I Just Wasn't Made For These Times

This piece, part of the album Pet Sounds, was one of the last to be completed in 1966. The recording featured the participation of fourteen studio musicians, in addition to the six Beach Boys, who provided the vocals. A distinctive sonic detail is the use of the Electro-Theremin, an instrument that allowed for keyboard-controlled variations and was used here for the first time in popular music, marking a milestone in the use of theremin-like sounds in rock. The production was handled by Brian Wilson, who composed the music with Tony Asher, the lyricist. Wilson himself, in a 1976 interview, acknowledged that the song reflected his own life, the feeling of being too advanced, and the eventual need to distance himself from others.