Our Prayer

1969 hymn by the Beach Boys

For the album by the Chris McGregor Trio, see Our Prayer (album).

"Our Prayer"

Hymn by the Beach Boys
from the album  20/20
Released| February 10, 1969
Recorded| September 19, 1966 - November 17, 1968
Studio| Columbia and Capitol, Hollywood
Genre| Hymn
Length| 1:07
Label| Capitol
Composer(s)| Brian Wilson
Producer(s)| The Beach Boys
Licensed audio
"Our Prayer" on YouTube

"Our Prayer" is a wordless hymn by the American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1969 album 20/20 and their never-finished Smile project.[1] Composed by Brian Wilson, it was originally planned to be the introductory track on Smile. He later rerecorded the piece for his 2004 version of Smile in medley with the 1953 doo-wop standard "Gee".

## Background and recording

[edit]

> I was sitting at my piano thinkin' about holy music. I poked around for some simple but moving chords. Later I sat down and wrote 'Our Prayer' in sections. ... I was definitely into rock church music.

—Brian Wilson, writing in the liner notes of the 1990 reissue of Friends and 20/20[2]

"Our Prayer" is a wordless, a cappella piece that Wilson originally composed for the band's Smile album.[3] The title may be a reference to the 1939 traditional pop standard "My Prayer".[citation needed] It was originally simply titled "Prayer".[3]

"Prayer" was tracked during the Smile sessions on September 19 and October 4, 1966, at Columbia Studio.[4] Wilson later wrote, "The boys were overtaken by the arrangement. I taught it to them in sections, the way I usually do."[2] On the session tape, Wilson announces, "This is intro to the album, take one." Al Jardine is heard remarking to Wilson that the piece could be considered its own track, but Wilson rejects the suggestion.[5] This information makes "Prayer" the only part of Smile that is known to have had a definitive placement on the album.[6] At another point in the session, Wilson asks for a hash joint and remarks, "Do you guys feel any acid yet?"[6]

After Smile was scrapped, the track was revisited for inclusion on the 1969 album 20/20 and renamed "Our Prayer". Additional vocals were overdubbed onto the original recording by Carl Wilson, Dennis Wilson, and Bruce Johnston on November 17, 1968, at Capitol Studios.[7]

## Composition

[edit]

Music journalist Paul Williams wrote,

> It's a wonderful wordless beginning for a record that for the most part uses words the same way it uses strings and keyboards—for their sounds. This is in sharp contrast to Pet Sounds where most of the songs have titles and lyrics that evoke specific situations and feelings. Smile's radicalism begins with and centers around the fact that it is abstract, whereas all previous Beach Boys records and most rock-and-roll songs are concrete in their imagery. They have words, and those words generally tell a story.[8]

Musicologists John Covach and Graeme M. Boone wrote: "An exquisite exercise of harmonic virtuousity, 'Our Prayer' allowed the Beach Boys once again to show off their vocal abilities and stylistic influences earlier demonstrated on such songs as 'Their Hearts Were Full of Spring'."[9] Philip Lambert described the piece as "every technique of chromatic harmony [Wilson] had ever heard or imagined."[10]

## Personnel

[edit]

Per band archivist Craig Slowinski.[4]

The Beach Boys

* Al Jardine, Bruce Johnston, Mike Love, Brian Wilson, Carl Wilson, Dennis Wilson – vocals

## Cover versions

[edit]

See also: List of cover versions of Beach Boys songs

* 2001 – "An All-Star Tribute to Brian Wilson"
* 2011 – Salyu, s(o)un(d)beams+ (as "Our Prayer ~ Heroes and Villains")

## Samples

[edit]

* 2013 – Odesza, "Keep Her Close", My Friends Never Die[citation needed]

## In popular culture

[edit]

* The opening track "Mic Check" from Cornelius' 1997 album Fantasma is a reference to "Our Prayer".[11]
* The song plays over the credits of the third episode of Our Flag Means Death.

## See also

[edit]

* "My Prayer"

## References

[edit]

Citations

1. ^ Lambert 2007, p. 47.
2. ^ a b Leaf, David (1990). Friends / 20/20 (CD Liner). The Beach Boys. Capitol Records.
3. ^ a b Badman 2004, p. 147.
4. ^ a b The Smile Sessions (deluxe box set booklet). The Beach Boys. Capitol Records. 2011.`{{cite AV media notes}}`: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
5. ^ Carlin 2006, p. 112.
6. ^ a b Howard, Ed (July 28, 2003). "Smile: The Definitive Lost Album". Stylus. stylusmagazine.com. Archived from the original on May 10, 2012.
7. ^ Badman 2004, p. 231.
8. ^ Williams 2010, p. 84.
9. ^ Boone 1997, p. 51.
10. ^ Lambert 2016, p. 90.
11. ^ Roberts, Martin (2019). Cornelius's Fantasma. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-1-5013-3017-9.

Bibliography

* Badman, Keith (2004). The Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band, on Stage and in the Studio. Backbeat Books. ISBN 978-0-87930-818-6.
* Boone, edited by John Covach & Graeme M. (1997), Understanding Rock: Essays in Musical Analysis ([Online-Ausg.] ed.), New York: Oxford University Press, ISBN 0195100050 `{{citation}}`: `|first=` has generic name (help)
* Carlin, Peter Ames (2006). Catch a Wave: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson. Rodale. ISBN 978-1-59486-320-2.
* Lambert, Philip (2007). Inside the Music of Brian Wilson: the Songs, Sounds, and Influences of the Beach Boys' Founding Genius. Continuum. ISBN 978-0-8264-1876-0.
* Lambert, Philip, ed. (2016). Good Vibrations: Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys in Critical Perspective. University of Michigan Press. doi:10.3998/mpub.9275965. ISBN 978-0-472-11995-0.
* Williams, Paul (2010). Back to the Miracle Factory. Tom Doherty Associates. ISBN 978-1-4299-8243-6. Retrieved 8 August 2013.

## External links

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* Our Prayer (2011 Smile version) on YouTube
* Our Prayer (session highlights) on YouTube
* Our Prayer (dialogue) on YouTube

* v
* t
* e

20/20

Songs|

| Side one|

* "Do It Again"
* "I Can Hear Music"
* "Bluebirds over the Mountain"
* "Be with Me"
* "All I Want to Do"
* "The Nearest Faraway Place"

|

Side two|

*   * "Cotton Fields (The Cotton Song)"
* "I Went to Sleep"
* "Time to Get Alone"
* "Never Learn Not to Love"
* "Our Prayer"
* "Cabinessence"

Outtakes|

* "All I Wanna Do"
* "A Time to Live in Dreams"
* "Been Way Too Long"
* "Mona Kana"
* "Oh Yeah"
* "Ol' Man River" / "Old Folks at Home"
* "Sail Plane Song"
* "Walkin'"
* "Walk On By"
* "Well You Know I Knew"
* "We're Together Again"

Related articles|

* "Break Away"
* "Celebrate the News"
* The Beach Boys
* discography
* Lie: The Love and Terror Cult

* Surfin' Safari
* Surfin' U.S.A.
* Surfer Girl
* Little Deuce Coupe
* Shut Down Volume 2
* All Summer Long
* The Beach Boys' Christmas Album
* The Beach Boys Today!
* Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!)
* Beach Boys' Party!
* Pet Sounds
* Smiley Smile
* Wild Honey
* Friends
* 20/20
* Sunflower
* Surf's Up
* Carl and the Passions – "So Tough"
* Holland
* 15 Big Ones
* The Beach Boys Love You
* M.I.U. Album
* L.A. (Light Album)
* Keepin' the Summer Alive
* The Beach Boys
* Still Cruisin'
* Summer in Paradise
* Stars and Stripes Vol. 1
* That's Why God Made the Radio

* v
* t
* e

Smile

* Smiley Smile
* Brian Wilson Presents Smile
* The Smile Sessions

The Smile Sessions
track listing|

| Movement one|

* "Our Prayer"
* "Gee"
* "Heroes and Villains"
* "Do You Like Worms (Roll Plymouth Rock)"
* "I'm in Great Shape"
* "Barnyard"
* "My Only Sunshine (The Old Master Painter / You Are My Sunshine)"
* "Cabinessence"

|

Movement two|

* "Wonderful"
* "Look (Song for Children)"
* "Child Is Father of the Man"
* "Surf's Up"

Movement three|

* "I Wanna Be Around / Workshop"
* "Vega-Tables"
* "Holidays"
* "Wind Chimes"
* "The Elements: Fire (Mrs. O'Leary's Cow)"
* "Love to Say Dada"
* "Good Vibrations"

Other tracks|

* "I Don't Know"
* "He Gives Speeches"
* "Teeter Totter Love"
* "Three Blind Mice"
* "Tune X"
* "You're Welcome"
* "You're with Me Tonight"

Derivative songs|

* "Fall Breaks and Back to Winter (W. Woodpecker Symphony)"
* "She's Goin' Bald"
* "Can't Wait Too Long"
* "Mama Says"
* "Little Bird"
* "Cool, Cool Water"

Associated people|

* David Anderle
* The Beach Boys
* Lorren Daro
* Frank J. Holmes
* Danny Hutton
* Tom Nolan
* Van Dyke Parks
* Jules Siegel
* Derek Taylor
* Michael Vosse
* Paul Williams
* The Wrecking Crew

Related media|

* 20/20
* The Beach Boys' unreleased and bootleg recordings
* Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson and the Story of Smile
* "George Fell into His French Horn"
* Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of the Beach Boys
* Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution
* Pet Sounds (Sessions)
* "Rio Grande"
* Surf's Up
* Smiling Pets

Other topics|

* "Brian Wilson is a genius"
* Brother Records

* v
* t
* e

Brian Wilson

* Discography
* Songs

Studio albums|

* Brian Wilson
* I Just Wasn't Made for These Times
* Orange Crate Art
* Imagination
* Gettin' In over My Head
* Brian Wilson Presents Smile
* What I Really Want for Christmas
* That Lucky Old Sun
* Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin
* In the Key of Disney
* No Pier Pressure
* At My Piano

Live albums|

* Live at the Roxy Theatre
* Brian Wilson Presents Pet Sounds Live

Soundtracks|

* I Just Wasn't Made for These Times
* Long Promised Road

Compilations|

* The Beach Boys Classics Selected by Brian Wilson
* Pet Projects: The Brian Wilson Productions
* The Big Beat 1963
* Sessions '64
* Playback: The Brian Wilson Anthology

Singles|

* "Caroline, No"
* "Gettin' Hungry"
* "Let's Go to Heaven in My Car"
* "Love and Mercy"
* "Melt Away"
* "Do It Again"
* "Your Imagination"
* "Wonderful"
* "Good Vibrations"
* "Our Prayer" (Freeform Reform)
* "Walking Down the Path of Life / Love & Mercy"
* "What I Really Want for Christmas"
* "Midnight's Another Day"
* "What Love Can Do"
* "The Like In I Love You"
* "God Only Knows"
* "The Right Time"
* "Runaway Dancer"
* "On the Island"

Other non-
Beach Boys
songs|

| Album tracks|

* "Rio Grande"
* "Still I Dream of It"
* "Smart Girls"
* "She Says That She Needs Me"
* "California Feelin'"
* "Soul Searchin'"
* "Can't Wait Too Long"
* "One Kind of Love"
* "The Last Song"
* "Somewhere Quiet"

|

Co-written|

* "The Big Beat"
* "Dead Man's Curve"
* "Drag City"
* "I Do"
* "Guess I'm Dumb"
* "He's a Doll"
* "The New Girl in School"
* "Push It"
* "Sidewalk Surfin'"
* "Surf City"

Guest features|

* "When Love Is Dying"
* "Any Emotions"
* "Falling Apart"
* "Dirty Computer"
* "Resentment"

Memoirs|

* Wouldn't It Be Nice: My Own Story
* I Am Brian Wilson: A Memoir

Documentaries|

* I Just Wasn't Made for These Times
* Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson and the Story of Smile
* Long Promised Road

Tributes|

* 2001 Radio City Music hall concert
* "Brian Wilson"
* Caroline Now!
* Making God Smile
* Melt Away: A Tribute to Brian Wilson
* "Pancreas"
* Smiles, Vibes & Harmony
* Smiling Pets
* "This Could Be the Night"

Related media|

* Adult/Child
* The Beach Boys Love You
* Catch a Wave
* The Cocaine Sessions
* Cows in the Pasture
* Folkways: A Vision Shared
* Friends
* Inside the Music of Brian Wilson
* Love & Mercy
* soundtrack
* Andy Paley sessions
* Pet Sounds
* Sessions
* "Shortenin' Bread"
* Smile
* Sessions
* Spring
* Sweet Insanity
* The Wilson Project
* The Wilsons
* A World of Peace Must Come

Family|

* Melinda Ledbetter
* Kevin Love
* Mike Love
* Stan Love
* Carl Wilson
* Carnie Wilson
* Dennis Wilson
* Murry Wilson
* Wendy Wilson
* Marilyn Wilson-Rutherford

Other topics|

* American Spring
* The Beach Boys
* Bellagio home studio
* Bob & Sheri
* "Brian Wilson is a genius"
* California Music
* California sound
* The Honeys
* Eugene Landy
* Love v. Wilson
* Pet Sounds 50th Anniversary World Tour
* Radiant Radish
* Loren Darro Schwartz
* Wilson–Beck 2013 Tour
* Wondermints

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