So I’ve just realized (because of my English..) that “pet sounds” can also mean “favorite sounds”. In that sense (without any animal allusion, let’s ignore the cover for a while) it’s actually a beautiful title I think, very poetic, going very well with the delicate content of the album. No surprise it was Brian Wilson’s interpretation (as I’ve just learned too).
Mike Love interpretation is more animal-oriented, but with a double-meaning (if I understand well):
"We were standing in the hallway in one of the recording studios, either Western or Columbia, and we didn't have a title. ... We had taken pictures at the zoo and ... there were animal sounds on the record, and we were thinking, well, it's our favorite music of that time, so I said, 'Why don't we call it Pet Sounds?'”
As for me, because of that cover, I’ve always, until now, related the title solely to animal’s sounds, as a fun title, so that when I thought or listened to the record, somehow I overlooked the title and artwork, thinking it was another piece of laid-back Beach Boys humor..
Is that your case too, or have you always interpreted the title also as “favorite sounds” (with more or less double-meaning, in regard of that cover)?
I’m curious to know if I’m just misinterpreting English..
Also, would you imagine a different cover artwork, perhaps suiting the title better?
Or are you happy with the title and cover as they are, because you’re used to it, or because it’s nice that they don’t take themselves seriously. But if so, don’t you think that there is too much contrast between, as a journalist put it, “songs of high romanticism, [and] an album cover of stark banality“?
Edit : the dog on the picture is Louie, one of the two dogs barking at the end of the album with the passing train, all with a beautiful visual and melancholic effect.
Last edited by Yann on 08/04/2018 10:47; edited 1 time in total
I have an Australian version like this one, where they changed the album name and the cover artwork. Perhaps whoever was in charge of marketing in Australia didn’t like the pet sounds concept at all?
I have an Australian version like this one, where they changed the album name and the cover artwork. Perhaps whoever was in charge of marketing in Australia didn’t like the pet sounds concept at all?
I seriously thought it was due to the dogs barking at the end... pretty lame interpretation. "Nobody wants to hear animals on record." That's what I remember from some dramatization... but I was like 12 when I watched that.
I have an Australian version like this one, where they changed the album name and the cover artwork. Perhaps whoever was in charge of marketing in Australia didn’t like the pet sounds concept at all?
brian also wanted to bring a horse into the studio
"my horse would be so bitchin' in here"
😄 yes ! i'm just reading a Rolling Stone article on this:
“Hey Chuck, is it possible we could bring a horse in here if we don’t screw anything up?” he can be heard asking engineer Chuck Britz. “I beg your pardon?” comes the stunned reply. But Wilson won’t be deterred. “Honest to God, now, the horse is tame and everything!” For whatever reason, he ultimately decided to stick with the canines. (J Runtagh, Rolling Stone magazine)
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