THE BEACH BOYS redefined the possibilities of pop music, creating harmonies and experimenting with production in ways that had never been heard before and have rarely been rivalled since. Accordingly, their catalogue is one of the richest and most labyrinthine in popular music, encompassing flat-out rock’n’rollers and golden-age pop, bittersweet ruminations, and experimental harmonic euphoria under the direction of troubled genius Brian Wilson. From Little Deuce Coupe to California Girls, God Only Knows and beyond, from LSD highs to doubtful, regret-ridden lows, MOJO's expert team of writers have selected The Beach Boys 50 greatest songs...
50. Forever
A broken man, simply trying his best.
49. Wind Chimes
Not so much sloppy as fally-over, and wonderfully so.
48. Help Me Rhonda
A sea-change in spring '65. Perfectionism had arrived.
47. Vega-Tables
The stripped back re-take of this endearingly daft song gives the group's harmonies space.
46. Do It Again
Mike Love reinvents the brand as a totem to nostalgia, youth and the beach.
45. Wild Honey
A reflection of Brian's retreat from the mid-’60s production race.
44. That's Not Me
A nostalgic, two-minute, 22-second paean to rueful self-awareness.
43. Little Deuce Coupe
Threw fuel on the red-hot hot-rod song craze.
42. Let Him Run Wild
With key and tempo changes bolder and weirder than anything before, this was Brian's signpost to the psychedelic country up ahead.
41. Long Promised Road
The sound of Carl Wilson settling into musical leadership, with reservations.
40. "Cuddle Up"
A ballad that’s warm and adoring and desperate and lonely.
39. When I Grow Up (To Be A Man)
An ode to youth's fleeting nature.
38. Cool, Cool Water
You can do more than just surf on it: a hymn to the spiritual qualities of H2O.
37. Sloop John B
Forlorn wish for home, or acid-derived ‘trip’ from hell? Trad-arr, but transformed, definitive.
36. Tears In The Morning
Bruce Johnston's time to shine, with help from 'the funky Frenchman' Michel Colombier.
35. All Summer Long
A UK-only single, but by now the Brits preferred The Beatles.
34. Barbara Ann
The "bane" of Carl Wilson's existence became one of band's defining sounds.
33. Break Away
The hit-making hot rod years were over, the uncertain '70s looming.
32. You're So Good to Me
The closest they got to Northern soul.
31. I Can Hear Music
A less stodgy version of The Ronettes' 1966 original.
30. Here Today
Its impact derives from Brian Wilson's grander scheme.
29. Darlin'
Reassuringly swept-up production with a smattering of horns and assembly singing.
28. Disney Girls
Chasing an unreachable high - it’s a hallucination without the hallucinogens.
27. Surfin' U.S.A.
The best advert So-Cal's surfing culture ever got.
26. The Warmth Of The Sun
Brian trancends pain to deliver words of hope and comfort.
MOJO TIME MACHINE: Beach Boys Banned!
25. Fun, Fun, Fun
This frabjous surf/hot rod rocker is one of the group's most literal.
24. Pet Sounds
An ambiguous, jet-age update of Martin Denny-style 1950s exotica.
23. I'm Waiting For The Day
One of the lavishly orchestrated gems which give Pet Sounds its astonishing depth.
22. Our Prayer
Emanating the warmth of the California sun rather than the interior cool of a Baroque kirche.
21. Do You Like Worms?
The original's serene aura epitomises Brian's sandbox meditations.
20. I Know There's An Answer
A fried treatise on how LSD separates the turned-on 'us' from the uptight 'them'.
19. In My Room
Brian's place of refuge might well be somewhere bad thoughts fester.
18. Surfer Girl
The most acute and piercing kind of nostalgia: nostalgia for something that never existed.
17. Let's Go Away For Awhile
Hawaiian guitar, vibraphone and tympani all suggest a yearning for freedom and peace of mind.
16. Sail On Sailor
Its rolling melody, Morse code rhythm and soulful vocal from Blondie Chaplin make this an early-’70s highlight.
READ MOJO'S VERDICT ON THE NEW SAIL ON SAILOR BOXSET!
15. Don't Worry Baby
Like many of the best Beach Boys tracks, its beauty masks concern and doubt.
14. You Still Believe In Me
Amid the music-box melancholia, the bicycle bell tings and antique car horns betray an infant playfulness.
13. I Just Wasn't Made For These Times
The Theremin's debut on a pop record, but Wilson would soon take it to even greater heights.
12. Feel Flows
A cosmic soup spiced with manager Jack Rieley's looniest lyrics: "Unfolding enveloping missiles of soul".
11. Cabin Essence
A micro-symphony to the US that's more strange than sepia-toned.
10. I Get Around
Mike Love is in his element, but it was Brian who headed, soon enough, for "a new place where the kids are hip".
9. Wouldn't It Be Nice
The eternal frustration of the doorstep kiss.
8. Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulders)
Only Brian could convey the reverence of lovers drinking in each other's essence among the silence.
7. Heroes And Villains
Given the chance to "sunny down snuff", who wouldn't?
6. Caroline No
Caroline will haunt you.
5. 'Til I Die
Brian was feeling hopeless, insignificant, and, in contrast to his physical bulk, "very small".
4. California Girls
MOJO SAYS: A list song, yes, but what a list song!
3. God Only knows
How many other songs of devotional wonderment begin with a line like "I may not always love you"?
2. Good Vibrations
A song that everyone recognises, but only one man knows for sure what it really means.
1. Surf's Up
Not so much timeless but a song out of time, an elegy whose richness and mystery only deepens with age.
PHOTO: Getty Images