Syntax (Musical)

I’d like to break the syntactical analysis into two parts, musical and recording, because I think in this case, since there is enough information available on both and each are uniquely and equally responsible for the overall sound and meaning of the song it would be detrimental and irresponsible not to.
With that given, this song is not that hard to break down. Firstly, all the music in the song was written and arranged by Brian Wilson. The lyrics, however, were written by a young Hollywood lyricist and copywriter, Tony Asher, whom Wilson had met earlier and then collaborated with for a majority of the songs on the album.
I bought a version of the score online that can be viewed below and gives us chords and melody and lyrics but doesn’t have any other instrumental parts scored out which is unfortunate. However, I found a page,, by Greg Panfile, that has also done a type of harmonic analysis, and I found it to be very helpful and refer and include parts of analysis as I believe they better explain some the harmonic quirks.



Form-wise the song is relatively simple. Given there is an Introduction (I), Verse (A), Chorus (B), Interlude/Bridge (C), and Coda (D), the overall form of the song plays out like this:
I—A—B—A—B’—C—C ’—B’’—A—B—D

From a theory perspective we get something more challenging than what we would expect from first listening to the song. The first thing I notice is that this song doesn’t seem to have a distinct key, but rather perpetually fluctuates between two key tonal areas A major and E major, but sometimes we could. Neither seems truly distinct or dominates over the other, and without actually looking at the score do I believe that any lay-listener would catch this.
Given that every single chord played in this piece plays out for exactly 4 beats, or one-bar, it will be easier just to write chord names. The Intro starts in what seems to be A major. What we get is this:

Chords:    A       E      A     E     A       E      F#m    E
Melody:    C# D    E  B   A           C# D    E  B   A
Bass:                                                          E F# G

(Panfile)

We rock back and forth from A-E for three bars before moving on to F#m while the bass preps us for the verse at the end of the sixth bar. These last four bars A-E-F#m-E also foreshadow and gorund us for the central motif of the song.
Then we move into the verse, which plays out like so:

Chords:    D       Bm      F#m     B     E      D#dim      E        C#m
Bass:      A       B       F# E    D#    E      F#         E  (D#)  C#   (B) 

(Panfile)

Looking at the chords we encounter our first ambiguity. It looks like we’ve moved to D major because our first 3 chords place us there but then the Bm comes back except this time as a major which is immediately followed by E which implied a V-I in E major. Now all D’s become D#’s further and the D#dim7 to E acts as another (V)-I in E further cementing us in that key. In 12 bars, Wilson has already thrown away every recipe in the pop cookbook and our ears don’t even know it!
Next we get that irresistible hook, the chorus.

Chords:    A       E      F#m    E

(Panfile)

Over the same four bars as in the intro we get the unforgettable line, but somehow we seem to have gotten back to A major. Damn. Looking at the end of the verse we see a glimpse of genius. Theory-wise, the choice of the C#m is perfect as it acts as pivot chord because it works in both keys: it’s the vi in E major and the iii A major and the bass has already been leading us logically down a pentachord from E so when we finally land in A nothing seems out of place.
We go back to the verse. Harmonically nothing changes. When we get back the next chorus however we get a change. Instead of keeping with the pop-standard of
duple-bar-multiples per section, Wilson cuts us off early. Instead of getting that last E we only get

Chords:    A       E      F#m    E
(Panfile)

But he does more than just to be cheekily novel as we see in the next section where we get a seemingly random instrumental break that is never returned later in the song.
The score I found omits this, but a pitzicatto string section plays the instrumental break over the following chords like so:

Chords:    A           G          
Melody:    C# A C# A   B  F# B A G F#

(Panfile)
Once again we see Brian’s utilization of the pivot chord with the F#m which works as the ii of E major coming out of the chorus and the vi in A major. Also once again we seem prepared to have moved to a new key, D major because A and G would be the IV and V respectively but what we get next as the bridge, which consists of the Boys engaging a heavily contrapuntal scat/do-wop breakdown, begs to differ.

Chords:    G       Em      Bm                  E  
Scat:      Ah      ah ah   ah dodo do dodoo     Bom bompa bompapa

Chords:    A            G#dim               A        F#m
Scat:      Bom bom      Bompa pa pa bom     Ba bom   Ah, ah...

(Panfile)
But upon further inspection we find that these 8 chords are merely the same as the verse except we have transposed everything up a 4th ,so instead of being in D/E we are in G/A. So in fact, we never really were in D at all in that instrumental part of the break but in fact just getting ready to be in G major!
Then to follow in these footsteps we hear the chorus, except also transposed up a fourth. So instead of being in the A major area we are in the D major area.

Chords:    D       A      Bm

(Panfile)
And once again we omit the fourth measure. But this time we don’t modulate instead we get a D.S. a Coda and go right back into a third verse, except this time like the way we heard it originally:

Chords:    D       Bm      F#m     B     E      D#dim      E        C#m
Bass:      A       B       F# E    D#    E      F#         E  (D#)  C#   (B)

(Panfile)



With the last verse we go straight into a coda, which consists of the original Chorus section—A—E--F#m—E—sung as two-part round and showing off more of Brian’s ear for natural and rich counterpoint.