Fall Breaks and Back to Winter (W. Woodpecker Symphony)

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"Fall Breaks and Back to Winter"
Song

"Fall Breaks and Back to Winter (W. Woodpecker Symphony)" is an instrumental composed by Brian Wilson for American rock band the Beach Boys. Released in 1967 as the second track on the group's album Smiley Smile, the composition derives from "Fire" – a piece recorded by Wilson several months earlier, but left unreleased due to his paranoia.

Composition

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See also: The Elements: Fire

Wilson said of this version, "That was sort of a song about a cold winter scene. We tried to paint a picture of winter and then spring, late summer, and then broke into winter. We used the 'Woody Woodpecker' theme because it was descriptive to us of spring and summer."[1]

Biographer David Leaf noted its "bizarre woodpecking" percussion, the use of a squeeze box that emulates the iconic Woody Woodpecker laugh, and wordless vocals by the Beach Boys.[2] Musicologist Daniel Harrison described the track (along with other Smiley Smile tracks) as "a kind of protomiminal rock music", and that "the lack of formal or harmonic development makes the listener focus upon other quaities such as instrumentation, timbre, and reverberation. A concentrated listening effort thus goes quickly to subtle details.[3]

Legacy

Writer Richard Goldstein characterized "Fall Breaks and Back to Winter" as a precursor to the sound of experimental pop band Animal Collective.[4] In 1996, the instrumental was included in David Toop's Ocean of Sound, a 2-CD compilation album meant to accommodate his book of the same name.[5]

Cover versions

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See also: List of cover versions of Beach Boys songs
  • 1970 (1970): Gary Usher, Add Some Music To Your Day: A Symphonic Tribute To Brian Wilson
  • 1993 (1993): David Garland, I Guess I Just Wasn't Made For These Times (David Garland Performs Brian Wilson)
  • 1998 (1998): Jim O'Rourke, Smiling Pets

References

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