I Get Around is one of my favourite pop-songs full-stop. Even now when I listen to it, I am awestruck how the Beach Boys achieved that sublime sound and harmony. I’ve never grown tired of it, and I continue to be mind-blown upon each listen. I don’t think I’ve heard 2 minutes of music more groovy and catchy and it never grows old and always puts me in good space. I put my kids onto this a couple of years ago and they still request I Get Around and Barbara Ann to this day. This is Pop music-making at its absolute peak and like ABBA’s Dancing Queen can’t be surpassed by imitation, remakes or movies. Cream of the crop.
Round, round, get around
I get around, yeah
Get around, round, round, I get around
I get around
Get around, round, round, I get around
From town to town
I Get Around was the opening track from their 1964 album All Summer Long. Brian Wilson was originally listed as the songwriter of the song but after a law-suit Mike Love was added to the credits. Wilson recalled “I [wrote it], with the exception of a possible – possibility that Mike wrote the intro, the ’round ’round.‘” The autobiographical lyrics describe the group’s reaction to their newfound fame and success. The single became the Beach Boys’ first chart-topping hit in the U.S., as well as America’s first number-one hit by a homeland group in eight months. In 2017, I Get Around was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Producer Daniel Lanois who produced 2 Bob Dylan records (said of the song):
It’s what I call a “snapshot song.” It’s like a Polaroid of a moment or a feeling. I like the way Brian wrote about specifics of a rising culture. He brings the listener in through one philosophical moment – one thought, one emotion – and that is often the most powerful way. You could write a much bigger song, but by writing a small one, you address a big subject. Funnily enough, Brian may not have been personally experiencing all those moments, but he was watching them happen.
I Get Around was backed with Don’t Worry Baby already reviewed here and was released as a single in the U.S. on May 11, 1964. Good luck finding a better single release in pop-music.
References:
1. I Get Around – Wikipedia
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
Observation Blogger 
This ranks among my favorite Beach Boys songs, right up there with “Good Vibrations”, “God Only Knows” and “Wouldn’t It Be Nice”.
I love all those songs too. My favourites are I Get Around, Barbara Anne and Don’t Worry Baby. I omitted Good Vibrations from my collection. Gee wizz. Thanks for the reminder.
One of my favorite songs period. I had the single when I was a kid and I remember that yellow and orange label single spin. Someone in the family gave it to me. The harmonies are so tight and in your face.
Same here. It’s just so good. When you can hear a song nearly 60 years after it’s made and wonder how the hell they did it, and continues to be so magnificent you know you are in pop heaven.
What did Brian say before? He called them Teen Symphonies… which fits that music well…especially Pet Sounds.
Did you see the short clip of Brian putting together ‘Good Vibrations’? I’ll add it below in case you haven’t seen it:
Yes I saw that when I wrote about the song….the hours that man spent in the studio…but it was well worth it for just that song.
I must look up your article Max. Sweet.