The Vietnam-Inspired Beach Boys Ballad Written and Recorded by Dennis Wilson in 1972 and Officially Released 50 Years Later

In 2022, the Beach Boys released an expanded reissue of their 1972 album Carl and the Passions – “So Tough” and Holland from 1973. Sail On Sailor – 1972 merged the two albums with additional live and 80 previously unreleased tracks from the band’s sessions spanning 1971 through 1993, including “Out in the Country,” “Hard Time,” “Rooftop Harry,” “Pa Let Her Go Out (Better Get Back in Bed),” “Little Child (Daddy Dear),” “Oh Sweet Something,” “Spark in the Dark,” “Body Talk (Grease Job),” and more.

By ’72, the Beach Boys were riding on the success of back-to-back albums Sunflower (1970) and Surf’s Up in 1971 before returning to the studio to work on Carl and the Passions – So Tough. This time they were joined by two new band members, guitarist and bassist Blondie Chaplin and drummer Ricky Fataar, formerly in the South African group The Flame, who were produced by Carl Wilson and signed to the band’s Brother Records.

During the Holland sessions in 1972, which were mostly recorded in a renovated studio barn in Bambrugge, near Amsterdam, the Netherlands, there was one more somber track written and recorded by Dennis Wilson that wouldn’t get released for another five decades.

“Carry Me Home”

Backed by a country-bent pedal steel, piano, and the Beach Boys’ soothing harmonies, “Carry Me Home” is a solemn song, featuring Wilson sharing vocals with Chaplin. The moving lyrics follow a man pleading to go back home and not die, and were specifically written from the perspective of a soldier facing death during the Vietnam War—I don’t wanna die / Carry me home.

Carry me home
To my love
Carry me home
To my home

The rain’s fallin’ down on me
The wind is blowin’ cold
My eyes gettin’ tired
I guess I won’t grow old

Bootlegs

For years, “Carry Me Home” became a fan favorite decades before its official release in 2022 via bootlegged copies.

A press release descriptor of the song during the release of Sail On Sailor – 1972 read: “Written and produced by Dennis Wilson about a soldier dying in the Vietnam War, the hauntingly beautiful, downtempo ballad features powerful vocals from Dennis and Blondie Chaplin over plaintive piano, country-tinged pedal steel, acoustic guitar, marching drums, and the band’s trademark harmonies. This marks the first official release of the oft-bootlegged track that has circulated among hardcore fans in inferior audio quality for years. It has long been one of the most requested songs to be released from the group’s archive. Although it has been considered for release over the years, ‘Sail On Sailor – 1972’ finally provides the historic and musical context the song has long deserved.”

Dennis

Chaplin said it was “eerie” listening back to Dennis’ song so many years later. “It’s how Dennis felt at the time,” said Chaplin in 2022. “I see him struggling with his own worries. The voice is really sensitive, and you can feel the emotional pain.”

I don’t wanna die
Carry me home
Sweet, sweet home
Don’t wanna die this way
In this cold
Carry me home
Sweet, sweet home

Don’t wanna die
Can this feeling ever go? I wanna live

Life is meant to live
And I’m afraid
I’m afraid to die

Please, God, please God
Don’t take my life
Please, please help me

“War on the battlefield and inside, it’s always very combustible,” continued Chaplin. “He [Dennis Wilson] was the real surfer, rowdy and sweet.” 

Photo: Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns