A Day in the Life of a Tree

"A Day in the Life of a Tree" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1971 album Surf's Up. It was written by Brian Wilson and the group's manager Jack Rieley, who also performed lead vocal. The lyrics were inspired by Wilson's feelings toward environmental pollution.

"A Day in the Life of a Tree"
Song by the Beach Boys
from the album Surf's Up
ReleasedAugust 30, 1971 (1971-08-30)
RecordedApril – July 1971
StudioBeach Boys, Los Angeles
Length3:07
LabelBrother/Reprise
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)The Beach Boys
Audio sample
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Background

According to Rieley,

Brian Wilson and I had been talking a lot about the sorry state of the planet back then. He was filled with questions and we went on for hours about it. Forests were dying, the air had turned brown, the earth's future was beginning to appear hazardous to health. When Brian first played the chords and sang the tentative melody for me, he asked what the song should be about and I suggested a single tree as metaphor for the earth; that single tree as metaphor for more than ecology. I fell in love with the chords at once and loved the swelling tension of that droned bass line; the song seemed to lend itself to the lyrical concept. He went nuts for the lyrics when I showed them to him. Loved 'em, memorized the first verse and was singing around the house. Carl and I were positive that Brian had to sing A Day in the Life of a Tree.[1]

AllMusic interpreted the song's subject to be autobiographical, calling it "one of Brian's most deeply touching and bizarre compositions…lamenting his long life amid the pollution and grime of a city park while the somber tones of a pipe organ build atmosphere."[2]

Recording

The instrumental track was made in a few days.[3] According to engineer Stephen Desper, the bird sounds were captured from Wilson's backyard at dawn.[4] In 2015, Desper wrote of the song,

I recall the day Brian came to me to discuss a song he was working on (with Jack) about the health and welfare of trees. We went for a walk in Brian's back yard, he was reflecting on some of the trees growing there…some young, some old….strong oaks and one that was dead from a lightning strike. We were discussing how to get the message of the song to come across in a sound picture (or tone poem) and not just a melody with a story attached. Brian would tell me sonic concepts and I'd throw ideas back at him about how to realize the picture from a sound engineering point of view. What is the sound a healthy tree makes? Or a sick and dying tree. How do you tell the story in sonic concept? It wasn’t until I suggested using a pipe organ to represent the majesty of a tree (wood pipes) and a reed organ made of oak, for other sounds that things took off.[5]

Desper recalled that Dennis Wilson was the first to try out the lead vocal.[6] Rieley said that Brian had first attempted singing the lead vocal, but appeared dissatisfied with his performance, and so he enlisted Rieley to "help" by singing an ostensible guide vocal. Rieley performed about 5 takes, after which Wilson declared that Rieley had just done the final lead vocal. Carl said that everybody involved had agreed Rieley was fit to sing the lead vocal, and had worked out a plan to trick him into singing it.[3]

Warner Bros Records staff arranger Van Dyke Parks sang background vocals on the track. He elaborated to Rolling Stone in 1971:

I went up there to congratulate them on acting like grown-ups. On continuing to push. Then they had me doing a vocal. I liked that song about the tree just fine. I was just called in to do some singing on one line. It worked out well. Of course I had to stumble out of the studio in pitch darkness. Brian turned out all the lights. Had to crawl out of there on the floor, clutching my wife. Most humiliating thing I've ever ... Oh it's a power trip all right. But I can get behind that. I can get behind the way Brian does it. It's funny to watch him when he can't find something he owns. It's cute when he ignores someone else's needs, because he can always plead insanity.[7]

Live performance

It was performed live only once by the Beach Boys, at the Long Beach Arena in Long Beach, CA on December 3, 1971. The bandmembers reportedly coaxed Brian out from the side of the stage to play organ while Rieley sang it.[8]

Recognition

Neil Young has briefly referred to "A Day in the Life of a Tree", saying "Brian's a genius…[It's a] great song, man."[9] Music journalist Ian MacDonald referred to the song as "so radically at odds with pop's now ubiquitous irony that you either laugh or become humbled by its pained candour."[10]

Cover versions

References
  1. "Jack Rieley's comments & Surf's Up". smileysmile.net. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  2. Bush, John. "Surf's Up review". Allmusic. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  3. Badman, Keith (2004). The Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band, on Stage and in the Studio. Backbeat Books. ISBN 978-0-87930-818-6.
  4. Desper, Stephen (February 15, 2006). "Re: Beach Boys songs with bird sound effects". smileysmile.net.
  5. Desper, Stephen (August 17, 2015). "Re: What did Mike + the other Boys think of Jack Rieley's lyrics?". smileysmile.net. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  6. Chidester, Brian (March 7, 2014). "Busy Doin' Somethin': Uncovering Brian Wilson's Lost Bedroom Tapes". Paste. Retrieved December 11, 2014.
  7. Nolan, Tom (October 28, 1971). "The Beach Boys: A California Saga". Rolling Stone.
  8. Slowinski, Craig; Shepard, Rob. "Long Beach Arena, Long Beach, CA - December 3, 1971". The Beach Boys Setlist Archive.
  9. McDonough, Jimmy (2002). Shakey Neil Young's Biography (1st ed.). New York: Random House. ISBN 9781400075447.
  10. MacDonald, Ian (December 2000). "The Beach Boys: Wave Culture…". Uncut.
  11. Himes, Geoffrey (1998). "The Disciples of Brian: The Beach Boys' legacy in Decade #4". Crawdaddy!.
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