This is a traditional West Indies tune about a sunken boat. The Beach Boys' folk music buff, Al Jardine, turned Brian Wilson onto the of the song. For their updated version, Wilson added elaborate vocals and a 12-string guitar part. He also changed some of the lyrics, including "This is the worst trip since I've been born" to "...I've ever been on" as a wink to acid culture. The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson and Mike Love share lead vocal duties. The instrumentation was provided mostly by the session musician conglomerate nicknamed "the ".
This was the biggest hit from The Beach Boys landmark album Pet Sounds. The album was the brainchild of Brian Wilson, and he got the title when Beach Boy Mike Love suggested dogs were the only creatures that would like it. To keep the animal theme, Wilson put some barking dogs on the album.
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