God Only Knows [Hardcover]

The Beach Boys are one of rock's most enduring and enigmatic groups, and while the band has been the subject of numerous biographies and other in-depth studies, there has been no focused evaluation of the religious and spiritual themes in their work. Spiritual and theological themes are present in much of their work, and when this realization is coupled with Brian Wilson's mission to spread the gospel of love through records, and his sense of music as spiritual--of thinking pop music is going to be spiritual . . . that's the direction I want to go --this is a striking way to explore the band's music. In God Only Knows, the contributors attempt to come to grips with just a small amount of this band's massive output--by circling around its theological virtues. Each section of the book is a loose investigation of the guiding topics of faith, hope, and love. Each essay is a free exploration of theological and spiritual themes from the contributor's own perspectives. In the emerging era of popular music as a shaping cultural force, there were a few artists whose work not only profoundly impacted their peers but who continue to influence today. Among those artists were The Beach Boys, one of California's most unique contributions to the pop music canon, a band whose music exported not only American pop to the world, but also Cali surf culture, sunshine, and a commitment to spread love through music. Much has been written about The Beach Boys over the years and their work has been scrutinized from virtually every angle. What's unique about this volume is that it seeks to explore a singular and key element of The Beach Boys' music, namely, the spiritual component that funded their creativity. The Beach Boys rose to fame in the wake of the 'death of God,' but their music, like many of their era, was fueled by a hunger to seek out the spiritual in new and expanding ways. God Only Knows is a volume of essays that unearths some of those spiritual and theological threalC6