The Beach Boys song Paul McCartney said ‘reduces him to tears’ and was ‘too much’ to perform

Paul McCartney has shared the one song from The Beach Boys song that “reduces him to tears”.

The Beatles’ legendary songwriter has frequently shared his love for Pet Sounds and the work of Brian Wilson, but one song stands out for the Get Back and Hey Jude mastermind. Speaking to BBC Radio 1 back in 2007, McCartney confirmed it was not just one of his favourite songs, but it reduced him to tears nearly every time he listened to it. The Beatles’ bassist was so moved by the song that he broke down when preparing to perform it with Wilson.

He told the radio station: “God Only Knows is one of the few songs that reduces me to tears every time I hear it. 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 expanded on his love for Pet Sounds and Wilson’s compositions in a chat with Ronnie Wood. He said: “Wilson proved himself to be a really amazing composer and I was into chords and harmonies and stuff at that time and we ended up, it was kind of like a rivalry. We’d put a song out, Brian would hear it, and then he would do one, which is nice. It’s like me and John [Lennon]. You try and top each other all the time.”

Wilson and McCartney were part of a transatlantic rivalry when the pair were in their respective bands, The Beach Boys and The Beatles. But McCartney has since called Wilson a “big influence” and confirmed Pet Sounds formed Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Speaking of The Beach Boys as a “big influence” in the documentary, McCartney 3, 2, 1, the legendary songwriter who formed Wings after The Beatles disbanded, confirmed he was paying close attention to Pet Sounds.

He said: “The Beach Boys I think was a big influence on the harmony. There was a little intercontinental rivalry. Mainly Brian. His writing, I think he’d heard one of our albums and thought ‘I’ve got to do better’ and that was Pet Sounds which I loved. It’s still one of my big albums. It was so atmospheric and different and yet it was The Beach Boys still and we heard Pet Sounds and thought ‘right, we’ve got to do something better than that,’ so we did Sgt. Pepper’.”

Contemporary musicians like Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan have also shared their praise of Wilson, with the latter suggesting he should “donate” his ear to the Smithsonian.

Not everyone is a fan of Wilson’s work, though, with Oasis songwriter Noel Gallagher previously sharing he thought of The Beach Boys as a “barbershop quartet” and “fucking rubbish”. He has since softened his stance on the band, confirming there were a few songs which had won him over.