"Brian Wilson" is a song by Canadian rock band

Barenaked Ladies Barenaked Ladies (BNL) is a Canadian Rock music, rock band which was formed in 1988 in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough, Ontario. The band developed a following in Canada, with their Barenaked Ladies (EP), self-titled 1991 cassette becoming th ...

from their 1992 album '' Gordon''. The song was written by Steven Page as a tribute to

the Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their f ...

' co-founder

Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (June 20, 1942 – June 11, 2025) was an American musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often Brian Wilson is a genius, called a genius for his novel approaches to pop compositio ...

. It was released as a single and peaked at number 18 on the

Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian music charts are a collection of record charts reflecting the music consumption of people in Canada. '' RPM'' and '' Billboard'' are the biggest publications to have published Canada's official charts for decades. However, the first ...

. In 1998, the song peaked at number 68 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Wilson himself

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the song on his live album '' Live at the Roxy Theatre'' (2000).

Background and lyricism

Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys in West Los Angeles 1990 photographed by Ithaka Darin Pappas

The song was written by singer/guitarist Steven Page in his parents' basement around his twentieth birthday, in 1990. The first lines of the song chronicle one of Page's many late-night journeys to

Sam the Record Man Sam the Record Man was a Canadian Record shop, record store chain that, at one time, was Canada's largest music recording retailer. In 1982, its ads proclaimed that it had "140 locations, coast to coast". Its iconic flagship store was located a ...

Yonge Street Yonge Street ( ') is a major arterial route in the Canadian province of Ontario connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Great Lakes#Geography, Upper Great Lakes. Ontario's first colonial administrator, ...

. The song generally tells the story of a man whose life parallels that of

, particularly during his time spent with psychologist

Eugene Landy Eugene Ellsworth Landy (November 26, 1934 – March 22, 2006) was an American psychologist known for his controversial 24-hour therapy program and treatment of celebrity clients. Landy's regimen involved supervising and micromanaging his c ...

after Wilson was diagnosed with

mental illness A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...

, and, more broadly, with lyrics about suffering from

comorbid In medicine, comorbidity refers to the simultaneous presence of two or more medical conditions in a patient; often co-occurring (that is, concomitant or concurrent) with a primary condition. It originates from the Latin term (meaning "sicknes ...

mental illness and

obesity Obesity is a medical condition, considered by multiple organizations to be a disease, in which excess Adipose tissue, body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it can potentially have negative effects on health. People are classifi ...

Variations

Steven Page stated in the liner notes for '' Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits'' that the song has more "official" recordings than any other song in their repertoire, saying that there are at least five. The song was first recorded for the never-released 1990 BNL cassette, '' Barenaked Recess''. After

Tyler Stewart Tyler Joseph Stewart (born September 21, 1967) is the drummer for the Canadian music group Barenaked Ladies. Early life Stewart was born in Toronto, but was raised in Newmarket, Ontario. He is the son of Sandra Stewart and stepson of Robert Stew ...

joined the band in 1991 as a drummer, it was re-recorded for the band's platinum-selling '' Yellow Tape'', in 1992 for '' Gordon'', in 1996 for the live album '' Rock Spectacle'', and again in 1997 for a version which was called "Brian Wilson 2000" and was released as a single.

Brian Wilson 2000

"Brian Wilson 2000" is a shortened form of the song for radio play, recorded to sound more like their live performance than the original ''Gordon'' version did. The band's management worried that radio stations would not play the live version that had recently gained popularity. The most noticeable differences are that "2000" replaces the first verse with an 8-bar instrumental introduction, and the outro is considerably shortened as well. However, most radio stations decided to play the live version instead, which explains why the live version was included on ''Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits''. The U.S. release included the non-album song "Back." A music video for "Brian Wilson 2000" was filmed at The Opera House in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

on February 22, 1998 and released later that year.

Brian Wilson version

Wilson rearranged and sang this song

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

with his new band at live concerts, one of which was recorded for a live album in 2000. Wilson visited Barenaked Ladies while they were recording ''

Maroon Maroon ( , ) is a brownish crimson color that takes its name from the French word , meaning chestnut. ''Marron'' is also one of the French translations for "brown". Terms describing interchangeable shades, with overlapping RGB ranges, inc ...

'' (album producer

Don Was Don Edward Fagenson (born September 13, 1952), known professionally as Don Was (), is an American musician, record producer, music director, film composer, documentary filmmaker and radio host. Since 2011, he has also served as president of the ...

was an associate of Brian Wilson's) whereupon they played him some of their works-in-progress, and then he played them his version of "Brian Wilson". At the end, he turned to them and asked, "Is it cool?" Upon his departure, his advice to the band was "don't eat too much." The band described the entire experience as surreal.

Personnel

* Steven Page – acoustic guitar, lead vocals * Ed Robertson – acoustic guitar, backing vocals *

Jim Creeggan James Raymond Creeggan (born February 12, 1970) is the bassist for Canadian alternative rock band Barenaked Ladies. Early life Creeggan was born in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough, Ontario. His mother taught piano lessons to neighbourhood chi ...

– double bass, backing vocals *

Andy Creeggan Andrew Burnett Creeggan (born July 4, 1971) is a Canadian musician, known for being a former member of the alternative rock band Barenaked Ladies. He was also a member of the trio The Brothers Creeggan, and a solo artist having released three a ...

– congas, backing vocals *

– drums

Chart positions

Barenaked Ladies single

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brian Wilson (Song) 1992 singles 1997 singles Barenaked Ladies songs Songs written by Steven Page Brian Wilson 1990 songs Songs about mental health Reprise Records singles Songs based on actual events Songs about the Beach Boys