recorded a cover version of "Hang On to Your Ego" that was issued as a single from his first solo album, Frank Black (1993). It was one of the first tracks recorded for the LP, which had originally been planned as a covers album. [50] His bandmate Joey Santiago guested on lead guitar. [51] Pixies biographer John Mendelssohn remarked that Thompson's rendition "could be played in actual discotheques – the kind in which men in tight-fitting shirts with extremely pointed collars try to persuade women with big hair and ankle bracelets to have sex with them – without there being a stampede for the exits!" [52]

The music video for the song was created on a budget estimated between $60,000 and $65,000. It was the second music video directed by They Might Be Giants' John Flansburgh and featured cameo appearances from Tony Asher and Charles' younger brother Parker Thompson. According to a contemporary report, "The video treatment for 'Hang On to Your Ego' juxtaposes the concept of not loving yourself too much against images of people caught in the act of self-loving, says Flansburgh. The clip combines hi-tech, pop-art effects with a low-tech video portrait inspired by amateur public-access shows." [53]

Wilson's 2016 memoir briefly references this cover version, stating only that "Someone played me a song once by Frank Black. He was in the Pixies, a band I don't know very well, and then he had some solo albums. On one of them he did a cover of 'I Know There's an Answer' where he put the original lyrics back in ..." [4] In 2012, Thompson's version was ranked at number 10 on Paste magazine's list of "The 25 Best Beach Boys Covers". [51]

CD single track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Hang On to Your Ego"Wilson, Sachen3:23
2."The Ballad of Johnny Horton"Thompson4:22
3."Surf Epic"Thompson10:12
Total length:17:57

Other versions

Notes

  1. The memoir goes on to say that he had only taken LSD once to this point. [11]
  2. It is also one of only two tracks that Wilson wrote with a collaborator other than Asher, sharing the distinction with "I'm Waiting for the Day". [14] [12]
  3. Love was also awarded credit for "Hang On to Your Ego", which, if counted, would boost the number to 36. [25]
  4. During the session, Wilson instructed Morgan to "wail on that baby for the instrumental break. ... Try to wail. Do a thing—you know." [37]

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