1 of The Beach Boys’ Songs Was ‘Too Ahead of Its Time’ to Be a Hit
TL;DR:
- One of The Beach Boys’ songs was inspired by a Robert Frost poem.
- The chorus was influenced by the words of a spiritual teacher associated with The Beatles.
- Jardine felt the song was “too ahead of its time.”
A Robert Frost poem inspired one of The Beach Boys‘ songs. In addition, it drew inspiration from a spiritual idea from Hindu texts. One of The Beach Boys said the track was “too ahead of its time” to be a success.
Al Jardine said 1 of The Beach Boys’ songs was inspired by a Robert Frost poem
Al Jardine is one of the founding members of The Beach Boys. During a 2013 interview with Rock Cellar Magazine, he discussed the origin of the band’s song “All This Is That.” “That was inspired by a Robert Frost poem ‘The Road Not Taken,'” he recalled. “It’s a real moving poem about choices, taking gambles rather than going the safe route.”
Jardine explained why he was aware of the poem in the first place. “Someone turned me onto that poem so I went up on a little road in Big Sur right above my house by the Big Sur River, read it and I really got inspired,” he said.
Al Jardine incorporated the words of a famous spiritual leader into the words of the song
Jardine also drew inspiration from Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The Maharishi was a Hindu yogi most known for his associations with The Beatles. “Then a lecture by Maharishi infused in me the wisdom of the ancient Veda scriptures, in particular. the saying that ‘We are all one,'” Jardine said. For context, the Vedas are Hindu holy books.
“He put it in the term of the Vedas meaning, ‘I am that, thou is that, all this is that,'” Jardine continued. “I thought it was amusing at first and then realized how profound it was in its simplicity.”
“I thought, ‘What a great chorus that would make,'” Jardine continued. “[The Beach Boys’ Carl Wilson] really took it to heart and added his own vibration to it at the end with that beautiful, soaring melodic mantra that he sings at the end.”
How The Beach Boys’ ‘All This Is That’ and its parent album performed on the charts in the United States
The Beach Boys never released “All This Is That” as a single. As such it never charted on the Billboard Hot 100. This is because of how the Billboard charts worked in the 1970s.
The Beach Boys released “All This Is That” on the album Carl and the Passions – “So Tough.” The album did not chart on the Billboard 200. The band simply wasn’t as popular in the 1970s as it was in the 1960s.
“All This Is That” is a classic track even if it never became popular.
