Yesterday, we lost Brian Wilson, one of the most revered figures in the history of popular music. Naturally, the tributes are already pouring in. Wilson's former bandmates Mike Love and Al Jardine, the only surviving original Beach Boys, shared eulogies. In concert last night, a few acts who are icons in their own right dipped into the Beach Boys song catalog. Brian Wilson left behind literally hundreds of songs that people could cover, but three big names went straight to "God Only Knows," the dizzily beautiful love song from 1966's Pet Sounds.
On Wednesday night, the Dave Matthews Band played the Jones Beach Theater on Long Island, and Matthews himself played a brief solo-acoustic version of "God Only Knows" after calling out the militant crackdown on protesters in Los Angeles. Matthews' performance seemed like an in-the-moment decision; the rest of the band didn't join in. Once it was over, Matthews apologized to Brian Wilson for the performance, but I thought it was nice.
That was Dave Matthews' first time covering "God Only Knows." Near the end of the show, the full band also saluted Sly Stone, the other troubled pop genius who passed away this week, with a cover of "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)," a song that they've played many times over the years.
Meanwhile, Sting did his own solo-acoustic version of "God Only Knows" near the end of his set at IGA Park in Rostock, Germany. He hit a couple of powerful high notes in there. Introducing the track, Sting said, "Today, one of my heroes died." Sting played "God Only Knows" at a couple of shows last year, but the song has only recently become a part of his live repertoire.
Over at the Chicago Theatre, Guster offered their own take on "God Only Knows." Frontman Ryan Miller covered the song on the Animal Talking podcast during the pandemic, but this was Guster's first time performing it as a full band. Especially considering the short notice, they did a remarkable job with the cascading harmonies.
Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong shared a previously unreleased cover of "I Get Around," which he'd teased on his Instagram story a few years ago.
