No one has to guess who that group is. We all know it’s the Beach Boys, the band of the 60’s who sung about surfing and girls and hot rods.
I usually talk about a song. Today, I’m going to talk about a group, and the power of the Beach Boys’ music. You see, as a teenager, my parents went through a divorce, and I was shipped off to Southern California to spend the summer with my big brother. He lived in the South Bay where all those beaches that the Beach Boys talked about were located – Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, Torrance, down to Huntington Beach, and up to Malibu.
I was on those beaches everyday thinking I was a cool surfer dude. Really, I was a teenage nerd. But that music kept me going. It kept me believing in myself. It helped me get through difficult days. It allowed me to feel really good about myself when I needed it.
We all go through change. It happens to us many times in our lifetime – growing up, finding a person that we love, going through jobs that have meaning, dealing with tragedy and sickness. Even the Beach Boys had to go through change. In the 60’s, all of a sudden, there was the British Invasion. The Beatles arrived. The Beatles had admired the Beach Boys with some of their harmony in some of their songs. The Beach Boys had to adapt some of their music to be a little harder to compete against the bands from England.
Change can be hard. Competition can be difficult. But they’re healthy. It made the Beach Boys better. It made the Beatles better.
Let’s go out with some good surfing music – Good Vibrations. Hopefully, it makes you feel better today. Thank you for listening. Tell me your favorite song and how it’s impacted you and your life. I look forward to hearing from you.
