There is no record on this planet quite like The Beach Boys’ 1966 album Pet Sounds. It was a groundbreaking piece of work in the world of progressive pop and art rock. I’d be bold enough to say that the record changed the trajectory of The Beach Boys’ future forever. And it would have been nothing without the talent of Brian Wilson. That much can be proved with one isolated vocal track featuring Brian Wilson on the album, specifically on the song “I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times”.
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The Legacy of “I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times” and Brian Wilson’s Talent
“I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times” was written by Wilson and Tony Asher. The lyrics explore something most would say they grapple with: The struggle to fit into a society that just doesn’t fit into you.
It’s a deeply introspective song for Wilson, who wrote it about his personal life. Asher once said that he and Wilson came up with the song after a conversation about not fitting in while in high school. However, this song gets a bit more existential than just nostalgia over puberty. The song describes a person who is depressed and alone, and they wonder why nothing seems to work out for them. It’s ambiguous and vague, yet wholly relatable in the most heartbreaking way.
Lyrics aside, the entire composition of this song is on another level. How many songs from that era had an Electro-Theremin solo?! It’s a crazy piece of work, complete with a bass-riff melody, top-notch writing, and layers of vocals.
You can listen to Brian Wilson’s isolated vocal track for the song below:
“I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times” features all six of The Beach Boys’ vocals, and their harmony is absolutely incredible to hear without the rest of the song’s instrumentation. The Spanish backing vocals add another layer of beauty to this song.
The success of “I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times” really comes down to the sum of its parts. A total of 14 different musicians contributed to the track, after all. That’s a lot of talent to pack into one song. However, there’s something about Brian Wilson’s isolated vocal track that is just beautiful, without all the glitz of the well-produced song’s album version.
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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