The Beach Boys Preview Their First New Song in Two Decades

The Beach Boys have unveiled a clip of "That's Why God Made the Radio," the first single off their reunion album that's due to hit shelves this summer. The group split in the late 1990s and toured in separate camps, occasionally firing off nasty lawsuits at each other. Last year, they decided to put the acrimony behind them and reunite for a tour. They've spent the last few months at a Los Angeles studio working on their new album.

"It's a sentimental thing for me," says Brian Wilson. "We've been together 50 years – that's a long time." Adds Mike Love, "Conceptually, the album is not going to be anything outlandish or silly, like Smiley Smile. It will be like the Beach Boys circa '65. I'm trying to write lyrics that fit the music without making it sound like you're writing from a hospice."

The tour starts tonight in Tucson, Arizona and hits the New Orleans Jazz Fest this weekend. 

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Song Stories

“The A Team”

Ed Sheeran | 2011

This debut track from the then-20-year-old British singer-songwriter has a dark story behind it. Sheeran says he culls songwriting inspiration from "viewing other people's situations," which, for the heroine in "The A Team," involves drug addiction and prostitution that began as a teen. Sheeran paints the woman's trials with haunting imagery such as "But lately her face seems/Slowly sinking, wasting/Crumbling like pastries." "I did a gig at a homeless shelter, [and the song] is about one of the women there. It's her story," he said.

More Song Stories entries »

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