The Beach Boys' "All I Wanna Do" sounds like it was recorded in a cavern slowly filling with rain. It also sounds like a tear in the time/space continuum where sixties sunshine pop shook hands with eighties revivalism and then graciously introduced nineties britpop: I can't imagine what Mercury Rev would sound like without this record.
The lyric to "All I Wanna Do" was written by Mike "That's 'MR. DOUCHEBAG' to you, fella" Love which proves that transcendental meditation could be inspirational, if not completely successful in cleansing a vinegar and water spirit. To be honest, I would have thought it was written by Dennis but that may have been just for fantasy fodder.
"All I Wanna Do" was on 1970's "Sunflower", an album that proved to be a low point in their commercial appeal and the critics weren't too kind, either. Fortunately, time has shown "Sunflower" respect for it's uncluttered, soulful sound and was recently ranked at #380 in Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all times. More important, for an all too brief time, "All I Wanna Do" allows me to believe that heaven and earth and peace and love are simultaneously within reach and that Mike Love is more than an asshole. And that, folks, is a miraculous achievement.
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