Happy Monday, folks. it’s a rainy one here in Northern Virginia, which befits a summer bereft of the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson. The Beach Boys were part of my summer soundtrack growing up, and Brian Wilson moved heaven and earth to create his “teenage symphony to God.” Here are some of my favorite Beach Boys tracks in his honor.

1. “Sloop John B”: The poor narrator of this song, a sailor on the eponymous ship, just wants to go home. Seems like everyone else on the boat does, too.
2. “God Only Knows”: Pet Sounds is widely regarded as the best Beach Boys album ever recorded. I’m not going to disagree with that notion. This song is one of the most beautiful I’ve ever heard.
3. “Good Vibrations”: Cobbled together from something like 60 hours of various recording sessions, this song was, for the longest time, the only song we really had from the fabled Smile album. It’s groovy, weird, and kinda eerie.
4. “My 409”: I do not, generally speaking, no a whole lot about cars, much to my father’s chagrin. That being said, I do know that a 409 is a pretty good, souped-up engine.
5. “California Girls”: Cali girls are great, yeah, but have you met New York girls? They’re smart, sexy, and can shove a dude’s teeth through their digestive system if they cause trouble.
6. “Do It Again”: “I love the drum sound in this one. Simple, almost primal.
7. “All Summer Long”: If there was a better way to end the movie American Graffiti, I don’t know what it is.
8. “I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times”: “Sometimes I feel very sad” is one of the most heartbreaking lines in all of musical history.
9. “Help Me, Rhonda”: That guitar riff, those harmonies…this song is great, no arguments allowed.
10. “Surfin’ USA”: Just a simple declaration of love for a simple sport. Just a bunch of guys letting their California flag fly, letting you know that if everyone had an ocean the way they do, everyone would be surfing. It might create world peace, who knows.