Chubby Checker’s 1962 hit “Twistin’ U.S.A.” name-checked American cities. Songwriter Kal Mann references 17 different cities as the song celebrates the “shimmy and shake” of different locales. Brian Wilson was paying attention as he applied the same technique to two of his earliest successes.
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“Surfin’ Safari” name-checked a few hot surfing spots in the verses, and it was the first Beach Boys song to crack the top 40. The following year, Wilson employed the same approach to even greater success. 15 beaches are highlighted, but this time in the chorus, although they are not limited to only American locations. Let’s look at the meaning behind “Surfin’ U.S.A.” by The Beach Boys.
The Beach Boys’ Inspiration
Brian Wilson had discovered the music of Chuck Berry. After school, his brother Carl and neighborhood friend David Marks routinely played their guitars in the Wilson household. They brought home a Chuck Berry album, and Brian heard it. He became fixated on “Sweet Little Sixteen.” He wanted to write surfing lyrics to the Chuck Berry melody.
Brian shared the story with Jim Pewter on KRTH Radio in 1974, “The concept was about, ‘They’re doing this in this city, they’re doing that in that city,’ the Chubby Checker’
Twistin’ U.S.A.’ concept. So I thought of calling it ‘Surfin’ U.S.A.’ I was going with a girl named Judy Bowles at the time, and her brother Jimmy was a surfer, and he knew all the surfing spots. I said to Jimmy, ‘I want to do a song mentioning all the surf spots.’ So he made a list, and, by God, he didn’t leave one out.”
If everybody had an ocean
Across the U.S.A
Then everybody’d be surfin’
Like Californi-a
You’d see them wearing their baggies
Huarache sandals too
A bushy bushy blond hairdo
Surfin’ U.S.A
The California Lifestyle
Like many of Brian Wilson’s songs, it offered a glamorous view of the Californian lifestyle. The United States used propaganda beginning in the late 1800s to lure Americans out west to the coast. The Homestead Act was introduced to encourage Western expansion. Among the many citizens who ventured out to California were the ancestors of the Wilson family. The promise of a new life in a perfect wonderland brought thousands of Americans following their dreams out to the West Coast. In an ironic twist, the music of The Beach Boys was an even more effective tool for selling the California dream. Kids all over the world would long to surf “down Doheny Way” or find themselves “standing by the ocean’s roar.”
Wilson wasn’t even the surfer of the family. That title belonged to brother Dennis who played the drums in the family band.
You’d catch ’em surfin’ at Del Mar
(Inside, outside, U.S.A.)
Ventura County line
(Inside, outside, U.S.A.)
Santa Cruz and Trestles
(Inside, outside, U.S.A.)
Australia’s Narrabeen
(Inside, outside, U.S.A.)
All over Manhattan
(Inside, outside, U.S.A.)
And down Doheny Way
(Inside, outside)
Everybody’s gone surfin’
Surfin’ U.S.A
Mike Love’s Co-Writing Claims
When the song was released, Brian Wilson’s name was listed as the sole composer. His father Murry, who acted as the band’s manager, arranged for the publishing to be assigned to Chuck Berry’s company Arc Music. In 1966, when the song was included in Best of The Beach Boys, the credit was given to Chuck Berry alone. Later releases would list both Berry and Wilson as writers. In 2015, singer Mike Love claimed he co-wrote the lyrics to many Beach Boys songs with Wilson, including “Surfin’ U.S.A.” A lawsuit was filed against Wilson and publisher Almo/Irving Music. Love was awarded credit for many songs, but not “Surfin’ U.S.A.,” as a different publisher published it.
Wilson addressed it in the same 1974 interview, “When we first got going, Mike was a Chuck Berry fan, so… he and I turned the lyrics into a surfing song.”
Whoever came up with the lyrics, or the melody, it became an anthem for summer. The song even tips its hat to “Surfin’ Safari.”
We’ll all be planning a route
We’re gonna take real soon
We’re waxing down our surfboards
We can’t wait for June
We’ll all be gone for the summer
We’re on Surfari to stay
Tell the teacher we’re surfin’
Surfin’ U.S.A
A Duane Eddy Riff
The song begins with Carl Wilson playing a guitar riff reminiscent of “Movin’ and Groovin'” by Duane Eddy. In Becoming the Beach Boys, 1961 to 1963, Carl said, “On ‘Surfin’ U.S.A.,’ Brian wanted an opening lick, and I just did this Duane Eddy riff. I was worried that it had been on another record, but what the hell? That was the first time we were aware we could make a really powerful record. For the first time, we thought the group sounded good enough to be played with anything on the radio. Instead of hokey California-style music, Brian had moved into mainstream rock.”
At Haggerties and Swamis
(Inside, outside, U.S.A.)
Pacific Palisades
(Inside, outside, U.S.A.)
San Onofre and Sunset
(Inside, outside, U.S.A.)
Redondo Beach LA
(Inside, outside, U.S.A.)
All over La Jolla
(Inside, outside, U.S.A.)
At Wa’imea Bay
(Inside, outside)
A Sophomore Leap
As a producer, Brian Wilson made a giant leap between the debut album and their sophomore effort. Using a three-track tape recorder allowed him to create a proper stereo mix and double-track the vocals, creating a fuller sound. In the album liner notes, Wilson stated, “It was the first time we had ever sung our voices twice on one record. It strengthens the sound, sing it once, then sing it again over that, so both sounds are perfectly synchronized. This makes it much brighter and gives it a rather shrill and magical sound without using echo chambers. It makes it sound spectacular. So much power. “
The song peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1963. “Shut Down,” which was on the B-side, reached number 23. In 1974, “Surfin’ U.S.A.” was rereleased with “Warmth of the Sun” on the flip side, and it charted again, reaching number 36.
Everybody’s gone surfin’
Surfin’ U.S.A
(Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
