The Beach Boys' song Paul McCartney said brings him "to tears" each time he hears it

24 March 2025, 09:14

The Beatles and The Beach Boys were considered great rivals throughout the 1960s. Picture: Getty

By Thomas Edward

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There's no denying the vast impact both groups had on the evolution of popular music.

After The Beatles kickstarted the British Invasion, the entire world took notice of the Liverpudlian whippersnappers and their generational songwriting.

Opening the gateway for a number of British bands to succeed across the Atlantic and around the world, their cultural fingerprints are still felt today.

Though The Beatles may have become the biggest band in popular music history, America already had their own music idols at the same time bands like The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, Small Faces, The Who, The Zombies, and many others began flooding the airwaves across the Atlantic.

The Beach Boys were a cultural behemoth in their own right, and epitomised youth values in the US - particularly on the West Coast - more than the Fab Four ever could in the beginning.

In 1963, Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, Dennis Wilson, Bruce Johnston, and Carl Wilson rode the wave to number three in the US Billboard charts with 'Surfin' U.S.A.'

A year later, many groups of their ilk were largely forgotten about, but The Beach Boys kept pace with their British peers.

This led to what many considered a great rivalry between The Beatles and The Beach Boys, who inspired one another to excel to greater heights.

Naturally, the bands had enormous admiration for one another, with Paul McCartney revealing years later that one of their songs "reduces me to tears every time I hear it".

Paul McCartney said that 'God Only Knows' was his favourite song of all time. Picture: Alamy

The Beach Boys' song that moves Paul McCartney to tears every time he hears it? 'God Only Knows'.

It's no surprise, given that the Brian Wilson-penned ode to love became one of the band's classic tracks and a landmark in pop music.

"It came from God through me," Wilson later revealed in the book Anthems We Love, which is apt given the song's memorable title.

"I was 24 when I wrote 'God Only Knows' and the rest of Pet Sounds. All I know is I wrote what was in my heart. And the lyrics and the music just connect with people."

Released in 1966, 'God Only Knows' was a huge departure for The Beach Boys, who up until that point, largely - almost exclusively - wrote about surfing, cars, and girls.

It wasn't a hit at first, perhaps because it indicated the band and their principal songwriter Brian Wilson were maturing and alienating their fanbase.

Irrespective of the song being overlooked, 'God Only Knows' found huge admirers in their nearest creative rivals.

God Only Knows (Remastered 1996)

In fact, years down the line, Paul McCartney even admitted that 'God Only Knows' was his favourite song of all time.

During an interview with Ronnie Wood in 2007 discussing his favourite songs, you'd understand given his exceptional catalogue of tracks that Macca would choose one of his own.

But he plumped for 'God Only Knows', a song from The Beatles' supposed rivals.

"'God Only Knows' is one of the few songs that reduces me to tears every time I hear it. It's really just a love song, but it’s brilliantly done. It shows the genius of Brian."

Sir Paul McCartney and Brian Wilson performing together in 2002. (Photo by KMazur/WireImage). Picture: Getty

"I've actually performed it with him," Macca continued. "And I'm afraid to say that during the soundcheck, I broke down."

"It was just too much to stand there singing this song that does my head in and to stand there singing it with Brian," he added.

"So all it is, it’s little vibrations reaching your music, it’s only little vibrations, little words, and little things. There is this powerful effect, you know.”

Within the same interview - albeit years after both groups were vying against each other - McCartney discussed the his and John Lennon's rivalry with Brian Wilson as songwriters.

The Beach Boys in 1966. (Photo by GAB Archive/Redferns). Picture: Getty

Brian Wilson was the mastermind behind 'God Only Knows' even though he handed over lead vocals to Carl Wilson. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images). Picture: Getty

Opening up on The Ronnie Wood Show, McCartney revealed: “Brian Wilson sort of proved himself to be a really amazing composer.

"I was into chords and harmonies and stuff at that time, and we ended up with kind of like a rivalry.

"We put a song out and Brian would hear it, and then he’d do one. Which is nice - it’s like me and John. You know, you kind of try and top each other all the time."

The two music icons' paths crossed in 2002 when they got to perform Wilson's beloved song 'God Only Knows' on stage together, at the Open Hearts, Clear Mines second Annual Adopt-A-Minefield benefit gala in Los Angeles.

Both band's musical output shaped generations of artists in the years that followed, but it's heartwarming to know that they influenced one another too.