Surf City

Album

Laps Around the Sun

Label

Liberty Records

Genre

Surf Music

Composer(s)

Jan Berry;Brian Wilson

Entered Chart

Jun 15, 1963

Peak Date

Jul 20, 1963

Released

May 17, 1963

Recorded

March 20, 1963 Studio United Western (Hollywood)

Catalog #

Liberty 55580

B-Side

She's My Summer Girl

Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys wrote this song in collaboration with Jan Berry from Jan & Dean. It's very similar to many of the Beach Boys recordings, starting with the vocal hook "Two girls for every boy" and moving into the harmonies and chord progressions that were typical of Wilson's work. Wilson was working with a few different artists at the time, including the girl group The Honeys. He was extremely productive during this period, emulating Phil Spector as he focused on production and songwriting. "Surf City" was his first #1 hit, coming a year before The Beach Boys would top the charts with "I Get Around." The Beach Boys met Jan & Dean in the summer of 1962 when both groups played at a teen hop. That fall, The Beach Boys served as Jan & Dean's backing group on a few live dates for the duo. As detailed in the DVD Brian Wilson Songwriter 1962 - 1969, in 1963 Jan & Dean would record in a nearby studio, and Jan Berry struck up a friendship with Wilson. When this song went to Jan & Dean, Murry Wilson, who was Brian's father and the group's manager, was furious, as he thought it should be a Beach Boys song. Undeterred, the groups continued working together, with Wilson singing on Jan & Dean's first album, and Dean Torrence doing lead vocals on The Beach Boys' "Barbara Ann." Jan & Dean were ambassadors of the California culture in the mid-60s, scoring 11 Top-40 hits from 1963-1965, mostly dealing with surfing, girls and cars. Young people who weren't from California certainly wanted to be there after hearing this song about heading to the beach, and many of them did. Dean Torrence said in Let It Rock, 1973: "We came to look at it like we were piloting a boat. We'd pull all these manoeuvers and then slow down and wait for our following to come around. It was strange to think, that at one time, you could go out to Mallibu and there'd be nobody out there. Then, one day — whoosh! so crowded you couldn't even get in the water. And in some way we all were the cause of that whole situation." Brian Wilson's first draft of the song had a working title of "Goody Connie Won't You Come Back Home."

Two girls for every boy

I bought a '30 Ford wagon and we call it a woodie
(Surf City, here we come)
You know it's not very cherry, it's an oldie but a goodie
(Surf City, here we come)
Well, it ain't got a back set or a rear window
But it still gets me where I wanna go

And we're goin' to Surf City, 'cause it's two to one
You know we're goin' to Surf City, gonna have some fun
You know we're goin' to Surf City, 'cause it's two to one
You know we're goin' to Surf City, gonna have some fun, now
Two girls for every boy

You know they never roll the streets up 'cause there's always somethin' goin'
(Surf City, here we come)
You know they're either out surfin' or they got a party growin'
(Surf City, here we come)
Yeah, and there's two swingin' honeys for every guy
And all you gotta do is just wink your eye

And we're goin' to Surf City, 'cause it's two to one
You know we're goin' to Surf City, gonna have some fun
You know we're goin' to Surf City, 'cause it's two to one
You know we're goin' to Surf City, gonna have some fun, now
Two girls for every boy

And if my woody breaks down on me somewhere on the surf route
(Surf City, here we come)
I'll strap my board to my back and hitch a ride in my wetsuit
(Surf City, here we come)
And when I get to Surf City I'll be shootin' the curl
And checkin' out the parties for a surfer girl

And we're goin' to Surf City, 'cause it's two to one
You know we're goin' to Surf City, gonna have some fun
You know we're goin' to Surf City, 'cause it's two to one
You know we're goin' to Surf City, gonna have some fun, now
Two girls for every boy