The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson Wrote a Song About How His Father ‘Bugged Him’
The Beach Boys briefly had father Murry Wilson as their manager, even if brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson had an “abusive” relationship with him. In fact, Brian Wilson wrote one Summer Days (and Summer Nights) song about his father — “I’m Bugged at My Ol’ Man.”
Murry Wilson appeared as the manager for the Beach Boys
Most of the Beach Boys members were related, with the founding members consisting of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. As a musician himself, Brian, Dennis, and Carl’s father, Murry, acted as their manager.
After being “overbearing” and “disruptive” during recording sessions, in 1965, he was officially dismissed as the Beach Boys’ manager. This occurred during a recording session, although the song was either “Help Me Ronda” (via Album Linear Notes) or “I Got Around” (via MPR News), depending on the source.
Brian Wilson described his relationship with his father in 1 Beach Boys song
Even before he was the Beach Boys’ manager, Murry Wilson had a complicated relationship with his sons. In I Am Brian Wilson: A Memoir, Brian Wilson said each of his brothers reacted differently to getting hit by their father. He added that they dealt with the trauma in different ways.
“I kept lots of what I felt inside, but sometimes it came out. It came out on Summer Days (And Summer Nights), in a song I wrote called ‘I’m Bugged at My Ol’ Man,’” Wilson wrote. “It’s a song that critics writing about the record didn’t like very much. I remember Carl reading me one review where the writer said the song wasn’t complicated enough.”
“But I wasn’t trying to be complicated,” Wilson added. “I was trying to say that my dad was bugging me… On the back of the record, where we listed who sang and played on all the songs, the vocals for ‘I’m Bugged at My Ol’ Man’ were created to ‘too embarrassed.’ That’s how direct it was.”
‘I’m Bugged at My Ol’ Man’ by the Beach Boys lyrics meaning
As noted in Wilson’s memoir, there is no hidden, more profound meaning to this Beach Boys original. With a tumultuous relationship with his own father, the songwriter described a bad parent-child relationship in “I’m Bugged at My Ol’ Man.”
“I’m bugged at my ol’ man,” the first verse states. “’Cause he’s making me stay in my room (darn, my dad) / I came in a little late / And my ol’ man, he just blew his mind (blew it bad) / Why did he sell my surfboard? He cut off my hair last night in my sleep.”
This track was included on Summer Days (and Summer Nights), although it is not the most popular song in the collection. Music by the Beach Boys is available on most major streaming platforms.
