Brian Wilson's 1968 Ode to Simpler Times is Ranked as One of His Very Best Songs
In 1968, Brian Wilson wrote an ode to the good old days, and it has since been ranked as one of his very best songs.
"Do It Again" was written by Wilson and Beach Boys member Mike Love. The cousins' songwriting partnership formed the basis for many of their band's earliest hits.
A sense of nostalgia for the early '60s was prevalent in the tune, which Rolling Stone ranked as one of Wilson's best songs ever. Additionally, the song captured Wilson's growing shift toward more introspective, deeply personal songwriting.
"Do It Again" was released as a standalone single in July 1968 and peaked at No. 20 in September, remaining on the Billboard chart for 10 weeks. It would later be added to the collection of songs that made up the band's 15th studio album, 20/20, released in 1969.
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Rolling Stone wrote, "Mike Love and Brian Wilson were one of the all-time great songwriting partnerships in the first half of the sixties, and though Wilson's genius eventually sent him searching for other collaborators in the decade's second half, the two very different cousins reunited in 1968 for one perfect throwback."
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Wilson told American Songwriter, "'Do It Again' was written at Mike's house in Beverly Hills. He and I wrote that song together in about 45 minutes. It came very fast. He came up with that lyric so fast I couldn't believe it."
The lyrics were inspired by a day of surfing with an old friend, grounding the song in personal memory. It intentionally echoed the band's early '60s surf sound and featured Wilson and Love sharing lead vocals.
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Love recalled to The Guardian, "For 'Do It Again.' I came back from a surfing trip with some high school buddies and said, 'Hey Brian, I just went to the beach, and the waves and the girls were great. We've got to do a song called 'Do It Again.'"
The singer and songwriter added, "[Wilson] remembers it being at my house. I remember it as being at his house. He starts pounding at the piano; I was summoning up the words, and we got a chorus together, which was basically a bunch of doo-wop-inspired harmonies. We created that whole song in 15 minutes."
In 2011, the surviving Beach Boys, Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, Bruce Johnston, with the addition of David Marks, re-recorded "Do It Again" as part of their 50th anniversary celebration.
In 1995, Wilson rerecorded the song for his album I Just Wasn't Made for These Times and performed it on Late Night with David Letterman with his daughter, Wilson Phillips singer Wendy Wilson. In 1996 and 1997, Love rerecorded and released his own version of "Do It Again."
More than just a nostalgic nod, Brian Wilson's "Do It Again" stands as a reminder of how he could turn simple moments into something timeless. Decades later, the song still resonates.
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This story was originally published May 4, 2026 at 3:52 AM.