"Your Imagination" is a song written by
Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often called a genius for his novel approaches to pop composition, extraordinary musical aptitude, and m ...
,
Joe Thomas and
Steve Dahl for Brian Wilson's 1998 solo album ''
Imagination
Imagination is the production or simulation of novel objects, sensations, and ideas in the mind without any immediate input of the senses. Stefan Szczelkun characterises it as the forming of experiences in one's mind, which can be re-creations ...
''. An alternate version of "Your Imagination" with slightly different lyrics and
Steve Dahl singing lead was occasionally played in the late 1990s on Dahl's Chicago-based radio shows on WLUP-FM and WCKG.
Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often called a genius for his novel approaches to pop composition, extraordinary musical aptitude, and m ...
supplied the vocals on both lead and harmony through
overdubbing
Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more av ...
. The lyrics refer obliquely to nostalgia for The
Beach Boys ("another car running fast; another song on the beach," "I took a trip to the past"), while the arrangement references
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
' "
Sgt. Pepper
''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' is the eighth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. Released on 26May 1967, ''Sgt. Pepper'' is regarded by musicologists as an early concept album that advanced the roles of sound composi ...
" with the
piccolo trumpet
The piccolo trumpet is the smallest member of the trumpet family, pitched one octave higher than the standard B trumpet. Most piccolo trumpets are built to play in either B or A, using a separate leadpipe for each key. The tubing in the B piccol ...
in the chorus.
The
Giant Records
In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: '' gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...
CD single
[UPC 054391721624] release, on Giant 9280, included an
a cappella
''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...
version of the "Your Imagination" along with the album track "Happy Days."
"Your Imagination" was featured in the live setlist for Brian Wilson's European tour in 2011.
References
1998 singles
Brian Wilson songs
Songs written by Brian Wilson
Song recordings produced by Brian Wilson
1998 songs
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