Ross Barkan (@rossbarkan): "In my 10,000-word deep dive into Pet Sounds, I knew I wanted to write on “Don’t Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)” especially because there’s something ineffably beautiful about it, like it’s the album’s ur-track. I lose myself in the strings. In its own way, it’s the pinnacle."

Make money doing the work you believe in

In my 10,000-word deep dive into Pet Sounds, I knew I wanted to write on “Don’t Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)” especially because there’s something ineffably beautiful about it, like it’s the album’s ur-track. I lose myself in the strings. In its own way, it’s the pinnacle.

Four violins, one viola, and a cello layer the melody, Brian singing of the sensation of a lover in your grasp, that moment of trepidation, the catch in your throat: “Don’t talk, take my hand and let me hear your heart beat.” And then: “Take my hand and listen to my heart beat—listen, listen, listen.” Asher’s lyrics exquisitely match the sound, which is still difficult to fully render, which begs, like a heartbeat, to be listened to with every atom left in you. There is music sing to, and then there is music to melt to, melt within, empyreal music, music of the body and music beyond the body. Paradise, in just under three minutes.

Ross Barkan

May 13

12:53 PM

Make money doing the work you believe in

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