“Real learning comes about when the competitive spirit has ceased.”
– Jiddu Krishnamurti
By the mid-60s, The Beatles and the Beach Boys were just about the biggest groups in popular music. At least in print, there was seemingly a cut-throat rivalry between the Fab Four and their American counterparts. But the reality was quite the contrary.
At some point in that time, The Beatles were getting weary of their mass popularity. They sought solace from the insanity of Beatlemania, of running past screaming crowds and into limousines, of confining themselves in hotel rooms. As they grew out of their matching mop-top haircuts and dapper suits and overtly love-themed songs, they found their solace in the studio.
Very much influenced by the songwriting of Bob Dylan (who also introduced them to marijuana), The Beatles began writing songs that were more socially-conscious as well as psychedelic. What resulted out of this newfound creative process, and smoking weed, was their album Rubber Soul — which not only brought out a more complex side in The Beatles’ songwriting, but also changed how people listened to albums in general.
Especially back in the day, the music industry was very singles-centric. Singles were a lot more affordable than albums, thereby more accessible to the casual listener, and having better potential for viral success on the radio. Music artists didn’t tend to put much thought into the structure of an album, other than being a collection of singles and some filler songs. Unconventionally, Rubber Soul was designed to be experienced in its entirety, appealing to the subset of discerning listeners who would lean in and fully commit themselves to the music.
Meanwhile, the limelight was getting the best of The Beach Boys too, particularly their mastermind, Brian Wilson. After suffering a panic attack during their tour, Wilson decided that he wasn’t cut-out for a life on the road. Not unlike The Beatles, he found enormous comfort in the studio, where his talents truly shone.
Wilson’s songwriting was evolving in its own right. Being shy and highly-sensitive, Wilson hadn’t actually felt like himself in The Beach Boys’ typical hedonistic themes of surfing, chasing girls, and driving nice cars. If anything, the songs were perhaps daydreams of a carefree adolescent life that he had never had. Slowly, he intended to move away from these themes and feature more of his sentimental side, as he had already started doing in some of their recently-published songs.
While the rest of The Beach Boys were on tour, Wilson brooded on reinventing the group. Soon enough, a revelation came to him, and he knew exactly how he would do it. He would never write music in the same way again.
For Wilson, listening to The Beatles’ Rubber Souls was like an earthquake. He wasn’t ready for how musically-coherent and unified the whole album was. He was also completely taken in by the introspective songwriting and novel recording techniques. As he put it, it was “art music.”
“Rubber Soul is probably the greatest record ever,” he explained. “What was so great about The Beatles was you could hear their ideas so clearly in their music. They didn’t pose like some other bands, and they didn’t try to stuff too much meaning in their songs. They might be singing a song about loneliness or a song about anger or a song about feeling down. They were great poets about simple things, but that also made it easier to hear the song. And they never did anything clumsy. It was like perfect pitch but for entire songs. Everything landed on its feet.”
Being utterly awestruck by the album, he rushed to his wife Marilyn and told her, “I’m gonna make the greatest album! The greatest rock album ever made!” He immediately went to work, and in a blitz, he wrote a song titled God Only Knows.
Out of those inspired sessions, Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys went on to create their career-redefining album, Pet Sounds. The album was unlike anything that had existed up to that point. Deftly maximizing the studio’s potential by using unconventional instruments like the electro-theremin and even Coca-Cola bottles alongside the trademark Beach Boys harmonies, Pet Sounds was a masterclass in production. Layered between the vulnerable yet ambitious lyrics were the lush orchestration and immersive sonic textures that delivered a poignant and profound listening experience.
And here’s where it gets even more amazing. After listening to Pet Sounds, The Beatles were just as inspired as Brian Wilson was when he heard Rubber Souls. Paul McCartney, in particular, cried listening to the album, especially during God Only Knows, which became one of his favorite songs.
Inspired by Pet Sounds, The Beatles went on to create yet another hallmark album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
As Paul McCartney said about the influence of Pet Sounds, “I played it to John (Lennon) so much that it would be difficult for him to escape the influence. If records had a director within a band, I sort of directed Pepper. And my influence was basically the Pet Sounds album.”
Similarly, The Beatles’ producer George Martin even went as far as saying that “Without Pet Sounds, Sgt. Pepper never would have happened…Pepper was an attempt to equal Pet Sounds.”
Meanwhile, reflecting on The Beach Boys’ creative relationship with The Beatles, Brian Wilson remarked, “It was really just mutual inspiration.”
In last week’s article, we talked about envy and its destructive effects, as well as a few strategies that we can practice in dealing with envy.
As I’ve mentioned, envy could be used positively, in that it can motivate us in bettering ourselves. But it can easily turn negative and detrimental when it’s grounded in being kiasu, or wanting to get ahead of everybody else. The worst thing about this is that it’s a never-ending, vicious cycle. Because there are always going to be people that you think has more than you do. So, to keep up, you have to keep pushing harder. And the harder you push, the more motivation you need, the more envy you consume, and the more it ruins your soul.
One of the most beautiful things about art is that it doesn’t make sense to be competitive. Because more than anything, art is simply your self-expression. It’s what you create out of your own fabric of ideas, thought patterns, talents, and experiences. Your art is unique to you as its artist.
It doesn’t matter if you’re writing a book, or if you’re operating a business, this aspect of self-expression is what makes your work a piece of craftsmanship, rather than a commodity. This is what makes you indispensable and valuable to the people you serve. This is what makes you, you.
No art is actually better than the other. There is no rat-race. Really, there is no race at all. Because we’re all moving towards a shared goal of lessening the world’s suffering. So, we’d might as well be fans of each other.
When The Beatles and The Beach Boys created albums in response to being inspired by one another, they didn’t do it out of envy or commercial competition. They did it out of a mutual love for music. Both groups opened doors for one another to connect to music differently than they used to before, and for them to create new music that was even more ambitious and innovative. Ultimately, this is how art is able to evolve.
To quote producer Rick Rubin, “Being made happy by someone else’s best work, and then letting it inspire you to rise to the occasion, is not competition. It’s collaboration.” He also said, “Great art is an invitation, calling to creators everywhere to strive for still higher and deeper levels.”
Always remember, there is no competition in art — or more precisely, there is no point in competition. Being competitive saps your inner peace and energy. Celebrating and marveling at other people’s work excites and invigorates you, and connects you deeper to your art.
So, go and be a fan. Be in love and be inspired by other people’s work, so that when you get back to your own work, you could come up with something inspiring too.
Throughout the years, The Beatles and The Beach Boys have remained ardent fans of each other.
It felt great for Brian Wilson to know that The Beatles loved Pet Sounds to the extent that it influenced Sgt. Pepper. But at heart, he didn’t feel at all superior to them, and he was just as big a Beatles fan as he ever was. “Pet Sounds is a good album, but not the best,” he said. “I think The Beatles’ Rubber Soul is still the best album of all time.”
Decades later in 2002, Paul McCartney got to sing God Only Knows with Brian Wilson at a benefit show. He was barely able to keep it together during the actual performance. But during the rehearsals, he couldn’t help himself from breaking into tears.
“God Only Knows is one of the few songs that reduces me to tears every time I hear it,” he said. “It’s really just a love song, but it’s brilliantly done. It shows the genius of Brian.”
Izzat Zailan 