The 20 Best Brian Wilson Quotes

Is it possible that the Beach Boys are underrated? When it comes to mid-20th century rock ‘n’ roll music, everyone talks about the British Invasion bands, from the Beatles to the Rolling Stones. But the Beach Boys were releasing hit songs before those bands hit the scene.

With harmonies, melodies, and musical concepts that changed the business, the Beach Boys are an all-time group. Led by songwriter Brian Wilson, the band helped inspire many in its wake. But with all that musical influence, one might wonder what the 81-year-old California-born Wilson has to say about his career, his band, life, love, and the world at large.

Here are the 20 best Brian Wilson quotes.

1. “Summer means happy times and good sunshine. It means going to the beach, going to Disney Land, having fun.”

2. “I’d earned over a million dollars by the time I was old enough to vote.”

3. “I’m not a genius. I’m just a hard-working guy.”

4. “If there’s not love present, it’s much, much harder to function. When there’s love present, it’s easier to deal with life.”

5. “My brother Carl taught me how to play bass. I’m a self-taught keyboard player, though—I figured out our harmonies at the piano.”

6. “Gershwin inspired me very much. The concept of ‘That Lucky Old Sun’ was inspired by ‘Rhapsody in Blue’—not influenced, but inspired.”

7. “I always do get a little bit paranoid when I get a lot of attention. But I get used to it.”

8. “Every now and then I hear voices in my head, but not very clear. I can’t understand what they are saying. It’s a mental illness. I have been diagnosed as a manic depressive.”

9. “I think I’m a vocal genius, not a musical genius. I like background vocals. I consider myself a voice, not a singer. A voice is a sound, and singing is what you do with that sound.”

10. “If you’re going to write a song, try to get together with a collaborator because it’s better to write with collaborators.”

11. “I get off on hearing other people’s voices. I like voices: they’re my favorite things on records.”

12. “My mother used to tell me about vibrations. I didn’t really understand too much of what that meant when I was just a boy. To think that invisible feelings, invisible vibrations existed scared me to death.”

13. “I would listen to Little Richard and Fats Domino and Chuck Berry, and I would listen to how they played their riffs, and after I taught myself that, I taught myself to play my own kind of stuff.”

14. “You want to know my real pleasure? Food. I love chocolate. I can’t get enough chocolate. I can’t help it. But my biggest pleasure of all is exercise. I really get off on exercise.”

15. “You know what? I’m not always in a positive, happy place. But I’m able to concentrate enough to come up with a really good song.”

16. “I think I need the demons in order to write, but the demons have gone. It bothers me a lot. I’ve tried and tried, but I just can’t seem to find a melody.”

17. “First of all, I want people to understand that I’m here to create for them. To create music for people so they’ll know that I’m a source of love. And they can depend on my name.”

18. “I have stage fright every single concert I’ve ever done. I have at least four or five minutes of it. It’s absolute living hell.”

19. “The keyboard is my whole life. My life is centered around either sitting at my keyboard or driving my car. Those are the two most important things, more than anything else. Being at my keyboard, it’s the happiest time for me.”

20. “I wake up in the morning and I say ‘Ahh! Today’s the day for a song! I’m going to write a song today!’ And I do. I write a song.”

Photo by Pamela Littky / Decca Records