Making fun of music, one song at a time. Since the year 2000.
Check out the two amIright misheard lyrics books including one book devoted to misheard lyrics of the 1980s.
Real Lyrics -> Real Places Mentioned in Songs -> Beach Boys
What real life locations are mentioned in songs, band names or album titles?
Real Places Mentioned in Songs, Beach Boys
Check out the index.
Beach Boys - The Greatest Hits Vol. 2: 20 More Good Vibrations album at Amazon.com
Beach Boys', "California Girl"
The Lyrics:
Well east coast girls are hip I really dig those styles they wear And the southern girls with the way they talk They knock me out when I'm down there
The mid-west famers daughters really make you feel alright And the northern girls with the way they kiss They keep their boyfriends warm at night
I wish they all could be California I wish they all could be California I wish they all could be California girls
The west coast has the sunshine And the girls all get so tanned I dig a french bikini on Hawaii island Doll by a palm tree in the sand
I been all around this great big world And I seen all kinds of girls Yeah, but I couldn't wait to get back in the states Back to the cutest girls in the world
The mid-west famers daughters really make you feel alright And the northern girls with the way they kiss They keep their boyfriends warm at night
I wish they all could be California I wish they all could be California I wish they all could be California girls
The west coast has the sunshine And the girls all get so tanned I dig a french bikini on Hawaii island Doll by a palm tree in the sand
I been all around this great big world And I seen all kinds of girls Yeah, but I couldn't wait to get back in the states Back to the cutest girls in the world
Why:
Twenty years before David Lee Roth's Top Ten version (1985), the original version of "California Girls" (1965) was a #2 worldwide hit (despite it's obvious jingoism preference for the women or girls of the United States) for the Beach Boys and would usher in the time period when the Beach Boys would eclipse the Four Seasons as the most popular worldwide American group and the second most popular group of the 1960's after the Beatles. Upabove I have transcribed the first four verses and the first singing of the main chorus. In the first three verses we have shoutouts to various regions (the five main ones) of the United States (the East Coast, the South, the Mid-west, the North and the West Coast). In the third verse is a shoutout to the 50th state of Hawaii, and some might say the country of France with the mention of the french bikini that was becoming very popular worldwide at the time this song was a major hit. In the chorus is the shoutout to the state of California. And in the fourth verse is a shoutout to the United States (as the States).
Submitted by: Peter
Beach Boys', "Kokomo"
The Lyrics:
Aruba, Jamaica. Ooh, I wanna take ya. Bermuda, Bahama. C'mon Pretty mama. Kay Largo, Montego. Baby why don't we go down to Kokomo?
Why:
Aruba, Jamaica, Bermuda, Bahamas, Key Largo Florida, Montego Bay, and Kokomo Indiana.
Submitted by: Paul Warren
Beach Boys', "Kokomo"
The Lyrics:
Same as other two entries here...
Why:
Hey, I was BORN in Kokomo, INDIANA. They are NOT singing about THAT Kokomo in the song. It is in the Florida Keys...which indeed is NOT far from the Caribbean!
Submitted by: Carolyn
Beach Boys', "Kokomo"
The Lyrics:
There's a place called Kokomo.
That's where we want to go.
That's where we want to go.
Why:
Kokomo is a town in Indiana. Oddly, the song implies it's an island in the Caribbean.
Submitted by: Brian Kelly
The Beach Boys', "Sloop John B."
The Lyrics:
We come on the sloop John B My grandfather and me Around Nassau town we did roam Drinking all night Got into a fight Well I feel so broke up I want to go home
Why:
Nassau, in the Bahamas is mentioned in the first verse
Submitted by: Rick
The Beach Boys', "Surfin Safari"
The Lyrics:
Well surfing is big in sunset beach
They do it in South Africa too
They're all gettin stoked on this surfing craze
From Hawaii to the shores of Peru
They do it in South Africa too
They're all gettin stoked on this surfing craze
From Hawaii to the shores of Peru
Why:
Well not a lot of people know that The Beach Boys had at least 2 versions of Surfin Safari... This version has South Africa in the verse as opposed to the version most people know - which is already listed on this site. So there are two extra place names...
Submitted by: Alan Phillips
Beach Boys', "Surfin' Safari"
The Lyrics:
At Huntington and Malibu They're shooting the pier At Rincon they're walking the nose We're going on safari to the islands this year So if you're coming get ready to go
They're anglin in Laguna in Cerro Azul They're kicking out in Dohini too I tell you surfings mighty wild It's getting bigger every day From Hawaii to the shores of Peru
They're anglin in Laguna in Cerro Azul They're kicking out in Dohini too I tell you surfings mighty wild It's getting bigger every day From Hawaii to the shores of Peru
Why:
It was 45 years ago this month (August 1962) that many people (mainly young Americans) were first exposed to the sounds of the second most popular group of the 1960's (the Beatles were the first, at the time the Four Seasons were the most popular American group and would continue to be for the next two years, but starting in 1965, the Beach Boys would eclipse the Four Seasons popularity) and a group that would continue to make music into the first decade of the 21st century, and that group of course was: The Beach Boys (or as was said on an episode of "Laverne & Shirley" in 1981, "Boys A La Beach" -:)). The Beach Boys first top twenty hit was "Surfin' Safari" which would set the tone for the Beach Boys' early career of good time beach music about surfing, girls and cars. (The Beach Boys didn't begin the surfin' music craze, but they certainly were the most popular of those groups and artists). "Surfin' Safari" has the following shoutouts to: Huntington Beach, California, Malibu, California, Rincon, California, Laguna, California, Cerro Azul (a fishing village in the country of Peru that was a popular tourist destination for surfers at the time), Dohini, Hawaii, and the state of Hawaii and the country of Peru. Transcribed above, by me, is the Beach Boys' "Surfin' Safari" is the second and third verse of the song.
Submitted by: Peter
Beach Boys', "Surfin' USA"
The Lyrics:
If everybody had an ocean Across the U.S.A. Then everybody'd be surfin Like Californi-a You'd seem 'em wearin' their baggies Huarachi sandals too A bushy bushy blonde hairdo Surfin' U.S.A.
You'd catch 'em surfin at Del Mar (Inside, outside, U.S.A.) Ventura county line (Inside, outside, U.S.A.) Santa Cruz and Tresle (inside, outside, U.S.A.) Australia's Narabine (Inside, outside, U.S.A.) All over Manhattan (Inside, outside, U.S.A.) And down Doheny way (Inside, outside, U.S.A.)
Haggerties and Swamies (Inside, outside, U.S.A.) Pacific Palisades (Inside, outside, U.S.A.) San Onofree and Sunset (Inside, outside, U.S.A.) Redondo Beach, L.A. (Inside, outside, U.S.A.) All over La Jolla (Inside, outside, U.S.A.) At Waimea Bay (Inside, outside U.S.A.)
You'd catch 'em surfin at Del Mar (Inside, outside, U.S.A.) Ventura county line (Inside, outside, U.S.A.) Santa Cruz and Tresle (inside, outside, U.S.A.) Australia's Narabine (Inside, outside, U.S.A.) All over Manhattan (Inside, outside, U.S.A.) And down Doheny way (Inside, outside, U.S.A.)
Haggerties and Swamies (Inside, outside, U.S.A.) Pacific Palisades (Inside, outside, U.S.A.) San Onofree and Sunset (Inside, outside, U.S.A.) Redondo Beach, L.A. (Inside, outside, U.S.A.) All over La Jolla (Inside, outside, U.S.A.) At Waimea Bay (Inside, outside U.S.A.)
Why:
"Surfin' USA" by the Beach Boys is considered by many the ultimate surfin' song of all time, and in many ways it is. The Beach Boys' took the very surfin' and partying tune, "Surfin' USA" all the way to #3 on Billboard Magazine's HOT 100 charts in the summer of 1963. It has so many shoutouts to various surfing spots in California (and one outside the U.S.). It also has the shoutout to California, and the United States (through the U.S.A. in the first verse as I have transcribed above along with the second and fourth verse and USA in the title). Also in shoutout are the following surfin' spots in mainly southern California: Del Mar, Ventura county line beach, Santa Cruz, Tresle Beach, Manhattan Beach, Doheny, Haggerties, Swamies, Pacific Palisades, San Onofree, Sunset Beach, Redondo Beach, Los Angeles (as L.A.), La Jolla and Waimea Bay. Also there is an interesting shoutout to the only place outside of the U.S. in the song, but a very well-known surfing location: The country and continent of Australia's Narabine (Australia is also shoutouted out).
Submitted by: Peter
Beach Boys', "Surfin' USA"
The Lyrics:
Note to Peter and others: The reference to 'Narabine, Australia" in 'Real Places Mentioned In Songs' [ie, The Beach Boys Surfin USA] should be 'Narrabeen, Australia
Why:
Narrabeen, Australia is commonly mispelt on web as Narabine, Australia when refering to Beach Boy lyrics for Surfin USA
Submitted by: Steven Andrew
New entries in this section are currently reviewed by lpg unit. Previous editors (if any) are listed on the editors page.
Submissions
Would you like to Submit Some Lyrics for a Song We're always looking for more entries.
Disclaimer
Disclaimer: amIright.com makes no claims to the accuracy of the correct lyrics. All correct lyrics are copyrighted, amIright.com does not claim ownership of the original lyrics.