Brian Wilson Thought 1 of His Biggest Hits Would Never Get Air Play Because of Taboo Lyrics

One of Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys’ most enduring hits is “God Only Knows” from their 1966 album Pet Sounds. Revered artists like Paul McCartney have expressed their adoration of the song, and it often finds a spot high in the rankings of greatest songs of all time lists. When Wilson and co-writer Tony Asher were first writing the song, though, they worried about its potential. Wilson didn’t think radio stations would be willing to play it because of the lyrics.

Brian Wilson worried a major hit would never play on the radio

When Wilson and Asher worked on “God Only Knows,” they had major reservations about the use of the word “God.” At the time, artists did not put “God” into their lyrics because they felt it was taboo and could get them banned from radio stations. Wilson in particular worried having “God” in the title meant radio stations would never play the song.

“We had lengthy conversations during the writing of ‘God Only Knows,’ because unless you were Kate Smith and you were singing ‘God Bless America’ no one thought you could say ‘God’ in a song,” Asher said in the book Wouldn’t It Be Nice: Brian Wilson and the Making of The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds by Charles L. Granta. “No one had done it, and Brian didn’t want to be the first person to try it. He said, ‘We’ll just never get any air play.’”

Asher thought it was a good idea to keep the lyrics as they initially wrote them. He didn’t think the song would have been as great if they’d altered the wording.

“Isn’t it amazing that we thought that? But it worked, and ‘God Only Knows’ is, to me, one of the great songs of our time,” he said. “I mean the great songs. Not because I wrote the lyrics, but because it is an amazing piece of music that we were able to write a very compelling lyric to. It’s the simplicity — the inference that ‘I am who I am because of you’ — that makes it very personal and tender.”

Brian Wilson’s co-writer insisted the song would be a hit

Fans of The Beach Boys have Asher to thank for “God Only Knows.” He fought to keep the word “God” in the song and for it to start on an untraditional note.

“This is the one that I thought would be a hit record, because it was so incredibly beautiful,” he said. “I was concerned that maybe the lyrics weren’t up to the same level as the music: how many love songs start off with the line, ‘I may not always love you’? I liked that twist, and fought to start the song that way.”

Asher said he fought Wilson more than normal to keep the first line.

“Working with Brian, I didn’t have a whole lot of fighting to do, but I was certainly willing to fight to the end for that,” he said. “I was probably saying to myself, ‘God, I hope I’m right about this,’ because you’re never quite sure. But I knew that it would work, because by the second part, the real meaning of the song has come out: ‘I’ll love you till the sun burns out, then I’m gone,’ ergo ‘I’m gonna love you forever.’ I guess that in the end, ‘God Only Knows’ is the song that most people remember, and love the most.”

A number of musicians list ‘God Only Knows’ among their favorites

Many musicians consider “God Only Knows” to be one of their favorite songs of all time. McCartney said it brings him to tears every time he hears it. 

“‘God Only Knows’ is one of the few songs that reduces me to tears every time I hear it,” he told the BBC. “It’s really just a love song, but it’s brilliantly done. It shows the genius of Brian. I’ve actually performed it with him and I’m afraid to say that during the sound check I broke down.”

McCartney also referenced the song in a recent tribute to Wilson after his death, writing, “How we will continue without Brian Wilson, ‘God Only Knows’. Thank you, Brian.”