Quotes from Brian Wilson


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Don't get married until you're certain that you're marrying the right girl. How did I know my wife was the one? I'd seen her for a couple of months. I liked her. She was a very creative person and she had a very good grip on politics and business.


When I can't write, it depresses me.


It's like when a guy gets a divorce from his wife. You part ways. That's what I did with The Beach Boys.


You know what? I'm not always in a positive, happy place. But I'm able to concentrate enough to come up with a really good song.


My skills are musical, not lyrical.


I always do get a little bit paranoid when I get a lot of attention. But I get used to it.


You know, Rolling Stones songs all sound kind of the same.


The Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Phil Spector. Those were my idols.


I'm not a genius. I'm just a hard-working guy.


Pop music has been exhausted. The innocence has been exhausted. I think we've lost the ability to be blown away by music.


My mother used to tell me about vibrations. I didn't really understand too much of what that meant when I was just a boy. To think that invisible feelings, invisible vibrations existed scared me to death.


Summer means happy times and good sunshine. It means going to the beach, going to Disneyland, having fun.


If you're going to write a song, try to get together with a collaborator because it's better to write with collaborators.


I consider myself to be a crusader of love. I try to spread love around the world as best I can because I know I have a handle on love.


I'm just a shy and retreating kind of person. Sometimes I get in a real talkative mood - but not very often.


What in the world is a hangover cure?


I have to tell you that J.S. Bach was easily the greatest musical innovator in the history of the world. He was so advanced for his time. There's a spiritual depth to his music. You can listen to it and it's like meditation.


I think I need the demons in order to write, but the demons have gone. It bothers me a lot. I've tried and tried, but I just can't seem to find a melody.


I think I'm a vocal genius, not a musical genius. I like background vocals. I consider myself a voice, not a singer. A voice is a sound, and singing is what you do with that sound.


I still believe that something is right only when it feels right.