I'm Waiting for the Day
Encyclopedia
"I'm Waiting for the Day" is a song by the American
rock
band
The Beach Boys
, taken from their 1966 album Pet Sounds
. It is the fifth track on the album.
and Mike Love
with Brian also the producer of the song. Some of lyrics were written in late 1964, during the recording of Today! album in 1965.
The lead vocal was sung by Brian Wilson. The Pet Sounds Sessions compilation included an alternate take featuring Mike on lead vocals. However Brian, frustrated with his band members' performance, dismissed their parts and sang all the vocals himself. Brian's use of instrumental inserts in this song is largely to remove the pressures of recording the entire song on one take; a feat that has grown increasingly difficult with the growing complexity of his music and arrangements. Breaking up individual sections in the song allows Brian to make small modifications in the arrangements.
The composition is very experimental with it being a combination of an orchestral ballad and a modern rock song. Brian has indicated that "I'm Waiting for the Day" is "the one cut off the album I didn't really like that much... It's not a case of liking or not liking it; it was an appropriate song, a very, very positive song. I just didn't like my voice on that particular song."
Carl Wilson
has stated he loved the dynamics of "I'm Waiting for the Day". He said "The intro is very big, then it gets quite small with the vocal in the verse with a little instrumentation and then, in the chorus, it gets very big again, with the background harmonies against the lead. It is perhaps one of the most dynamic moments in the album".
with a slightly altered title ("Waiting for the Day") on their 2001 album, Break Up, Break Down
. The song was later covered again, but this time by Wilson on Pet Sounds Live
. This was the second live album released by Wilson.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
, taken from their 1966 album Pet Sounds
Pet Sounds
Pet Sounds is the eleventh studio album by the American rock band The Beach Boys, released May 16, 1966, on Capitol Records. It has since been recognized as one of the most influential records in the history of popular music and one of the best albums of the 1960s, including songs such as "Wouldn't...
. It is the fifth track on the album.
Information
The song was written by Brian WilsonBrian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...
and Mike Love
Mike Love
Michael Edward "Mike" Love is an American singer/songwriter and musician with The Beach Boys. He was a founding member of the band along with his cousins Brian, Carl, and Dennis Wilson, and their friend Al Jardine, and continues to perform with the band to the present day...
with Brian also the producer of the song. Some of lyrics were written in late 1964, during the recording of Today! album in 1965.
The lead vocal was sung by Brian Wilson. The Pet Sounds Sessions compilation included an alternate take featuring Mike on lead vocals. However Brian, frustrated with his band members' performance, dismissed their parts and sang all the vocals himself. Brian's use of instrumental inserts in this song is largely to remove the pressures of recording the entire song on one take; a feat that has grown increasingly difficult with the growing complexity of his music and arrangements. Breaking up individual sections in the song allows Brian to make small modifications in the arrangements.
The composition is very experimental with it being a combination of an orchestral ballad and a modern rock song. Brian has indicated that "I'm Waiting for the Day" is "the one cut off the album I didn't really like that much... It's not a case of liking or not liking it; it was an appropriate song, a very, very positive song. I just didn't like my voice on that particular song."
Carl Wilson
Carl Wilson
Carl Dean Wilson was an American rock and roll singer and guitarist, best known as a founding member, lead guitarist and sometime lead vocalist of The Beach Boys...
has stated he loved the dynamics of "I'm Waiting for the Day". He said "The intro is very big, then it gets quite small with the vocal in the verse with a little instrumentation and then, in the chorus, it gets very big again, with the background harmonies against the lead. It is perhaps one of the most dynamic moments in the album".
Covers
The song was later covered on the album "Smiling Pets" in 1998. Another cover was performed by Reigning SoundReigning Sound
The Reigning Sound is an American garage punk band originally based out of Memphis, Tennessee, now located in Asheville, North Carolina. The band's current lineup includes former Oblivians and Compulsive Gamblers frontman Greg Cartwright on lead vocals and guitar, David Wayne Gay on bass, Lance...
with a slightly altered title ("Waiting for the Day") on their 2001 album, Break Up, Break Down
Break Up, Break Down
Break Up, Break Down is the first LP by the Reigning Sound. It was released on May 15, 2001 by Sympathy for the Record Industry. The album was the band's second release, following their debut 7" single "Two Sides to Every Man," by three months...
. The song was later covered again, but this time by Wilson on Pet Sounds Live
Pet Sounds Live
Pet Sounds Live is the second live album released by Brian Wilson. Coming directly after his first live package, Live at the Roxy Theatre, Wilson wanted to capture The Beach Boys' 1966 masterpiece in a live contemporary atmosphere....
. This was the second live album released by Wilson.
Musicians
- Brian WilsonBrian WilsonBrian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...
- lead and harmony vocals - Gary Coleman - timpaniTimpaniTimpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...
, bongosBongo drumBongo or bongos are a Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of single-headed, open-ended drums attached to each other. The drums are of different size: the larger drum is called in Spanish the hembra and the smaller the macho... - Al de Lory - pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
- Justin DiTullio - celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
- Bill Green - fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
- Jim GordonJim Gordon (musician)James Beck "Jim" Gordon is an American recording artist, musician and songwriter. The Grammy Award winner was one of the most requested session drummers in the late 1960s and 1970s, recording albums with many well-known musicians of the time, and was the drummer in the blues-rock supergroup Derek...
- drums - Leonard Hartman - English horn
- Jim HornJim HornJim Horn is an American saxophonist and woodwind player. He was born in Los Angeles, and after replacing saxophonist Steve Douglas in 1959, he toured with member Duane Eddy for five years, playing sax and flute on the road, and in the recording studio...
- flute - Harry Hyams - violaViolaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
- Carol KayeCarol KayeCarol Kaye is an American musician, best known as one of the most prolific and widely heard bass guitarists in history, playing on an estimated 10,000 recording sessions in a 55 year career....
- bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Larry KnechtelLarry KnechtelLawrence William "Larry" Knechtel was an American keyboard player and bassist, best known for his work as a session musician with such artists as Simon & Garfunkel, Duane Eddy, The Beach Boys, The Mamas & the Papas, The Partridge Family, The Doors, and Elvis Presley, and as a member of the 1970s...
- Hammond organHammond organThe Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard... - William Kurasch - violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
- Leonard Malarsky - violin
- Jay MiglioriJay MiglioriJay Migliori was an American saxophonist, best known as a founding member of Supersax, a tribute band to Charlie Parker....
- flute - Ray Pohlman - electric guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
, six string bassExtended-range bassExtended-range bass refers to an electric bass guitar with greater frequency range than the standard 4-string bass guitar. Bass guitars tuned one octave lower than a standard four-string instrument are also considered an extended-range bass... - Lyle Ritz - ukuleleUkuleleThe ukulele, ; from ; it is a subset of the guitar family of instruments, generally with four nylon or gut strings or four courses of strings....
, upright bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2... - Ralph Schaffer - violin
- Sid Sharp - violin