Released May 16, 1966 Length 2:58 | Genre Baroque pop Label Capitol | |
Recorded February 11, April 3, 1966
United Western Recorders, Hollywood Writer(s) Brian Wilson, Tony Asher | ||
"Don't Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)" is a song written by Brian Wilson and Tony Asher for the American rock band The Beach Boys. It is the fourth track on the album Pet Sounds. Like the majority of songs on Pet Sounds, "Don't Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)" is about a melodic and introspective view on desperation and a crumbling romance. The song was demoed as a wordless chorale.
Contents
The song is one of three tracks on Pet Sounds where Brian is the only Beach Boy performing. On the line "Listen to my heart...beat", Brian stated: "I felt very deeply about that line. One of the sweetest songs I ever sang. I have to say I'm proud of it. The innocence of youth in my voice, of being young and childlike. I think that's what people liked."
Composition
Author Geoffrey Himes wrote:
"Don't Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)" was a guitar-less ballad that featured Brian singing in a devotional high tenor about the romantic moment when words fail. A string quartet played the minor seventh chords at close intervals, while the tympani boomed and a fat-toned electric bass drifted from the expected root note to create harmonic tensions within the lush sound. When Brian sang in an intimate hush, "Don't talk; take my hand and listen to my heartbeat. Listen! Listen! Listen!" the music demanded that you listen just as closely to its throbbing pulse.
Recording
There were several early attempts at recording the song, including Brian playing the instrumental on an acoustic piano. Later he recorded a multitracked, instrumental a capella demo of himself singing all parts; this was released in the 1990 CD remaster, which erroneously claimed it was the entire band recording a scrapped overdub, as "Unreleased Backgrounds." Carol Kaye recalls Wilson playing this recording for the musicians to give them a feel for the song.
The first real attempt at recording the song was at a session held at 9am on February 11, 1966 at Western Studios in Hollywood, California. The session - engineered by Chuck Britz and produced by Brian Wilson - saw the recording of the basic instrumental track as well as Wilson's lead vocal. The song is one of the few Beach Boys records that features no backing vocals. However, a session on October 13 of the previous year did see backing vocals recorded, although it is unclear on whether or not they were ever to be included. A string overdub was later recorded on April 3, 1966 again at Western Studios although this time with H. Bowen David engineering the session.
Personnel
Sourced from liner notes included with the 1999 mono/stereo reissue of Pet Sounds.
Legacy
Elvis Costello has been quoted as saying, "I heard 'Don't Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)' played on the cello. It sounded beautiful and sad, just as it does on Pet Sounds. So now you know, if all the record players in the world get broken tomorrow, these songs could be heard a hundred years from now."