Beach Boys - Breakaway Lyrics

Carl Wilson, the most gorgeous guy ever. EVER!

Yeah, and I'm a normal fella, it must be the voice, it makes me cry sometimes x

Mike Love=Gramps!

Nice sound, but not from the dirt bag that is mr mike hate

half a century old

I bloody love this.

WITHOUT CHARLES MANSON....LOL !

A classic that is right up there with Do It Again and I Can Hear Music.

Brilliant track, Brian knocked it out of the ball park on this, great harmony work also

I know the intro is just the chorus but it amazes me every time I hear it

IT'S THE SUMMER OF 2019, STILL SOUNDING GREAT!❤THE BEACH BOYS....

Spring of 2020 still going strong!

this is so beautiful

Ok, my eyes see Carl singing, but my ears hear Brian singing.

I'm instantly back in the summer of '69. 11 years old in rural Lancashire uk - dreaming of California, or some other Shangri la...The structure and harmonies had a deep, almost melancholic effect on me.

0-22 secs great intro

Love the begining

This was at a bad time in Brian’s life but it was really one of his greatest songs.
Fuck Mike Love!

Carl has so much feeling in his voice he just pulls you in. The others have nice harmonies when they work, but Carl is truly a stand alone singer

A B. Wilson/ M. Wilson classic.

this is real talent unlike the crap we get today

just love this

How can anyone press dislike on this ?????? Beggars belief

Probably my favorite Beach Boys songs. I always thought the lyrics were a reflection of Brian's increasing issues - When I laid down on my bed, I heard voices in my head etc

One of the best vocal groups of there time and for me all the memories that came with the songs as a young teenager great times I will never forget.

Top tune just love it 😍

Everyone hates mike love lmao

Carl <3

great version of the song, never dates

Geez, Carl looks cute here. 1969, I think he had managed to avoid the draft as a CO. Lucky he didn't get sent away to Nam. 1969, I think it was the year Brian really starting losing his grip on reality and going downhill. How hard it must have been on the band. Yet they still put this song out. What a great song. Like others mentioned, I never heard this song until this year! Feels like my life theme song.

Yes but Let's not Label or define Brian anymore, by MENTAL illness, or demons. Everyone just Stop. We all have issues. Yes, he is Wonderful. They all are.

Wait, Brian on lead? Never heard version before!

Denny should have been in front ,. the creepy thin man in the back.

If the chorus was better this coulda been a number one song.

Carl was seriously cool at this point...

Carl Dean Wilson. The O N L Y singer, musician, human...... miss you more every single day, in every way. ❤️

I relate..

I prefer slugs, ticks and mosquitos, to mike love

I love Carl Dean Wilson more than food, water, reading, book club and cheesecake

a true summer song

Brian u r a genius

just beautiful - thanks for sharing

I never understood why this song didn't have better commercial success. So much better than many of the songs that came out during that era! Great song!!

The Monkees inspired Brian Wilson to write this.

Twenty years ago, today, the universe lost it’s most beautiful voice. I am forever mourning Carl Dean Wilson’s passing, and awaiting the day I join him, in Paradise

I'll be right there with you! Want to see Denny and Carl!!!

Carl Dean Wilson - a golden voice for sure

This is GREAT ! Where did you find it? This song had special meaning to me coming out of a turbulent teenage time and what today, they'd call abusive family life... I got thrown out of the house for arguing and still had 2 months left in highschool. Got my own first apartment with a part time job I had working after school, this song played, and it gave me power, hope & strength to start living on my own and my own terms, and I never looked back to this day...

great story, Steve. Break away. I did, too.

great choice of music"!!!

Mike Love, preacher from Nebraska, 1888.

For those that have commented, Brian, in fact, sings the whole first verse, then Al in the chorus, then Carl on the second verse. This is one of 3 versions of Breakaway.

Rare Beach Boys live in Czechoslovakia 1969 in my recent up loads from May 2017. And a demo of slip on through.On my chnl

2:12 Carl on some tasty guitar licks.

:) funtastic

Carl Wilson, la mejor voz dentro de la band. Por lejos.

The Beach Boys break away. It is one of my favorite song. I have it on video on the BB American band. Where they sing Break Away in Checoslazvakia and it was pretty nifty.

One of my all time favorite BB songs. God the memories!!

top 5 for sure

Good GOD, you just can't argue with this song! I love, love, LOVE IT !!!

the video is incongruous with the song, but yes this song is freaking amazing - full of hope and renewal.

Better than Singers like Katy Perry Arianna Grande Taylor Swift Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber MTV Shallow Type People don't belong here on Earth

Wow, Blake! You're so edgy!

69 forever  Best year ever and this song proves it

great version of the song, never dates.

Carl had the best lower falsetto voice in the band.

How did this amazing song only get to #63 in the US charts when it was first released? It's easily one of The Beach Boys best singles.

it was image, that's all. They fell out of fashion and America stopped listening

Beach Boys Rule

terrypussypower I think Heroes and Villains was better with the Cantina but and the fanfare at the end (like the SMiLE Session version). Listening the Smiley Smile version is really lacking.

Other popular songs in the way at the time

Sorry, the prior responses here are not right. This was a non-LP single on Capitol Records which had the misfortune of being the Beach Boys' last single for the label in June 1969, as their contract expired at the end of the month (two weeks after the single's release). Brian had made public statements about how the group needed the money from a hit, and the Beach Boys had filed a lawsuit in April 1969 alleging underpayment of royalties by Capitol. Considering that, right after their contract expired, Capitol deleted their entire back catalogue (to cut off their money flow in an effort to force them to drop their lawsuit and resign with Capitol), how hard do you think Capitol worked to make this song a hit in the US? The group ended up being so desperate for money that they had to sell their entire publishing catalog in August so that they could stand up to Capitol -- and they eventually won the lawsuit.

0:05 wow

I've always liked The Beach Boys and I really started to discover all of their music during the nineties, as well as surfing! Nowadays this music takes me right back to my drives to the coast in the weekends and surfing the waves, mostly alone, riding waves into the sunset... Great memories!

Carl wilson must have become so frustrated when they released Darlin a great song followed by I Can hear Music also superb then Break Away summer of 1969, yet, none did very well on the charts? People did not appreciate his great vocals as they got so darn use to Mike Love's nasal car and beach sound.

Kind of like an 2 other American bands that had incredibly catchy, well crafted vocals and beat 1. The Grassroots 2. Paul Revere and the Raiders and and yet, 3 Dog Night couldn't do anything wrong. I see what you mean. Break Away really isn't a high quality song though...it is lame. Me thinks Brian's brain at that time was a bit fried?

They toured the UK a lot in the late sixties, they were still very popular there and this was a top ten hit. I remember buying it at the time.

Back when there wasn't any MTV Shallow People only Deep People wish this World would have only Deeps

John Brown I attribute their image problem with the fact that they didn't show up at the Monterey Music Festival, which told the people that they weren't in the likes of Jimi Hendricks, Janis Joplin and such. That, alongside the disappointment with their long-awaited record, Smiley Smile, really damaged them as a band.

I know I'll get shot down in flames for this but I never rated Hendrix as a guitarist - fast and loud is not clever and accomplished - and Janis Joplin stood on stage an screamed and screamed until it looked as if her hair would drop out. There was a lot of this going on at the time as I remember. The Beach Boys and Beatles seemed to be the only ones keeping the spirit alive for a long time. Their music still shines whilst the likes of the other two have disappeared into the ether.

Brilliant song , they still had it, them late 60s albums truly Brilliant, The Beach Boys

it's unfortunate that we only get a short little shot of Dennis over Mike's shoulder. that's the only flaw here.

Denny should have been in front ,. the creepy thin man in the back.

ok now i know i have not lived enough because i'm a BB fan, i have been since i was a kid, and i've never heard this song! it's like discovering your favorite chocolate in the box!

LOL! I was born in '67. Wasn't a BB fan growing up but in the past 2 weeks I've been devouring everything BB

I just discovered 'When I Grow Up To Be A Man'. The live performance in the UK is particularly good, much better than the album.

This song, Breakaway, could have been so much better. I like the melody in the verse, that's outstanding. The chorus I think is a bit weak. I saw where someone said Brian W. wasn't entirely happy with it, I wonder if I share his opinion about the chorus.

Well if it means anything to you I share your exact thoughts on the chorus!

it sounds like BW lead on the first verse and Carl lead on the 2nd.

I'm pretty sure this isn't the original, I'm very familiar with it and this just is an alternate version.

IIRC, this song did not appear on an album until it was on one of the compilations, I think it may have been Spirit of America. I think the legend is that Mo Ostin, who ran Warner Brothers Music at the time, turned down the version of Sunflower which contained this song, along with Susie Cincinnati, and I Just Got My Pay, which was re-written and became Marcella. Or maybe I'm thinking of Dumb Angel the unreleased BB album.

ＢＢを聴き始めて30年。こんなに痩せてるカールを見るのは、今回が初めての気がする。男前だよね、ブライアンとデニスと同じでさ。で、この曲は父親の作った曲だよね（あの忌まわしい父親）。私はこの曲が好きだし、（父親を嫌ってたはずの）ブライアンが老いてからコンサートでやってるし、「好かれてる曲」だと思ってる。

rip to both carl and dennis

The verses remind me of and I love her by the beatles

Murry wrote the lyrics and Brian did the music to Break Away. Murry had the idea for Joey Bishop the talk show host - he used to say let's break away.

Wish Brian and Carl never got into arguments over Who would be Lead Singer that's what cause The Band to Disband

Brian even confirmed this in his new autobiography on page 153. But the first time he told the fans was on the Smiley Smile Message Board on 1-26-2015.

@Heavenly Hell Just started his new book after reading Mike's.

Medieval Richard, I just finished Brian's book. I read Mike's first. Great reads!

Mike's book was a brilliant read, I agree! So far Brian's is brilliant, however, yet to finish yet mind. :)

This was Carl's "Breakaway" song!  I think he had the sweetest voice of all the Beach Boys. I really miss him!

Carl had a wonderful sweet golden voice - he is singing with the angels now .

Carl = adorable!

Best beach boys song ever

Better than 'Don't Worry Baby'? Better than 'I Get Around'? Hmm...

Shoulda been a hit!  This would have done for Brian what GV did...  force Mike Love to shut his trap and let the master get back to work.  I think the narrative that Brain lost it after Smile failed is wrong... they went lo-fi and "brothers and their band" instead of using the Wrecking Crew, which was sloppy but ok.  I'm sure Brian was disengaged but not totally out of it because when he wanted to he could write and produce this awesome pop song, Friends, etc... It wasn't really until the early 70s that he really went to bed...  Still, how would this have changed the Beach Boys had this made it into the top 10?

Carl is missed

God dam! Why couldn't I have died instead...why did Carl have to go???!! Why??? I was only 7 when he died, but his and Denny's death still kill!me every time I look them...I wish it was me instead

@My Labradors  9/11? Yu went there...I just feel bad about Beach boys dying,

The Song Breakaway and The One They Say Time Is My Destiny can be a Song for one of The Returning Characters or one of The New Characters in Soul Calibur 6 for PS3 and 360

Dam I love getting drunk and postng comments

Good for You

The outro on this song makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up,no matter how many times I hear it.Just gorgeous.

On Jan. 26, 2015 Brian Wilson answered my question about Break Away (on the Smiley Board)
Q: What part/parts of Break Away did your dad contribute to?
A: My dad did the lyrics and I did the music. He had the idea for Joey Bishop the talk show host - he used to say let's break away. I did not write the lyrics.

Makes perfect sense. Brian often wrote just the music while someone else contributed lyrics. Whether it was Mike Love, Van Dyke Parks, Tony Asher, or others. Not a knock on Brian, that just how he wrote.

Al Jardine too lol.

Matt S  Stephen Desper claimed Brian wrote this one, and that he knew it was gonna be a hit.

@Matt S

Brian did the heavy lifting. Lyrics are much, much easier to create than good melodies and harmonies.

@Matt S Al is great on the chorus and backing vocals. He always is.

IF God had a band full of angels this is how it would sound.

Agreed! :)

He does

Carl is surely singing with the angels in heaven now with his golden voice

This is my all time favourite record ...EVER !

LOVE this!!! I'm swept away on the sunny California ocean breeze~

Just Jeanne 😉

brian does contribute in the chorus, but carl is on lead

+Bonnie Bella And Al leads on chorus

Because They took turns

Carl had the best voice of the group

Sure does

Carl on the verses, Al on the chorus, Mike on the bridge.

Carl sings lead on this one, mate.

@Pete Dogg actually he start near the end of the first verse,Brian kicks off the song :) (the rest was Carl though except for chourus which was Al)

+Daniel Weston and Pete Dogg This was the 1st time Brian was not Singing.

This song and video are amazing :)

Carl on the Lead. not Brian.

What the hell. This is Brian singing the lead on this, not Carl. This must've been the demo I've heard people talk about.