The psychedelic age produced many odd songs. Many of which can never be fully understood by the general public. These songs were indicative of their era, but at times, hard to listen to. They are so far out of the norm that sober listeners have trouble grabbing onto anything recognizable. One of the best, most “out-there” examples of LSD-fueled songwriting is The Beach Boys’ “Vegetables.”
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This song, penned by Brian Wilson, was written while the late Beach Boy was experimenting with drugs. The end result produced this off-kilter, near-unlistenable track. While this song would be memorable enough on its own, it became even more famous when Paul McCartney joined the studio and played the most unexpected instrument possible.
The Weirdest Beach Boys Song Ever, Featuring Paul McCartney
While drug culture helped produce some of The Beach Boys’ best songs ever, it also gave them one of their worst. “Vegetables,” in many fans’ opinion, isn’t the best effort from the band—at least when it comes to listener-friendly fare.
“If you brought a big brown bag of them home / I’d jump up and down, and hope you’d toss me a carrot,” the lyrics read. This song is effectively a love letter to vegetables, waxing poetically about a food group. It’s certainly the kind of stuff no sober songwriter would come up with.
Paul McCartney’s Celery Recording
To make this song even weirder, McCartney is credited as having played the celery in this track. According to the former Beatle—and massive Beach Boys fan—he was given the chance to see them in the studio when Wilson had an odd request of him.
“I mean it was wild and wacky days, you know, and I just went round to the studio because they invited me,” McCartney once said. “I just thought it would be fun to sit there and watch them record, ’cause I’m a big fan. And so I was there, and then it was, I think, Brian who came over and said, ‘Oh Paul, got a favor to ask: would you mind recording something?’ I thought, ‘Oh, no! But great, I could do that!”
“’Oh God, I’m gonna be singing on a Beach Boys record or something, you know,’” he continued. “I got a bit kind of intimidated and thought, ‘Okay, here goes nothing’. And they said, ‘Well, what we want you to do is go in there and just munch!’… Well, I can do that! So, if you hear somebody munching celery, that’s me!”
Despite the hilarity of the situation, the other Beach Boys remember feeling as if they were watching something iconic unfold: two of the best songwriters of all time joining forces.
“The night before a big tour, I was out in the studio recording the vocal when, to my surprise, Paul McCartney walked in and joined Brian at the console,” Al Jardine once said. “And, briefly, the two most influential musical Geminis in the world had a chance to work together.”
It may not be the effort many of us would want from a Beach Boys-Beatles collaboratio. But at least it’s something.
(Photo by CBS via Getty Images)
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