Is this the best version of “God Only Knows”?
I agree with Paul McCartney that “God Only Knows” is one of the greatest songs ever written. There are plenty of nice versions out there on YouTube, etc. to watch. Below is my favorite.
by Jon Rowe · August 16, 2015
I agree with Paul McCartney that “God Only Knows” is one of the greatest songs ever written. There are plenty of nice versions out there on YouTube, etc. to watch. Below is my favorite.
Jon Rowe
Jon Rowe is a full Professor of Business at Mercer County Community College, where he teaches business, law, and legal issues relating to politics. Of course, his views do not necessarily represent those of his employer.
November 17, 2014
August 5, 2010
September 15, 2010
One of the few remaining Navajo Code Talkers, Samuel Sandoval, died at the age of 98.
“Sam was a great warrior. (He) served his country well; especially using the top secret Navajo Code,” Navajo Code Talker and Navajo Code Talker Association President Peter MacDonald said in a text message to The Arizona Mirror.
“He wanted to tell all Navajo families and (the) younger generation the importance of our Navajo language,” he added. “He’ll be terribly missed.”
The Navajo Code talkers were a group of U.S. Marines who used their Native language to transmit messages during World War II. Only three are still alive today: MacDonald, John Kinsel Sr. and Thomas H. Begay.
[¶]
Sandoval was born in 1922 in Nageezi, New Mexico, and enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps on March 26, 1943. He completed basic training at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, California, where the original 29 Navajo Code Talkers arrived in September 1942. The men were responsible for developing the unbreakable code used across the Pacific during World War II.
Sandoval served five combat tours, including Guadalcanal, Bougainville, Guam, Peleliu and Okinawa, and was honorably discharged in 1946.
[¶]
During Sandoval’s military service, he earned a Navy Unit Commendation Ribbon, a Combat Action Ribbon, a China Service Medal, a World War II Victory Medal, a Navy Occupation Service Medal with Asia Clasp, and an Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with a silver star. Sandoval also received the 2022 American Spirit Award for Bravery from the National WWII Museum.
Semper fi, et requiescat in pace, bellator inclitus.
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My favorite is the barbershop version that came with Bioshock Infinite.
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@jaybird @jon-row @everyone-else-interested-in-beachboys-covers-and/or-bioshock :
the anachronistic covers are one of the best parts of that game.
Later on, it’s super obvious that there are anachronistic covers, but “God only knows” is the first one you come across. If you don’t know much about the history of the song (and I didn’t) the first thought that goes through your head is “huh, I didn’t realize the song was that old.”
It didn’t really stop at the barbershop quartet version, though. Because from the context of the game’s setting that’s been introduced so far, it makes perfect sense that the song is a barbershop quartet cover of an existing older song–and given that the game is set in 1910 and the prominent reference to god in the lyrics, my head imagined that there was an older traditional folk/christian version of the song that this was a barbershop cover of.
Which worked really well, and helps set up the story-thread of the anachronistic covers for an even better payoff that it would have had if I’d known at the beginning that God Only Knows was original to the Beach Boys.
Anyway, that song, that non-existent traditional version of God Only Knows that might have existed in the 19th century by actually only exists at the corners of my musically under-educated mind, that’s my favorite version of God Only Knows.Report
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The Langley Schools Music Project version is precious. It also seems perfectly designed for ironic use in a horror movie, while the killer stalks (? “I’ll make you so suuuuure about it” ? ).Report