There’s a lot that can be said about the Beach Boys, as a band, given their complex history. Formed in 1961, the band has had members come and go, and is still technically active, though three of its five founding members have passed away. That original line-up was made up of three brothers – Carl, Dennis, and Brian Wilson, the last of whom passed away at 82 in June 2025 – alongside a first cousin of theirs, Mike Love, and a close friend, Al Jardine.
A recent documentary, simply called The Beach Boys, runs for two hours and still skims over a great deal, meaning that just a handful of paragraphs can’t even come close to going through the band’s history. But what can be celebrated with relative ease and brevity is a rundown of some of the band’s very best songs, which is what the following intends to do. Even if this ranking were twice as long, there’d still be some glaring omissions, so take the following with a grain of salt. These tracks do sum up what made the Beach Boys so special, but still only go so far, and inevitably make up just a small chunk of the iconic pop/rock group’s (largely very strong) output.
10
“Warmth of the Sun”
From ‘Shut Down Volume 2’ (1964)
If you listen to “The Warmth of the Sun” without knowing what year it came out, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was a late 1960s – or possibly even early 1970s – Beach Boys song. Instead, it actually came out pretty early on, about three years after the band’s formation. It was a sign of things to come, then, being one of the band’s first truly great mature songs… well, mature compared to the more typical Beach Boys lyrical fare, like cars, surfing, carefree love; all that.
And those songs are still fun. They’re still great. There are still times and places for the surfy tracks. But “The Warmth of the Sun” is more mellow and poetic than many other early Beach Boys songs. It is indeed about love and warmth, but there’s something more emotionally complex here. It was purportedly recorded shortly after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, too, which could help explain why it’s so somber.
9
“Surf’s Up”
From ‘Surf’s Up’ (1971)
“Surf’s Up” might, from the title, sound like it’d go for a similar vibe to songs like “Surfin’ Safari” and “Surfin’ U.S.A.,” but that’s not really what this one’s going for, once you move past the title. Instead, the title suggests that the surf song’s time is up; that they’re over. That’s gone. It’s the 1970s, after all (well, the song was conceived in the late 1960s, but first officially released on the album of the same name in 1971, which it concludes on a morbid note).
It’s kind of haunting, and not exactly an energetic or fun song, but it is an undeniably beautiful one.
It’s a dark track, and one that goes through a bunch of movements throughout, all bleeding into each other surprisingly seamlessly. It’s kind of haunting, and not exactly an energetic or fun song, but it is an undeniably beautiful one. It’s a side of the Beach Boys that some people don’t give enough attention to, and easily one of the band’s best songs not released in the 1960s (the Beach Boys’ most fruitful decade).
8
“Forever”
From ‘Sunflower’ (1970)
Okay, one more slower song, but this one is at least very romantic; a ballad on the music front, sure, but entirely a love song lyrically speaking. “Forever” is probably Dennis Wilson’s best song for the band, given that he wrote this one and did the lead vocals. His efforts are sometimes overshadowed by Carl Wilson’s, and often overshadowed by Brian Wilson’s (who, to be fair, was the band’s most accomplished songwriter and producer), but still, “Forever” shows Dennis was no slouch, either.
It’s just a beautiful, sincere, and undeniably heartfelt romantic song. It’s one that could come off as cheesy if handled even just a little differently, but Dennis Wilson – again, it has to be stressed – was on fire here. He makes it all work somehow. It’s also a song with some interesting connections to the sitcom Full House, of all things.
7
“Heroes and Villains”
From ‘Smiley Smile’ (1967)
There are a couple of different versions of “Heroes and Villains,” given it was originally featured on 1967’s Smiley Smile, but that album came out of Brian Wilson’s attempts to (unsuccessfully) finish a project called Smile. So, a longer (and arguably better) version of “Heroes and Villains” was released in the 21st century, when Smile was eventually revisited and completed, but you still get a great song either way. And that’s a brief overview, since the whole Smile saga spanned decades and was understandably quite complex.
But yeah, the song itself is wild, entirely psychedelic, but also so damn catchy and immediate. Is it about heroes? Is it about villains? Is it about more? David Bowie’s “Heroes” is great and all, but there aren’t any villains there, and that song is like twice as long. Brian Wilson was the architect behind this one, and he was tapping into something else here; something mere mortals probably can’t understand or see, but hey, we can still enjoy what we hear, even if it’s impossible to comprehend how something so gonzo came to fruition.
6
“Sloop John B”
From ‘Pet Sounds’ (1966)
Cover songs sometimes get a bad rap, but they should never be dismissed outright, especially when you have songs like “Sloop John B” being among the Beach Boys’ best, even though it wasn’t originally written by any members of the band. Instead, it’s a reworking of a traditional folk song that had existed for decades before 1966, but it still fits on the monumental Pet Sounds so well you’d be forgiven for assuming the Beach Boys had written it.
Maybe the nautical theme helps, kind of evolving the Beach Boys’ usual ocean-adjacent songs (admittedly, most of those focus on surfing) without abandoning the idea of being at sea entirely. It’s the production and particularly striking use of vocal harmonies that helps “Sloop John B” soar. Once more, it’s a simultaneously – and perfectly – beautiful and sad song from the group, capping off the first side of the band’s greatest album perfectly.
5
“Wouldn’t It Be Nice”
From ‘Pet Sounds’ (1966)
So, “Sloop John B” concludes the first half of Pet Sounds, while “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” opens the first side and, by extension, the entire album. And this is a daunting track to talk about. It’s just perfect, and it feels so obviously perfect. It’s hard to know what else to say beyond “this is as perfect as 1960s pop gets.” Well, okay. Pop music was debatably perfected in the 1960s. So, a perfect 1960s pop song is, in effect, beyond perfect. Maybe? Does the math check out?
Does it matter? “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” is exceptional. It’s a lovely song, and it is romantic, but then there’s just a little off-kilter to make it more dynamic, like a great meal made more interesting by some unexpected spices being added. There’s that almost sinister way it begins, instrumentally, some anxiety and uncertainty in the lyrics alongside the romance, and the addition of some rather unexpected instruments, like a tenor saxophone, accordions, a trumpet, and a glockenspiel. It’s an opening track that kicks the door down and says, “Hey, listen up. Pet Sounds is going to be one of the best albums ever,” and then Pet Sounds does indeed end up being one of the best albums ever. Sometimes, it all works out.
4
“Don’t Worry Baby”
From ‘Shut Down Volume 2’ (1964)
So, after all that hyperbole, here come several more songs that are on the same level as “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” or perhaps even better, somehow. The best way to approach and explain what makes “Don’t Worry Baby” on the same level, at the very least, is returning to that idea of perfect 1960s pop. “Don’t Worry Baby” was, quite famously, Brian Wilson’s response to “Be My Baby” by the Ronettes, which might well be the pop song of that decade (his feelings toward that song are covered in the 2024 documentary about the band).
But “Don’t Worry Baby” is also very different from “Be My Baby.” Like, both have a similar structure and length, and yes, both have the word “Baby” in their titles and throughout lyrically, but Wilson was clearly influenced here; he wasn’t just copying. In turn, he made what’s easily one of the band’s finest pre-Pet Sounds tracks. Lyrically and vocally, it’s undeniably one of Brian Wilson’s finest hours, too.
3
“California Girls”
From ‘Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!)’ (1965)
Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) was a pretty great summation of everything the Beach Boys were capable of in their comparatively lighter days, before things turned more introspective in 1966 with that album about sounds made by pets or something. “California Girls” is the best track on that album, and though it opens side two, it probably should’ve opened side one. That extended intro just screams “opening track.”
It kicks off their 2003 greatest hits album, at least, and feels right occupying that track #1 spot. As far as the band’s purely summer-focused songs go (and among all the tracks that talk about being young and in love without much by way of anxiety or uncertainty getting in the way), “California Girls” is their best. It’s lyrically a little simplistic compared to some of their other all-time great songs, maybe, but it’s hard to resist how the song feels. Even without the words, the song conjures up such a perfect feeling of summer in the ‘60s. It’s 100% pure nostalgia in song form. It’s immaculate.
2
“Good Vibrations”
Released as a single in 1966
Like “Heroes and Villains,” “Good Vibrations” was another song wrapped up in the whole Smile story, controversially included on Smiley Smile after first being released as a single, and having a longer version released decades later, when Brian Wilson reconstructed Smile. All that aside, what matters is that it’s one of the band’s defining songs, and for reasons that are probably obvious to anyone who’s heard it even just a handful of times.
It’s got that psychedelic and almost dream-like feel to it, sure, but “Good Vibrations” combines that with a certain amount of sunniness, and just perfect pop music songwriting and production, too. It’s a track that contains a bit of everything, in a sense encompassing the various things that made the Beach Boys so great. It’s one of the band’s most approachable songs, and yet it’s also kind of weird, in other ways. And, even compared to some of the other Brian Wilson-written/produced songs already mentioned, it’s genuinely so hard to comprehend all the layers of this song, let alone try and break down/analyze how they all work in harmony so strangely well.
1
“God Only Knows”
From ‘Pet Sounds’ (1966)
If you’re sick of hearing about Pet Sounds, too bad, because the best song the Beach Boys ever released was on that album: “God Only Knows.” This one opens the album’s second side, and might well be one of the most beautiful pop songs ever made (Paul McCartney seems to think so, at least, and that guy understands how to craft great pop better than just about anyone).
It’s one of the all-time great love songs, too, even with it quite boldly opening with the line, “I may not always love you.” It’s the kind of thing that hooks you instantly, though truth be told, the instrumental intro – which includes a French horn – will probably be an even earlier hook. And that’s just considering the first stretch of the song. The subsequent two and a half minutes or so are also perfect, and Carl Wilson’s lead vocal performance is also worth shouting out as exceptional. Everything is perfect here. More perfection. It’s “God Only Knows.” Thank you for the music, Brian. You will be missed.