Editing Pet Sounds (section)

=== Spirituality and coming of age themes===
{{quote box
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| quote = I got into marijuana and it opened some doors for me and I got a little more committed to [...] the making of music for people on a spiritual level. | source = —Brian Wilson, 1994{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=102}}
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During his first [[LSD]] trip in April 1965, Wilson had what he considered to be "a very religious experience" and claimed to have perceived [[God]].{{sfn|Badman|2004|pp=87, 136}} Spirituality subsequently formed a core inspiration for the album.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Beets |first1=Greg |title=Pet Sounds Fifteen Minutes With Brian Wilson |url=https://www.austinchronicle.com/music/2000-07-21/77984/ |website=Austin Chronicle |date=July 21, 2000}}</ref> He frequently emphasized the album's spiritual qualities in interviews,{{sfn|Lambert|2007|p=244}} later explaining that he and his brother Carl conducted [[prayer]] sessions, aimed at global healing,{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=102}} that transformed the studio atmosphere into "a religious ceremony."{{sfn|Lambert|2007|p=244}} During these sessions, Carl proposed "a special album" following their spiritual practices.{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=102}} Brian explained in 1994, "We prayed for an album that would be a rival to ''Rubber Soul''. It was like a prayer, but there was some ego there."<ref name="IJWMFTT">{{cite AV media notes|title=[[Brian Wilson: I Just Wasn't Made for These Times]]|year=1995|last=Was|first=Don|author-link=Don Was|type=Documentary film}}</ref>

''Pet Sounds'' contrasted with the group's earlier celebrations of adolescence, exemplified through lyrics wishing to be older rather than younger ("Wouldn't It Be Nice").{{sfn|Lambert|2007|p=234}}<ref name="WBUR2016">{{cite web |last1=Rogovoy |first1=Seth |title='Pet Sounds' On The Road: Revisiting The Sad Genius Of Brian Wilson |url=http://www.wbur.org/artery/2016/06/14/pet-sounds-brian-wilson |publisher=[[WBUR]] |date=June 14, 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220521163247/https://www.wbur.org/news/2016/06/14/pet-sounds-brian-wilson |archive-date=May 21, 2022}}</ref> Asher stated that Wilson sought to create songs relatable to adolescents: "Even though he was dealing in the most advanced score-charts and arrangements, he was still incredibly conscious of this commercial thing. This absolute need to relate."{{sfn|Kent|2009|p=17}} Carl reflected that the album recurrently explores themes of disillusionment and [[loss of innocence|lost innocence]] associated with the realization that "everything's not [[classical Hollywood cinema|Hollywood]]" in adulthood.<ref name=HimesSurf /> Critics [[Richard Goldstein (writer born 1944)|Richard Goldstein]] and [[Nik Cohn]] found that the album's melancholic lyrics sometimes jarred with its music,{{sfn|Gaines|1986|p=146}} with Cohn describing it as "sad songs about loneliness and heartache; sad songs even about happiness."{{sfn|Gaines|1986|p=146}}<ref name="ABoysOwnStory" />{{refn|group=nb|''Rolling Stone'' editor [[David Wild]] characterized the lyrics as "intelligent and moving, but [...] not pretentious", comparing them to Tin Pan Alley's craftsmanship.{{sfn|Granata|2003|p=90}}}}
{{quote box|align=left|width=25%|quote=People always thought Brian was a good-time guy until he started releasing those heavy, searching songs on ''Pet Sounds''. But that stuff was closer to his personality and perceptions.
|source=—Dennis Wilson{{sfn|Granata|2003|p=62}}}}

Much of the album's pessimistic and dejected lyric content stemmed from Wilson's marital struggles,{{sfn|White|1996|p=251}} exacerbated by his drug use.{{sfn|Granata|2003|pp=48, 53, 56–57}}{{refn|group=nb|Soon after his first LSD experience, Brian began suffering from [[auditory hallucination]]s<ref name="Ability">{{cite magazine |year=2006 |title=Brian Wilson – A Powerful Interview |url=http://abilitymagazine.com/past/brianW/brianw.html |url-status=live |magazine=Ability |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131218082138/https://abilitymagazine.com/past/brianW/brianw.html |archive-date=December 18, 2013 |access-date=February 10, 2014}}</ref> and significant paranoia throughout the year.{{sfn|Granata|2003|p=48}} He attributed LSD's influence to it "[bringing] out the insecurities in me, which I think went into the music",{{sfn|Granata|2003|p=58}} and credited marijuana with encouraging his creative growth.<ref name="Varga2016">{{cite news |last1=Varga |first1=George |title=Brian Wilson talks 'Pet Sounds,' 50 years later |url=http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/jun/26/brian-wilson-and-al-jardine-disucss-pet-sounds |work=[[The San Diego Union-Tribune]] |date=June 26, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160627135815/http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/jun/26/brian-wilson-and-al-jardine-disucss-pet-sounds/ |archive-date=June 27, 2016}}</ref>}} According to Asher, he and Wilson drew from extensive discussions about their experiences and feelings concerning women and relationship dynamics to inspire their songs.<ref name="Tony Asher interview" />{{refn|group=nb|These discussions encompassed Wilson's doubts about his marriage, his "sexual fantasies", and his "apparent" attraction to his sister-in-law, Diane.{{sfn|Gaines|1986|p=144}} His wife interpreted songs like "You Still Believe in Me" and "Caroline, No" as directly addressing their marriage.{{sfn|Fusilli|2005|p=84}} }} Asher later clarified that their songwriting conversations remained "theoretical" rather than explicitly autobiographical, focusing on hypothetical scenarios such as "a kid who doesn't fit in".{{sfn|Granata|2003|p=107}}

====Perceived storyline====
''Pet Sounds'' is sometimes suggested to be a [[song cycle]]{{sfn|Schinder|2007|pp=114–115}}{{Sfn|Howard|2004|p=64}} portraying the unraveling of a romantic relationship.{{sfn|Doe|Tobler|2009|p=21}}{{sfn|Lambert|2007|p=249}} Author Scott Schinder argued that Wilson and Asher had crafted a song cycle about "the emotional challenges accompanying the transition from youth to adulthood", paired with "a series of intimate, hymn-like love songs".{{sfn|Schinder|2007|pp=114–115}} Music historian Larry Star traced a thematic progression from "youthful optimism [...] to philosophical and emotional disillusionment" across its track sequencing.{{sfn|Starr|2007|p=265}}

While ''Pet Sounds'' exhibits unified emotional themes, no deliberate narrative was planned.{{sfn|Tunbridge|2010|p=173}} Asher stated that he and Wilson never discussed a specific concept, though he acknowledged Wilson's potential to unconsciously shape one.<ref name="Tony Asher interview" />{{refn|group=nb|Responding to the songwriters' denials of a conscious lyric theme, journalist [[Nick Kent]] observed that the album's lyrics predominantly depict a male protagonist's struggles with self-identity and crises of faith in love and life, excluding "Sloop John B" and the instrumentals.{{sfn|Kent|2009|pp=23–24}} Granata writes that while these tracks disrupt the album's "thematic thread", they enhance its pacing.{{sfn|Granata|2003|p=89}}}} Musicologist [[Philip Lambert]] argued that Wilson likely intended a narrative framework, influenced by his familiarity with similar "theme albums" by [[Frank Sinatra]] and the Four Freshmen.{{sfn|Lambert|2008|pp=116–117}}{{refn|group=nb|Lambert distinguishes "theme albums"—collections of songs linked by shared lyrical content but lacking musical cohesion—from concept albums, which integrate recurring melodic, harmonic, or structural elements into a unified artistic presentation.{{sfn|Lambert|2007|p=250}} With regards to the issue of authorial intent, he felt that artists' commentaries on their work may reflect external agendas or lack objectivity, and that the artwork itself should remain the primary basis for analysis.{{sfn|Lambert|2007|p=245}} }}